I am the parent of my fourteen-year-old daughter and I am submitting this on her behalf. This is her testimony, written by her:
I’m a 14-year old at Secondary School, and my school is presenting transgender ideology as fact, and encouraging this trend among kids my age. I’m going to talk about the stuff going on here in this testimony.
We’ve had various lessons discussing this, throughout year seven to year nine (the year I’m in now), all in support of the “fact” that if a boy wants to identify as a girl, then we must all call him “she”, and that if we say he isn’t a girl then we’re “transphobic” and “hateful”. It’s blatantly biased and presented as the truth, and they’ve been labeling words like “butch” and certain pronouns as transphobic.
This has been a growing trend over the years I’ve been at Secondary School. One of my best friends is a girl who now “identifies as a transgender boy”, the teachers are encouraging her and referring to her with “he/him” pronouns. Honestly, I’m scared to refer to her as “she” now since I’ll be labeled as transphobic and ostracized.
It feels like all my friends have been radicalised. The school’s teaching us this ideology, shoving it down our throats and presenting it as complete and utter fact, my friends are buying into it and any opposing opinions against these lessons will be branded as “hateful”. We’re all kids, and almost all of us think there is only one right point of view, and this ideology is being presented as such.
What they’re teaching us doesn’t make any sense but any opinion different from what they’re saying is mocked and scorned and silenced. I can’t speak without being ostracised and hated. This has to change but I’m scared to speak up.