Transgender youth occupy Ministry of Education

Fourteen trans activists from the ​​Trans children deserve betterall under the age of 18, occupied the headquarters of the Department for Education (DfE) in Westminster to protest for “the right to a safe and inclusive education and the rights of transgender young people and adults.” Alongside the occupation, hundreds of people demonstrated outside the building in solidarity with their cause.

The protest, which began on Friday, follows a decision by Health Minister Wes Streeting on August 22, extend the ban on access to puberty blockers, in addition to the development of guidelines by the Ministry of Education [explainer pdf here] According to activists, implementation would “potentially violate equality law and harm an entire generation of transgender and non-binary children.”

The aim of the occupation is to “underscore the urgent need for political changes that respect and protect the rights of transgender youth, including their right to autonomy, safety, trust, respect and inclusion.” Their occupation of the Ministry of Education is expected to last several days.

In a press release, the protesters demanded:

• Autonomy: “We have the right to decide for ourselves about our social change and who may find out about it.”
• Priority: “Our comfort and safety take precedence over the theoretical disapproval of people who are not affected by us.”
• Safety: “We should be protected from transphobic bullying and harassment, including misgendering and deadnaming.”
• Trust and respect: “Our identity is not up for debate and should not be subject to external validation.”
• Inclusion: “Who we are is not a controversial ideology, and our reality should be reflected in what we learn in school.”

According to the charity Just like usResearch conducted by Cybyl found that 10% of transgender children reported being bullied daily and 54% had experienced bullying in the past year, compared to just 21% of their non-LGBT+ peers. At the same time, only 19% of transgender young people reported feeling optimistic about the future every week, compared to 36% of their non-transgender peers, and 15% of transgender young people said they had never felt optimistic about the future in the past 12 months.