The school governing body of Beaumont Primary School in Somerset West believes allowing a transgender boy to wear a male swimsuit may ‘cause social discomfort’, according to IOL.
The SGB declined an application made by the pupil’s parent to use the swimwear option for boys. The human rights body Triangle Project said ignorance and prejudice were still prevalent in schools.
The SGB said it had a duty not only to act in the individual child’s interest, but also in the collective interest of all children in the school.
‘In the case of the swimwear, it is important to keep in mind that a trans male 10-year-old still has to grapple with the developments of a biologically female body on the cusp of puberty,’ said SGB chairperson Dirk van Loggerenberg.
The school has created a unisex swimwear option. ‘The SGB has created an environment that can accommodate gender diversity while balancing the rights of the individual and the collective’.
The school has made a unisex toilet available to all learners. Transgender learners can make use of a unisex clothing option, comprising of shorts and a second skin top. It is important to note that both the unisex toilet, as well as the unisex swimwear options, are available to all learners’.
Health and support services manager at the Triangle Project, Reverend Sharon Cox said: ‘Much of the setting apart of “the other” is and has been done through clothing. A few metres of fabric has caused untold trauma for many young LGBTIQ+ learners.
‘This is something that cisgender people do not have to think twice about.’
Cox referred to outdated Eurocentric values continuing to inform who should be wearing what.
The Western Cape Education Department (WCED) said the school’s SGB has taken steps to address the matter.
[Image: fancycrave1 from Pixabay]