Robbie MeredithBBC News NI education correspondent
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The Supreme Court recently ruled that a woman is defined by biological sex under equalities law
Guidance on supporting transgender pupils has been withdrawn from the website of Northern Ireland’s Education Authority.
The detailed guidance was first published in 2019, but a recent Supreme Court ruling that a woman is defined by biological sex appears to have led to a review.
The ruling has implications for the provision of single-sex spaces like changing rooms and toilets.
Education Minister Paul Givan told the BBC that the guidance was produced in response to “the kind of activist campaigns that were being pursued by a minority” and that he did not believe it to be lawful.
The Education Authority (EA) guidance, which was aimed mainly at post-primary schools, had recommended that reasonable efforts be made to allow transgender pupils to use changing rooms that match their gender identity.
Givan said he wrote to the EA requesting its withdrawal.
The minister said he had asked officials to consider the implications of the recent Supreme Court decision and to seek legal advice.
“Having carefully considered the legal advice provided, I have concluded that the current Education Authority guidance does not reflect departmental policy and is inconsistent with the law in Northern Ireland,” he said.
“While many of these issues are best managed at a school level, consistent with the ethos of the school, the department has a responsibility to set clear, lawful, guiding principles.”
Speaking on BBC Radio Ulster’s The Nolan Show, Givan said he was “providing absolute clarity on these issues” and this had “affirmed” his position.
SDLP leader Claire Hanna and leader of the opposition Matthew O’Toole speaking at a press conference in Stormont
SDLP leader Claire Hanna said that the education minister was showing “no empathy” to young people who are going into school “uncomfortable with themselves” and the “struggles and challenges” that they are facing.
Speaking at a press conference at Stormont, Hanna added that “at all times in school the welfare and the mental wellbeing of young people has to be at the core of the things we are doing.
“We’ll be marking minister Givan against that”.
Alliance education spokesperson Michelle Guy said Givan’s decision on the guidance had “created a vacuum that is not helpful for anyone”.
The Lagan Valley assembly member also described it as a “disgraceful distraction”.
“On a day in which we’re pulling the education minister into the chamber to answer for his ongoing failure to ensure appropriate provision for SEN students, the timing of this announcement is a clear attempt to divert attention from such a crucial issue,” she said.
EA Website
The EA used to have an online hub with resources for how schools can support transgender pupils
EA Website
However, it has now been removed from the site
The guidance advised teachers to be “sensitive to the needs of transgender pupils, as well as to the needs of other pupils” when making decisions about the use of toilets and changing rooms.
“Where requested, staff should give a transgender pupil access to toilets which match their gender identity, unless there is good reason not to do so,” the EA guidance had stated.
The guidance had also said that teachers and school staff did not have “unlimited right to freedom of expression” regarding their views on transgender people.
Teachers were advised that they should respect a transgender pupil’s wishes with regard to what name they were called.
Givan’s decision on the guidance also comes just days after it was announced the author of the landmark Cass report – which carried out a review of gender identity services in England – is to review Northern Ireland’s gender services.
Health Minister Mike Nesbitt said Dr Hilary Cass had agreed to his request, and is expected to visit Northern Ireland with a team in November.
