Educators are grappling with how to care for children who declare a “gender identity” opposite to their sex. Irish Minister for Education, Norma Foley, appears to be struggling with it too. In August she said that further “medical advice” is needed on whether 16-years-olds should be able to change their gender and go on hormone blockers.  

The medical advice she referred to is being compiled by the Irish Department of Health who are considering the Cass Review and “emerging and evolving international evidence on the use of puberty blockers and use of hormones”. It is unclear what additional “emerging evidence” the Irish Department of Health has access to that was not included in the Cass Review described as the ‘‘most extensive and thoroughgoing evidence-based review of treatment for children experiencing gender distress ever undertaken”. 

This advice will have to do a lot of heavy lifting. In 2023 the Department of Education revised the Social and Personal Health Education (SPHE) curriculum for 12 to 15 year olds. Over 4,000 parents made submissions to the public consultation that informed the process and many expressed serious concerns about the inclusion of gender identity ideology in the curriculum.  

In a fudged compromise the curriculum was amended. The original SPHE learning outcome that sought to teach students that “gender identity and gender expression are core parts of human identity” was replaced with a statement that the factors and influences that shape young people’s self-identity include things such as “family, peers, culture, gender identity, sexual orientation, race/ethnic background, dis/abilities, religious beliefs/world-views”. 

Irish psychotherapist Stella O’Malley pointed out that although the curriculum does not state gender identity is a core part of human identity the concept is presented “without a preface that highlights that all this is based upon a theory that is not supported by scientific evidence”. 

This failure gave SPHE textbooks authors and publishers carte blanche to include the most ideological content about gender identity, and some did.  

The Department of Education has issued no official guidance to schools on how to care for gender questioning children. Their reticence has created a knowledge vacuum that has been filled by activist organisations such as BelongTo and TENI (Transgender Equality Network Ireland). BelongTo have produced resources that state gender identity is a protected characteristic in Irish law (which it isn’t), made the inaccurate claim that lesbians are women who are “mainly” attracted rather than exclusively attracted to other women, and told teachers not to tell parents about a child’s sexual orientation or gender identity if asked. 

TENI produced “19 ways to help gender dysphoria”, a list of advice that includes the harmful  practices of chest binding for girls and genital tucking for boys. In spite of revelations about the discredited WPATH (World Professional Association for Transgender Healthcare) TENI continues to promote its “standards of care” on their website.  

Teachers unions want guidance on how to teach SPHE. The General Secretary of the Association of Secondary Teachers of Ireland (ASTI) has written to union stewards to say that the SPHE and Religion and Sexuality Education (RSE) programmes include “sensitive issues” and that “teachers should only teach material they feel they are comfortable and competent to teach”.  

The letter referred to best practice guidance for schools on the use of external facilitators and resources. Some schools may see third party providers as a solution to deal with the issue which could make matters worse if it opens the door to activist organisations to deliver SPHE and RSE.

The UK’s experience of using external training bodies to deliver SPHE/RSE does not bode well.  The former Minister for Education, Gillian Keegan, was forced to intervene following complaints that schools using external training bodies were refusing to share the content of lessons with parents on the basis that it would breach copyright law. 

The Irish Department of Education must take a position soon and the ante has been upped considerably by recent events in Britain. On September 2nd the UK’s Department of Education published a revised version of Keeping Children Safe in Education, the statutory document that schools in England must have regard to when carrying out their safeguarding duties. 

The previous version addressed bullying experienced by students including those who are, or are perceived to be, lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans. This has been amended and now reads lesbian, gay, bisexual and gender questioning. This may seem unimportant but by removing trans and replacing it with gender questioning the UK’s Department of Education has unequivocally severed the T from the LGB. It’s an effective declaration that there are no trans children, only children who question their gender. 

The revised Keeping Children Safe in Education document explicitly refers to the Cass Review advice that social transition must be approached with caution because there remain many unknowns about its impact on children. Many have complex mental health and psychosocial needs, and in some cases additional diagnoses of autism spectrum disorder and/or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. This cautious approach offers children an off-ramp if they change their mind.  

There is the grim possibility that the Irish Department of Health will reject or only partially accept the Cass Review. This would be an extraordinary move considering that senior clinicians from the Irish National Gender Service share Dr Cass’s concerns, going so far as to describe the  WPATH approach as being  associated with “severe adverse clinical outcomes for patients”.  

Minister Foley isn’t the only Irish politician facing questions over how to care for gender questioning children.  Mary Lou McDonald, the leader of Sinn Fein, the largest opposition party in Ireland was accused of promoting “dual policies” on the use of puberty blockers following her party’s unexplained change of mind that led to the party supporting a ban on puberty blockers in Northern Ireland. It would be illogical for Sinn Fein to advocate for their use in the Republic while supporting their prohibition on the other side of the border.  

But then again there is nothing logical about telling children they can change sex, so all bets are off.