NOTEBOOK by BILL HEANEY
This was the second time during his four-year leadership that Cllr McColl had made an unexpected public announcement which has shocked the community and been widely publicised in the media.
Last time, the Lomond Ward councillor told a journalist that he was suffering from a mental illness diagnosed as bi-polar syndrome which can involve serious mood swings and irrational behaviour which requires ongoing medication, and for which no cure has so far been found.
Concern has been expressed elsewhere that some teenagers are adopting transgender and bisexual lifestyles because they are “fashionable” in the way punk was in its day.
It was said to be “just a phase” they were going through which they would grow out of as they got older, but councillors agreed by a large majority from across the political divide to give special treatment to transgender pupils in schools.
The councillors asserted that its transgender and non-binary young people deserved the “best possible educational experience”, aided by guidance from the Scottish Government.
And they condemned homophobic language, which was said to be reminiscent of the 1970s, 80s and 90s, and similar to the controversial Section 28 legislation that banned any mention of LGBT in schools.
SNP council leader Cllr Jonathan McColl making headlines and digging a hole for himself yet again.
No doubt bolstered by this encouragement, Cllr McColl made an impassioned plea to support pupils as he wished could have happened to him when he was a child, announcing he had come out as bisexual just ahead of the council debate.
He moved an amendment that won near unanimous cross-party support from the SNP, Labour and Conservatives.
A motion to the contrary was placed before the council by SNP defector, Alba Party councillor Caroline McAllister, a self-styled women’s champion who was unceremoniously ditched at the eleventh hour as the SNP’s prospective candidate to stand against Labour’s Jackie Baillie.
Cllr McAllister announced she was not standing for re-election to the council in May, had lodged a motion which was heavily critical of the national LGBT guidance.
It is widely speculated that this criticism plus her view that women should be entitled to their own space such as single sex bathrooms was the reason why she was dropped as a parliamentary candidate.
Councillor McColl said a number of points in Cllr McAllister’s motion were untrue or had no relation to the transgender guidance published by the government last summer.
He said claims were “incorrect” that teachers would have to affirm a child’s gender identity “as young as four years of age” and without telling parents.
Councillor McColl’s amendment read as follows:
“Council notes that guidance for schools, including the ‘Supporting Transgender Pupils In Schools’ guidance has the aim of ensuring that every child and young person feels happy, safe, respected and included in their learning environment.
“Council agrees that these aims and principles apply to all pupils and in creating our policies, we must be aware and take account of everyone’s rights, particularly in relation to all protected characteristics.
“The guidance is intended to help school staff to provide transgender and non-binary young people with the best possible educational experiences.”
The non-statutory guidance is currently being looked at by West Dunbartonshire’s education staff and a local handbook will be produced for review in due course.
Councillor Caroline McAllister, who was the SNP education committee vice convener, before she was sacked by council leader Jonathan McColl.
The motion by Cllr McAllister, who represents the Leven ward, made reference to puberty blockers, which is not part of the government document, and called for outside groups to be considered. It follows here:
Councillor McAllister – LGBT School Guidance – stated: “Council reaffirms it’s commitment to equality law assuring concerned parents that across the education establishment in West Dunbartonshire all pupils matter.
Council acknowledges the concerns expressed by parents regarding the latest Scottish Government non-statutory guidance on LGBT School Guidance.
Council is reminded that the previous version of said guidance was decreed to be unlawful as stated by the Cabinet Minister at the time in the chamber of the Scottish Parliament in June 2019.
Unfortunately, the recent guidance appears to contain similar recommendations as the previous and ignores the exemptions in the Equality Act 2010 that affords young women and girls the right to privacy and dignity in certain situations, e.g. single sex toilets and changing facilities.
It is also noted that significant and unreasonable responsibility is placed on teaching staff; who may not have the skill set or expertise, to support a child with these complex issues and are instructed to affirm school children’s ‘gender identity’ regardless of age, maturity and capacity to fully understand the implications; including children as young as four years of age.
The guidance states that schools are not obliged to disclose said changes to parents. As non-statutory guidance this places head teachers and schools at risk of law suits as well as eroding parents confidence and trust in teaching staff.
This is yet another sign of Government’s overreach into family life by excluding parents in this serious matter. Affirmation without sensitive, appropriate, age related, expert talking therapies has serious implications for individual children who may be unhappy or distressed about other underlying issues.
More and more evidence is coming to light of young people being affirmed and a couple of years down the line, experiencing “transition regret”. Sadly for many young people who were put on a medical pathway without due care and expert psychotherapy intervention, went on to have double mastectomies and hysterectomies and are left to mourn their decision, their infertility and the irreversible changes to their body. Research shows that children and young people who are put on puberty blockers, an experimental treatment; go on to cross sex hormones, whereas young people who are sensitively and expertly supported through puberty grow out of their distress and desist, often realising as they mature that they are gay and not trans.
Council is fully committed to ensuring all children and young people do not face discrimination or prejudice in their school life and calls upon the Education Department to explore other LGBT School Guidance available that ensures dignity and respect for all pupils.
Council calls upon the Education Department to consider Sex Matters, Transgender Trend and Gen Spect guidance as an alternative and to bring a report back to the March Council meeting on their findings.
The motion was condemned on social media ahead of the meeting by charities such as the Equality Network and LGBT and equalities campaigners.
Cllr McColl told the meeting: “I would also caution against supporting or promoting the organisations mentioned at the end of [Cllr McAllister’s] motion.
“The language used by these organisations is at best uncomfortable and is akin to that used by anti-LGBT rhetoric in years gone by.
“If we are to make our schools a place where everyone feels safe, we cannot associate ourselves with such views.”
Labour councillor John Mooney seconded Cllr McColl’s amendment. He condemned the motion that referred to gender identity only in quote marks, saying there was more than a century of research supporting it.
He said: “I’m a bit disturbed by some of the language used in the motion. It’s now accepted by researchers that gender identity is something distinct from biological sex.
“I’m also concerned that some of the language used is similar to the homophobic language I heard when I was growing up in the 70s, 80s and 90s – it’s the Section 28 language. It’s quite horrifying.
“I think we can now say gender identity is a fact. I don’t think we’re still in an era of coming up with this sort of hateful language.”
Supporting Cllr McAllister’s motion, Councillor Diane Docherty (SNP, Clydebank Central) said she was “disturbed” by the opposition by her colleagues.
She said: “I’m a lesbian and I think lesbianphobia is rampant in our society at the moment. We are fighting for the right to even call ourselves lesbians.”
Cllr Docherty said the SNP group had had long discussions on the subject in the run up to the meeting.
Group and council leader Cllr McColl said he understood, on a personal level, why it was necessary to support pupils — “I would say to Diane, as a bisexual man who only had the courage to come out over the weekend, as a result of the discussions I had on this item with Caroline and Diane, I understand exactly what she’s talking about. But this guidance may actually help with the abuse she’s seen online.
“We really need to create safe spaces in schools so that children and young people can be who they are without being pushed down a certain line.
“I’ve known I was bisexual since I was 10 years old. If it’s taken me till I’m 39 to have the courage to to be able to come out [and] how difficult I found that – how difficult must it be for a child in a school environment, when their body is changing, when they’re at the height of peer pressure? How difficult must it be for that child or young person?
“We have an absolute responsibility to do the right thing here. We have to implement this guidance in an appropriate way for West Dunbartonshire, so that no child, regardless of whether they believe they’re trans or gay or straight or anything, that no child feels uncomfortable and unsafe in school.”
The vote was 14 for Cllr McColl’s amendment and three for Cllr McAllister’s motion.