Transgender Trend is an organisation of parents, professionals and academics based in the UK who are concerned about the current trend to diagnose children as transgender, including the unprecedented number of teenage girls suddenly self-identifying as ‘trans’. They have a particular, but not exclusive, focus on the impact this has in schools, both on those children who identify as trans, and their peers.
For quite a while, Transgender Trend was the only source of information for parents of trans-identified kids who were cautious, concerned or terrified by the affirmative approach to treating gender distress. Their website was a safe haven for parents to find articles by professionals who were also raising concerns about whether this pathway was actually beneficial to children, whether they really were at risk of suicide and whether emerging school policies could actually be doing more harm than good.
In the case of Mrs A and Keira Bell v The Tavistock, Transgender Trend were granted permission to intervene on the basis that they could provide social context of relevance to the case. To put this in context, other giants of the transgender charity world (Mermaids and Stonewall) were denied permission.
It has continued to be an invaluable source of information for parents and if you haven’t immersed yourself in their abundance of articles and publications, we suggest that you do.
Here we will point you to some of the most relevant advice and guidance that Transgender Trend and its founder, Stephanie Davies-Arai, have to offer.
Schools Guidance
The following guides are aimed at schools, and provide a framework for supporting trans-identified students whilst also placing safeguarding at the centre of decision making and the curriculum. In an article in TES, this guidance was assessed as being the most consistent with EHRC guidance, and the only one to centre safeguarding (read the full text of the TES article here)
Supporting Gender Non-conforming and Trans-identified Students in Schools
Inclusive Relationships and Sex Education in Schools (RSE): Statutory Guidance and External Providers
Transgender Schools Guidance – Safeguarding Concerns
Other Articles and Publications
There are a huge number of highly informative, thoroughly researched articles, publications and blog posts by a variety of excellent writers, researchers, professionals and parents. We recommend you have a look through for yourself, but wanted to give you some pointers for some we think are particularly helpful.
Transitioning and the NHS
The Tavistock’s Experiment with Puberty Blockers
Social transition and chest binding
The Curious World of Gender Medicine – a collection of articles by Dr Susan Matthews
The Transmission of Transition – looking at the influence of YouTube vloggers
Mental Health
Transgender suicide facts and myths
A Scientist Reviews Transgender Suicide Stats
CAPTURED! The Full Story Behind The Memorandum of Understanding on Conversion Therapy
Schools
Stonewall turns its attention to children with SEND and autism
The silencing effect of toxic ideology in schools
Is your school a Stonewall School Champion?
Keira Bell – what does the court case mean for schools?
