Schools are increasingly sanctioning the use of male names for girls as young as 13 without the consent of their parents.
An investigation by The Mail on Sunday has found three mothers discovered schools had allowed their daughters to be called by boys’ names without first being consulted.
Campaigners say some in the education sector are misinterpreting – or even misusing – equality regulations.
The mothers, who each spoke on condition of anonymity to protect their children, say that their daughters, who are all under the age of 16, were given boys’ names by teachers after saying that they identified as male.
The ‘new’ names were used in the classroom, and on pupil registers and official communications from school authorities.
One claims to have been told by her daughter’s secondary school when she objected that she had ‘no say’ in the 13-year-old’s decision because it was the ‘child’s right’ to decide their gender.
Describing the experience two years ago, the woman, who is in her 50s and from Scotland, said: ‘The school only phoned us to tell us it was happening and we had no say. They just said it’s the child’s right and you have to follow that.’
