Famed author JK Rowling has described the revelation that a toddler was suspended from nursery after they were accused of transphobia or homophobia as ‘totalitarian insanity’.
The Harry Potter author was reacting to news reported in The Telegraph around data released by the Department for Education in Britain which showed “that a child, aged either three or four, was suspended from a state school in the 2022-23 academic year for “abuse against sexual orientation and gender identity”.”
The school and further details of the case were not disclosed in the information released.
The Telegraph said that “the statistics showed that 94 pupils at state primary schools were suspended or permanently excluded for transphobia and homophobia in 2022-23.”
“These included 10 pupils from year one and three from year two, where the maximum age is seven. One of these included a child of nursery age, the data shows.”
Rowling said that “if you think small children should be punished for being able to recognise sex, you are a dangerous zealot who should be nowhere near kids or in any position of authority over them.”
The writer had previously posted that “there are times in life where we are confronted by clear moral choices, when there is no middle route. Either you stand up for freedom of speech and belief – yes, even up to the point of causing offence – or you bow down to a totalitarian culture that relies on intimidation and threats to sustain itself.”
The Daily Mail reported that, in 2022, a Church of England school in the Isle of Wight warned a six-year-old boy’s parents that he might be deemed ‘transphobic’ if he were to question another pupil wearing a dress.
Sally and Nigel Rowe, whose sons attended a Church of England school, said they received a letter from the headteacher and chair of governors which declared pupils could be designated the term if they showed ‘an inability to believe a transgender person is actually a ”real” female or male.’
They claimed the letter also added that refusing to use a transgender pupil’s adopted name or gender appropriate pronouns would be considered ‘transphobic behaviour’.
Helen Joyce, director of advocacy at Sex Matters and former editor with the Economist, told The Telegraph: “Every once in a while, the extremes of gender ideology throw up a story that seems too crazy to believe, and a toddler being suspended from nursery for so-called ‘transphobia’ or homophobia is one such example.
“Worse still, this is not an isolated case. Apparently, 13 four and five-year-olds were suspended or permanently excluded from school for the same reason. Teachers and school leaders involved in this insanity should be ashamed of themselves for projecting adult concepts and beliefs onto such young children.”
“It’s unforgivable for children’s vital early education to be so traumatically disrupted by school leaders who prioritise activists’ demands over their charges’ wellbeing,” she said.
SPHE textbooks in Irish schools tell students that their sex is assigned at birth based on genitalia, while their gender identity is their deep sense of being “male, female, a mixture of both or none at all.
The landmark Cass Review (2024) said that schools should be aware that facilitating social transitioning (where a child is permitted to adopt a new trans name and use the facilities of a different sex than their biological sex) is not a neutral act – and warned that children who think they are transgender should not be rushed into treatment they may regret. The Review also recommended the banning of puberty blockers for under-18s.