These parents won’t send their son to school because there is a trans kid in the class
A transphobic family have threatened to launch legal action against a school over allowing a six-year-old to wear a dress.
The parents have also pulled their two sons out of the school after they were horrified about not being consulted on the clothes that the child chose to wear.
Nigel and Sally Rowe are being backed by The Christian Legal Centre, a law firm which has defended so called “gay cure” therapy in the past and supported a number of homophobic and transphobic lawsuits.
The Rowe parents have claimed that the school that their eight-year old and six-year old sons attended acted without “due regard” to their Christian principles.
In a video published by Christian Concern, Nigel Rowe explained that another child in his six-year old’s class had come into school wearing a dress.
How dare this anti-trans woman wear male clothes. She should be wearing a skirt or a dress not trousers. https://t.co/Gs1yllbdZS
— Benjamin Cohen (@benjamincohen) September 11, 2017
The choice of the child’s clothes sparked them to pull their children from the school in favour of home schooling.
Rowe said: “A child aged six would sometimes come to school as a girl or sometimes come to school as a boy.
“Our concerns were raised when our son came back home from school saying he was confused as to why and how a boy was now a girl.”
The couple believes that the school is “wrong to encourage very young children to embrace transgenderism”.
The Church of England School has said that any trans students are protected under the Equality Act 2010 and that they have policies to stamp out transphobic behaviour.
The school defined transphobic behaviour as an inability to believe trans person gender identity, refusing to use their name and only using their dead name, using “gender inappropriate pronouns” and feelings of “discomfort” around trans people.
Andrea Williams, chief executive of the Christian Legal Centre, said: “This new transgender ideology is being aggressively imposed on unsuspecting schools, parents and children. It is delusional and abusive.
“School classrooms, which should be one of the safest environments for children, are rapidly becoming dangerous battlefields in a war brought on by a radical transgender ideology. Vulnerable children are being used as pawns and will be harmed the most. We need to call it what it is.”
The family, who live in the Isle of Wight, have since made a number of media appearances including the BBC’s Today Programme and ITV’s This Morning, where Nigel Rowe tried to equate trans children with feelings of “species dysphoria”.
He told hosts Philip Schofield and Holly Willoughby: “Society is going to have to decide on this. I just want to make a point. How far is it going to go?
“Are we going to allow children then to come dressed as animals? I mean this is extreme, I agree, but, for example, species dysphoria.
“Do we allow children to then come in [as animals] because they believe they’re an animal?
“I think, how is that going to affect the other children? We’ve got to think about the big picture, all the other kids.”
This Morning’s Schofield blasted the couple, telling them that there was not an issue with the trans child but rather there was an issue with them.
“You’re the ones who have the problem, not the children,” he told them.
Muslim radio host Maajid Nawaz slammed the Rowe family on his LBC show.
In the incredible rant, Nawaz said that the Rowe’s should probably pull their children out of the church, because “the man speaking in God’s name is wearing a dress”.
“What do you call it when a vicar is kicked out of a church? they say vicar has been defrocked. Why do they say vicar has been defrocked? Because he’s wearing a frock. He preaches God’s word wearing a dress. And you’re upset this kid came to school wearing a dress because it’s not biblical values?
“Start with your church. Why don’t you withdraw your kids from the church because the man teaching them God’s law is wearing a dress. Unbelievable,” he added.
The BBC failed to condemn the couple as strongly as they did not highlight the link to Christian Concern, which has ties to gay ‘cure’ practitioners and has lobbied against basic protections for LGBT people in the UK.
Nor did they invite an expert on transgender issues on to be interviewed despite its commitment to balancing arguments about LGBT+ issues.
On the Today Programme, Nigel Rowe rubbished evidence of suicide and self-harm in young trans people.
He said: “I don’t believe this is the case. I don’t think people are bullying these [transgender] children in any way, shape or form.
“We’re worried about the welfare of all the children. We’re worried it’s going to cause confusion.”
Sally Rowe also revealed that she took her sons out of the school because they were “unhappy” about the trans pupil, rather than teaching him about individual differences.
PinkNews sent a number of questions to the BBC over its failure to balance the interview. The corporation declined to answer our questions, but said “Today will continue to cover all aspects relating to issues of gender and identity”.
