Schools: Gender-questioning Children Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateEarl of Leicester
Main Page: Earl of Leicester (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)Department Debates - View all Earl of Leicester's debates with the Department for Education
(6 months ago)
Lords ChamberMy Lords, following on from the observation of the noble Baroness, Lady Meacher, does my noble friend agree that for 90% of children suffering from gender dysphoria, it passes once they mature, and that maturation comes in their very early 20s?
The honest answer to my noble friend is that there is still insufficient evidence to make such a definitive statement. My right honourable friend the Minister for Women and Equalities, in her letter to the Women and Equalities Select Committee, wrote that
“studies have found a link between gender non-conformity in childhood and someone later coming out as gay”,
and certainly that
“A young person and their family may notice that they are gender non-conforming earlier than they are aware of their developing sexual orientation. If gender non-conformity is misinterpreted as evidence of being transgender … the child may not have had a chance to identify, come to terms with or explore a same-sex orientation”.