England set to ban gender identity teaching in schools

LONDON

Schools in England will be banned from teaching gender identity under government proposals due to be published on Thursday, with growing concern in the U.K. and elsewhere about the contentious issue.

The move follows a landmark review which last month urged "extreme caution" on prescribing masculinizing or feminizing hormone treatments for young people grappling with gender identity issues.

England's first gender identity development service for children closed in March after years of criticism that it had been too quick to prescribe puberty blocking treatment.

"The contested theory of gender identity will not be taught," a Department for Education statement read.

"At secondary school pupils will learn about legally 'protected' characteristics, such as sexual orientation and gender reassignment but the updated guidance is clear that schools should not teach about the concept of gender identity," it added, referring to pupils aged 11-18.

The proposals are contained in new guidance that will also ban sex education for children under the age of nine following concerns about some of the materials being used in schools.

"Parents rightly trust that when they send their children to school, they are kept safe and will not be exposed to disturbing content that is inappropriate for their age," the statement quoted Conservative Prime Minister Rishi Sunak as saying.

"That's why I was horrified to hear reports of this happening in our classrooms last year," he added.

"Sex education will not be taught before Year 5 [9-10 years] and at that point from a purely scientific standpoint," the statement said.