Judge praises parents who sent trans daughter to school in girl’s uniform
Stock photo of pupils in a classroom. (Pexels)
A judge has defended the parents of a transgender girl after they sent her to school in a girl’s uniform.
When social services found out that the parents were allowing their daughter to live as a girl, they intervened and threatened to remove her and her siblings from their care, according to the Daily Mail.
However, Mr Justice Williams said in court that the girl’s gender identity was not a cause for concern, and praised her parents as “attuned and careful.”
Social services accused the parents of transgender child of jeopardising their daughter’s development
The child—who was referred to as ‘H’ in court—is four years old. Social workers claimed that her realisation that she was a girl was “actively encouraged” by her parents.
They also accused the parents of being “resistant to acknowledging any potential disadvantage to H of being identified as transgender prematurely.”
“Issues relating to gender identity and the medical understanding of such issues is complex and developing.”
– Mr Justice Williams
Furthermore, they claimed the parents had jeopardised their daughter’s emotional, physical and sexual development by allowing her to express her gender identity.
Despite initially recommending that the child be removed from her parents’ care, social services backtracked when they received glowing expert reports about their parenting skills. However, the girl’s parents felt that there was “a cloud of suspicion hanging over them” as a result of the attention from social services, and wanted to take the matter to court.
The judge completely exonerated the parents of the transgender child from any wrongdoing
Mr Justice Williams has completely exonerated the parents of any wrongdoing, and said they are clearly devoted to her welfare.
A gender specialist told the judge at the Royal Courts of Justice that the child’s gender identity was consistent with a diagnosis of gender dysphoria. They said she “clearly identified herself as a girl” and “appeared to be a content, alert and socially engaged little girl.”
The judge said that she had suffered no harm or ill-effects because of her transition at a young age, and added: “The evidence demonstrates to the contrary, this was likely to minimise any harm or risk of harm.
Social services wanted to remove the transgender child from her parents’ custody (Pexels)
“The evidence does not support the contention that it was actively encouraged rather than appropriately supported.”
Furthermore, he said that ‘H’ was prospering, as were the couple’s other children, and said it was “overwhelmingly obvious” that they were good parents.
Gender identity is ‘complex and developing’
The court also heard testimony from H’s brother, who said that she was “a boy when she was born.” However, he said his sister is “now a girl” and “would grow up to be a woman.”
In his concluding remarks, Mr Justice Williams said: “Issues relating to gender identity and the medical understanding of such issues is complex and developing.
“Inevitably there is some lag between those professionals at the cutting edge and others, in which I include myself, which might have played some role in how these proceedings came about.”
