‘How can you identify as a cat when you’re a girl?’
A teacher called a teenage student “despicable” after during a heated debate about gender identity in a school lesson.
The teacher said she was going to report the 13-year-old pupil to school leaders after an argument over gender identity.
The incident took place at Rye College in East Sussex on Friday afternoon in a class on ‘life education.’
In a recording taken midway through a conversation in the lesson, students were told that “who you want to be and how you identify is up to you”.
The audio recording starts with the teacher saying: “How dare you, you just really upset someone, saying things like ‘should be in an asylum.’”
It is unclear what the context of the conversation is at this point.
One of the students then takes issue with the teacher then says that: “If they (another girl) want to identify as a cow (may be ‘cat’) or something then they are genuinely unwell – crazy.”
The teacher then asks the girls: “Where did you get this idea from that there are only two genders”, before adding that this “is not an opinion.”
They then tell the class that “gender is not linked to the parts that you were born with, gender is about how you identify, which is what I said right from the very beginning of the lesson.”
She explains: “There are actually three biological sexes because you can be born with male and female body parts or hormones.”
The teacher added: “There are lots of genders – there is transgender, there is a gender who are people who don’t believe that they have a gender at all”.
But the girls disagree, saying “if you have a vagina you’re a girl and if you have a penis you’re a boy – that’s it.”
The discussion gets more heated as the girls seems to try and wind the teacher up, with the member of staff eventually asking: “Why do you think we have so many problems in the world with homophobia?”
The students respond: interrupts: “That’s not homophobia, that’s transgender. I’m fine with lesbians and gay people. I’ve got nothing against them.”
The teacher says: “Cisgender is not necessarily the way to be – you are talking about the fact that cisgender is the norm, that you identify with the sexual organ you were born with, that’s basically what you’re saying, which is really despicable.”
They then say that “if you don’t like it you need to go to a different school”, adding: “I’m reporting you to [senior staff], you need to have a proper educational conversation about equality, diversity and inclusion because I’m not having that expressed in my lesson when I’m teaching you about what you can be and how you want to identify.”
The student replies: “I haven’t said anything at all in the lessons I have been in, it’s just because they turn around and start saying something, so I said ‘how can you identify as a cat when you are a girl.’”
One parent told the Telegraph: “I understand the point the teacher was attempting to make, what bothers me is the shutting down of debate in such a threatening and aggressive manner, which I don’t believe is appropriate in an educational setting.
“Regardless of the subject, education should serve to build awareness of differing points of view to widen the understanding of a subject. It shouldn’t be a case of indoctrination.”
A spokesman for Rye College said: “We are committed to offering our pupils an inclusive education. Teachers endeavour to ensure that pupils’ views are listened to, and encourage them to ask questions and engage in discussion. Teachers also aim to answer questions sensitively and honestly.
“We strive to uphold the highest standards across the school. We will be reviewing our processes and working with the relevant individuals to ensure such events do not take place in the future.”
Related links:
Nearly a quarter of Gen Z now identify using a non-gendered pronoun study finds
Teacher helps pupils change gender identity without their parents permission
