Thread by @Bernard_Lane

"(As a parent said to me), 'I’m sick of my daughter in Year 7 coming home & saying to me, 'Dad, English today was gender studies again'. And then when I complain to the school, I feel like a second-class citizen. I can’t get anywhere.” Australian politician @RealMarkLatham 1/

Parliament in the most populous state of NSW has just tabled a committee report into Latham's draft law to expel "gender fluidity" from the classroom. The committee has opted for tighter education policy, rather than a change in the law.

The report recommends the NSW centre-right government to "urgently review & overhaul the Controversial Issues in Schools Policy to afford greater priority & deference to parental rights & to provide, procedurally, more robust protections for parental authority".

Latham says: "During our public hearings, it was refreshing to hear the other side of the argument on gender issues. The NSW Parliament has a heavy loading of Alphabet-focused MPs, devotees of identity politics & cancel culture who have silenced many of their critics".

"The Committee heard from psychologists who regard gender transition as a passing phase among young people, a product of students' fads, attention-seeking & pranks. Other psychologists dismiss this point of view, regarding each student’s circumstances as genuine & long-lasting."

" ... on transgender, the evidence is heavily contested & school expertise is limited. This is why, in the first instance, schools should leave gender fluidity to medical experts & parents, playing a supporting role & acting on their advice."

"This is a new & emerging issue, subject to a flurry of hyperbole & speculation. In the absence of a clear evidence base, schools would be foolhardy to immerse themselves in gender fluidity claims."

Unlike the Labor states of Victoria & Queensland, NSW government policy is officially opposed to "gender fluidity" being taught in class. In reality, activists have many avenues for introducing Queer Theory-style gender theory to students, as NSW parents keep discovering.

NSW ministerial oversight seems ineffective & few in government understand the degree to which self-declared "gender identity" has penetrated not just teacher-training & the education bureaucracy but the wider culture, especially online.

Perhaps Australia's wokest state, Victoria pioneered self-declared gender material with the "Safe Schools" program. A mildly toned down version of these contentious resources is marketed to teachers nationwide on a "student wellbeing" website hosted by the federal government.

About Mark Latham. In 2004 he led the federal Labor Party & some thought he might be elected Australia's prime minister. Now he sits in the NSW Upper House as a member of the populist right party One Nation.

Here's Latham's rationale for the 2020 bill --

https://twitter.com/Bernard_Lane/status/1291236810157326336?s=20

Debate about gender activism in schools is more advanced in the UK, where Transgender TREND has crafted its own resources showing that acceptance of all kids at school need not invoke self-ID gender in ways which may put them on the path to medicalisation.
transgendertrend.com/transgender-sc…

In Canada, there is a significant human rights case dealing with gender activism at school. Not sure of the current state of this matter.
jccf.ca/six-year-old-t…

Full report here parliament.nsw.gov.au/lcdocs/inquiri…

Here’s the NSW parliamentary report on “gender fluidity” —
parliament.nsw.gov.au/lcdocs/inquiri…