Children at faith school 'ordered by teachers to ignore classmate because her parent is transgender'

Teachers at a school in Manchester have told pupils to stop talking to one of their classmates after it emerged she has a transgender parent, it has been alleged. Authorities have been urged to act amid concerns the alleged treatment could breach equality legislation which schools must adhere to.

The child, who cannot be named for legal reasons, is a member of the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community and attends a strict faith school.

It has been claimed teachers have instructed other children not to speak to her “in any way” after finding out one of her parents is transgender, as they perceive that to be incompatible with their faith and are concerned about “negative influences” from the world “outside”.

Classmates of the school girl have reportedly written to her, informing her of their teachers’ instructions that they must now shun her.

The Jewish Telegraph reports: “Classmates have been told not to communicate with her ‘in any way’. The instruction came from their teachers, they say.

“The youngsters wrote a heart-rending letter to the girl, saying that if they saw her they would be forced to ignore her. But they added that they would always love her and that they would pray for her.”

The school, which cannot be named in order to protect the child’s identity, is understood to be a private Jewish school serving children in the local area who are members of the strict ultra-orthodox Jewish community. Some strict interpretations of the faith believe that being transgender represents a rejection of the Community and that trans individuals would as such be shunned.

In addition to being shunned at their current school, the girl’s family fear that they are unable to change to another school, as all the Jewish faith schools in the area will now refuse to let their child enrol due to pervading transphobia among some members of the community.

The girl and her four siblings were recently the subject of a child custody battle after one of their parents sought to leave the community after coming out as transgender. Their father, who identifies as female and uses female pronouns, applied for child access but the children’s mother objected, citing concerns that transgender people were ‘incompatible’ with their faith.

Court documents, seen by The Independent, show witnesses told the judge that the children would be shunned due to their transgender parent being perceived as shameful. The judge, Mr Justice Peter Jackson, ruled that the children could therefore stay with their mother and have no direct contact with their father.

In evidence submitted to the court, a teacher at the school told the judge, that the girl and her siblings would likely be shunned socially due to negative attitudes towards transgender people. The teacher said: “When a child is from a home that experiences negative changes within the framework of religion we keep or the way in which we choose to observe it, problems arise with the child’s school place.

“Whilst the School will make every effort to support the family in question, where there is risk of negative influences from the outside world to other children in the School, the School will experience tremendous pressure from the Parent body and the governors not to allocate a place to any child who will bring these potential risks. It would therefore be very difficult for the School to process an application for a child who fits the above description.”

A Charedi faith leader who gave evidence in the case, Rabbi Oppenheimer, said those associated with a transgender person would be “much more” than ostracised.

“Knowledge of transgender amongst children in the Ultra-Orthodox Jewish community is almost non-existent, for the reasons mentioned above concerning their lack of access to Internet and the media,” he said. “Community members will expect the family of the transgender person to limit their contact with him or her as far as possible.”

The Rabbi described that as “the price we pay – we limit ordinary social contact so that we transmit our spiritual ethos to the next generation”.

While the judge ruled the children could be denied contact with their transgender parent due to the anticipated social exclusion, Justice Jackson said he did so “with real regret” and described the case as “sad”.

He has written to the Minister of State for School Standards at the Department for Education, warning that social exclusive of transgender peoples’ children in strict Jewish schools may be illegal.

He warns: “There is, to say the least, evidence that the practices within the [ultra-Orthodox Jewish] community, and in particular its schools, amount to unlawful discrimination against and victimisation of the father and the children because of the father’s transgender status.”

Since the child access case closed, it has been alleged that the possible social isolation suggested in court has since occurred and teachers have order other pupils to stop talking to the girl.

Under equality legislation, all UK schools must promote tolerance, inclusion and respect for people who are LGBT, including transgender people, and cannot refuse admission to children on the basis of whether they or a family member is LGBT.

Jay Harman, faith schools campaigner at the British Humanist Association, told The Independent: “The first and most important responsibility of any school is to ensure the wellbeing of its children, so to hear that a school has actually been encouraging such cruel and isolating treatment against one of its pupils is appalling. So too are the motivations for doing so, based as they are on ignorant and hateful religious bigotry.

“The behaviour of the school in this case contravenes its anti-bullying obligations, it contravenes its British values obligations, and it likely amounts to inciting hatred on the basis of gender and sexual orientation. More than all of that, though, it punishes and traumatises a young child for something entirely outside of their control.

"Ofsted and the Department for Education must act swiftly and in no uncertain terms to defend this child and to sanction or close down any school that thinks this kind of policy is acceptable.”

A spokesperson for the Department for Education told The Independent that all independent schools in the UK are expected to meet the independent schools stands, which includes a requirement to have an effective anti-bullying strategy in place, as well as respecting minority groups outlined in the Equality Act, including transgender people.

They added that deliberately ostracising a child due to their parent’s gender identity would be a likely breach of such requirements and the department would take action if this is found to have occurred.