Mother of trans child forced to home school over ‘inhuman’ sex ed guidance
The mother says she was forced to home school her trans child over the guidance. (Getty)
The mother of a transgender child has said she was forced to home-school him after the government’s controversial sex education guidance posed “safeguarding concerns”.
The seven-year-old trans boy was reportedly removed from public education after being subjected to “inhuman” statements about his gender identity during lessons.
Speaking exclusively to PinkNews, the parent, who wished to remain anonymous, said she received “zero support” from staff at the school despite making numerous complaints about safeguarding concerns.
Difficulties rose following the publication of the Department for Education’s (DfE’s) controversial relationship, sex, and health education (RSHE) guidance, which urged schools to refrain from teaching trans identities “as fact”.
Published in July 2025, the guidance, commissioned by the former Tory government in 2023, faced backlash from groups arguing it censored LGBTQ+ topics, particularly regarding transgender and non-binary people.
The trans child’s mother explained that she felt pressured to start home education after hearing that his identity was treated as an “afterthought”.
“My child is not gender questioning. He is a boy,” the mother said. “He has always known this, and he has told us so with unwavering consistency. Yet, listening to how a young person feels is wholly absent in the current guidance.”
Teachers say sex ed guidance ‘riddled’ with contradictions
Evidence gathered by Pride in Education, a campaign group urging the government to revise the guidance, suggests it puts teachers at risk of disciplinary measures over inclusivity and safeguarding decisions.
Educators have consistently described the guidance as ambiguous, adding that it is “riddled” with contradictions. One teacher warned it could even dehumanise trans pupils.
Laïla El Métoui, the founder of Pride in Education, described the guidance’s impact as “undeniable” and “devastating”.
Working alongside NASUWT, the UK’s only teacher’s union, Pride in Education is demanding that the DfE revise its guidance to not only protect trans, non-binary, and gender non-conforming pupils, but to acknowledge intersex and asexual people.
“We are denying young people the right to name their own identity, to claim their own truth,” the mother told PinkNews.
“Their wellbeing and dignity must be at the heart of everything we do, not an afterthought. These are our children asking simply to be seen for who they are.”
As of 31 January, over 5,000 members of the UK public have signed Pride in Education’s open letter emphasising the importance of educating students on the LGBTQ+ community.
Signees include an array of celebrities and cultural figureheads such as musician Kate Nash, TV personality Stephen Fry, and House of Lords peer Michael Cashman.
Marty Davies, campaigner and signee, blasted the government for “positioning trans+ existence as a belief, not an identity that’s been around for millennia”.
“It frames our lives as optional to acknowledge. It’s dangerous, it invites bullying, and it has no place in our schools,” she told PinkNews at the time. “We can’t let another generation go through what mine did under Section 28. School should be a place to thrive, not to be erased.”
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