Teacher Calling Students' Transgender Remarks 'Despicable' Sparks Outrage

A teacher who chastised two female students as "despicable" for expressing their belief that there were only two genders has faced the outrage of local parents on social media.

The two girls, reported by multiple British outlets to be 13-year-old pupils at Rye College in East Sussex, U.K., entered into a heated debate with their teacher after questioning whether another student they identified as a girl could identify as a cat.

In an audio recording of the exchange uploaded to TikTok, they claimed that people of such a disposition were "generally unwell." The teacher, who has not been named publicly by the school, said that their beliefs were "not an opinion you can have" and that it was "very sad" that their mothers agreed with them.

The incident speaks to a wider issue of the inclusion of transgender and non-binary discussions in education curricula. While advocates say that teaching about gender identity helps students who are questioning their own, some argue that alternate views should also be discussed and others say the issue should not be discussed at all.

The verbal reprimand, in which the teacher said that if the pupils did not like what they were learning, they "can go to a different school," was reported to have taken place in a life education class at the Church of England school on Friday. The conversation was uploaded to TikTok the following day.

In a statement given to Newsweek, a spokesperson for Rye College said: "We are committed to offering our pupils an inclusive education. Teachers endeavor to ensure that pupils' views are listened to, and encourage them to ask questions and engage in discussion. Teachers also aim to answer questions sensitively and honestly.

"We strive to uphold the highest standards across the school. We will be reviewing our processes and working with the relevant individuals to ensure such events do not take place in the future."

One argument that has gained prominence in both the U.K. and the U.S. is that greater transgender acceptance poses a threat to biological women, whose hard-won rights face being encroached upon by who they see as biological men.

In a YouGov poll on various subjects around the issue in May 2022, 36 percent of Brits agreed that increased transgender recognition posed a genuine risk to some women's rights, while 33 percent disagreed and 31 percent did not know.

Trans rights and inclusion are proving to be deeply polarizing issues in America as well. A 2022 survey by the Pew Research Center found that 38 percent of Americans believe society had gone too far in accepting trans people, while 36 percent said it had not gone far enough.

In a tweet that has been seen more than 467,000 times as of 10:30 a.m. ET on Monday, Susie Govett, a former local councilor in the neighboring district of Folkestone & Hythe, wrote that she was "very proud of my daughter's friends."

"Teacher calls them 'despicable' and conflates scientific fact with homophobia," she added. "Extremist views being enforced is deeply sinister."

Part of the conversation audible on the TikTok tape includes the teacher questioning the girls' opinions, suggesting a rise in homophobia was in part linked to such views. The girls then deny being homophobic, and distinguish their views about gender from their acceptance of gay people.

In a follow-up tweet, Govett said: "Our daughters' teacher shuts down debate and tells them they're not allowed to have opinions."

She referenced a since-deleted tweet by a woman who described herself as one of the girls' mothers, who decried the teacher's conduct as "disgusting behavior."

A parent of another pupil at the school told the Telegraph newspaper that while they "understand the point the teacher was attempting to make," they took issue with "the shutting down of debate in such a threatening and aggressive manner, which I don't believe is appropriate in an educational setting."

Newsweek approached Govett and the mother via direct message for comment on Monday.

In the recording, the teacher can be heard saying: "How dare you? You just really upset someone." There is what sounds like wailing in the background, and it is unclear exactly what was said prior to it starting.

One of the girls responds: "If they want to identify as a cat or something, then they're, like, generally unwell."

"Where did you get this idea that there's only two genders?" the teacher asks. Both girls respond: "That's my opinion."

The teacher then says that theirs is "not an opinion you can have," adding that gender was "about how you identify" rather than "the parts that you were born with."

"Maybe I don't agree with it, so why should I have to listen to it if I don't agree with it?" one of the girls asks at one point.

Later in the exchange, the other girl says: "If you have a vagina, you're a girl; if you have a penis, you're a boy. That's it."

The teacher notes that some people are born intersex—with a mix of both male and female reproductive organs—before arguing that "cisgender is not necessarily the way to be. You are talking about the fact that cisgender is the norm, that you identify with the sexual organs that you were born with or you're weird—that's what you're saying."

When both the girls agree, adding their mothers would also concur, the teacher says that "is really despicable."

She then reiterates that she believes the two girls are "confusing sex and gender," and says of the gender identity teaching: "It's not an opinion and if you don't like it, you can go to a different school."

Academic research tends towards the view that there are two forms of biological sex a person's body can present, but though linked to these forms, there may be multiple genders as they are a social or mental construct. However, many Americans believe that gender is rooted in sex.

Update 6/21/23 3:54 a.m. ET: This article has been updated to note that Newsweek has contacted Susie Govett and the mother of one of the girls for comment.