A pupil in Scotland was thrown out of class for saying there are only two genders, it was reported in June.
In a three-minute recording*, the teacher told Murray, with no sense of irony, he was ‘entitled to his opinion’, but he couldn’t share it in class because ‘this is an inclusive school’. The teacher gave his own and the school’s opinion: ‘There are more than two genders. This view is acceptable in the school, and yours is not.’
‘Keep that opinion to your own house. I am stating what is national school authority policy,’ the teacher forcefully underlined.
When challenged by Murray that this is not scientific, the teacher replied that ‘not every policy is scientific’. The teacher continued: ‘I know what you think, and what the authority thinks, and it is very clear that we make no discrimination.’
Murray calmly made it clear that he was not discriminating, but was ‘simply saying there are two genders, and anything else is a personal identification’.
Murray was subsequently suspended for posting the film he had taken on his phone of the interaction between him and his teacher.
Highlighting how toxic discussions on gender issues has become, a Channel 4 trans kids’ documentary maker said that filming it ‘made reporting on the Middle East peace process look straightforward’. The BAFTA and Emmy-winning Olly Lambert said trans supporters had refused to take part if certain opponents were included. This had not happened when he met Israeli and Palestinian leaders, who both fully accepted that their opponents would be filmed and questioned.
Reinterpreting Blyton
In related news, a new stage show based on Enid Blyton’s Malory Towers is reinterpreting the book’s tomboy character Wilhelmina as transgender or lesbian. Director Emma Rice claimed that because Wilhelmina – known as Bill – is described as looking ‘exactly like a boy’, Blyton may have been unable to express the character’s ‘true’ trans identity.
