'transing' to avoid bullying

to whom it may concern,

firstly, thank you for setting up this website. I think that freedom of speech and inequality in society means full transparency and accountability, no matter how 'marginalised' a group claims to be.

I would like to share my story about a trans child in my son's class. My son is 7 years old, and whilst I personally take great issue with allowing someone so young to change something as important as their gender, this story centres a child who the teachers are insisting we now refer to using female pronouns and the name Holly.

Prior to being called Holly, my son was good friends with this child. Now, however, he reports that 'she' brings up 'her' "gender" whenever 'she' gets in trouble. I tried speaking to the child's parents, but they simply told me it was none of my business and made disparaging comments about my religion.

The specific story I want to tell involves a toy called 'bop it', that gives orders which the child then follows: such as 'hit it', or 'pull it'. I believe the toy fosters good listening and attention to detail; yet when my son was playing with the toy, Holly came over and took it from him. When he complained, Holly then said that 'she' would play bop-it with him instead. At this point, 'she' began pulling on my son's limbs, as well as hitting him in the nose, whilst saying "bop-it!" and "hit-it!". My son was utterly humiliated.

the teachers have refused to punish Holly for fear of getting in trouble, and now my son hates his 'bop it' toy, even though it was only this most recent holiday season that I bought it for him. Now, my own son is talking about changing his gender, and I believe it is so he can fit in with 'Holly' and bring 'her' merciless bullying to an end. I appreciate being given the opportunity to speak about this distressing situation, even if anonymously.

Regards, a concerned father." #bullying #transchild