Staff at the equalities watchdog told a school that they had to socially transition a pupil, it has emerged, amid warnings that the organisation has been “captured” by gender ideology.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) warned a school that if it did not allow pupils to use single-sex facilities, which matched their “true gender identity”, it “would constitute an act of discrimination”.
The letter has emerged after Baroness Falkner, its chairman, successfully faced down a coup by activist staff as she tried to rebalance the commission’s approach to trans rights. Her allies said the “shocking” letter was the kind of behaviour at the “captured” organisation that she was attempting to change.
A source at the EHRC said: “Ideologues had captured the EHRC before Baroness Falkner took over, we know now from the Cass Review [on gender identity] that socially transitioning a child is not a neutral act.”
Complained to Mermaids
The school’s head teacher received the letter in 2016 after a girl in year 10, who identified as a boy, complained to Mermaids, the trans lobby group, that teachers were not letting her use the boys’ changing rooms or play rugby.
After Mermaids passed the complaint to the EHRC, the watchdog’s solicitor wrote to the head teacher urging them to support the child’s gender transition.
The solicitor sent passages from guidance used in Brighton and Hove, which was not the area that the school was based in, stating that trans pupils should be able to take part in PE, competitions, and sports days “in a manner consistent with their gender identity”.
