A 17-year-old school pupil was allegedly removed from class for failing to be “inclusive” by saying there are only two genders.
Footage covertly filmed on a mobile phone by a Scottish school pupil went viral after it appeared to show a teacher reprimanding the boy for stating that there are only two genders.
In a separate room from the rest of the class, the pupil is heard questioning why he was removed for expressing his “opinion” that there are only two genders, to which the 56-year-old male teacher replied: “What you were saying is not very inclusive. This is an inclusive school.”
The pupil rebutted that “scientifically, there are just two genders” and that he thought it was “silly” to insist otherwise. He also challenged the teacher on why he could share his “opinion” in the classroom but the pupil could not, prompting the teacher to reply: “I am not putting my opinion out. I am stating what is national school authority policy.”
“Well, that’s not scientific whatsoever,” the pupil said, to which the teacher responded: “Not every policy is scientific.”
“I know what you think, and I know what the authority thinks, I know the authority’s point of view is very clear,” the 56-year-old added later, before declaring:”[W]e make no discrimination on the grounds of [gender].”
“I wasn’t making a discrimination,” the 17-year-old rebutted. “I’m simply saying there are two genders. Male and female. Anything else is a personal identification.”
The teacher told the pupil that he had “chose[n] to make an issue” by failing to use his “opportunity to keep quiet”, before accusing the young man of making “bad choices”.
Aberdeenshire Council said the video had been taken out of context, telling The Scottish Sun: “It is important to understand the context of any video clip taken without a person’s consent. In our schools, fostering good relations among different groups can be a real challenge but our aim is to support a fairer, inclusive environment for all.”
On Wednesday, Seamus Searson, general-secretary of the Scottish Secondary Teachers’ Association, said that while he had no knowledge of the details of the incident, “This sounds like a youngster looking for trouble.”
Last year, Scotland was proud to announce that it had become the first education system in the world to embed in its curriculum for pupils of all ages material that celebrates LGBT lifestyles, with Scottish education secretary John Swinney of the left-liberal Scottish National Party (SNP) saying at the time:
“Scotland is already considered one of the most progressive countries in Europe for LGBTI equality. I am delighted to announce we will be the first country in the world to have LGBTI-inclusive education embedded within the curriculum.”
From September 2020, the British government has made it compulsory for children from the age of four to be given “relationship” lessons, which could include teaching children about same-sex relationships, and parents will not have the legal right to take their children out of the classes.
Some lower schools have already begun teaching about gay relationships, resulting in mass protests by Muslim parents, who have been taking their children out of schools in the hundreds.
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