A teacher at a Church of England school in the United Kingdom reportedly labeled a 13-year-old girl "despicable" on Friday, June 16, after asking one of her classmates how she identifies as a cat.
At the conclusion of their eighth-grade "life education" session at Rye College in East Sussex, the girl and her friend received a lecture from their instructor, who told them that they might be anyone they wanted to be and that how they identify is up to them.
One of the pupils then turned to another and questioned: "How can you identify as a cat when you're a girl?"
According to the New York Post, a tape of the conversation reveals that the instructor warned the pupils that she would report them to the school administration if they persisted in saying that only boys and girls exist.
One of the students recorded the argument between the teacher and the students, in which the instructor can be heard ranting, "How dare you, you've just really upset someone" by "questioning their identity."
"If they want to identify as a cat or something, then they are genuinely unwell - crazy," the student responds.
Gender Stereotypes Held by Students
The teacher reportedly probes the class about their assumptions about gender.
The instructor reiterated an earlier point: "Gender is how you identify," not what body part an individual is born with.
The educator went on to say, "There is actually three biological sexes because you can be born with male and female body parts or hormones ... [and] there are lots of genders - there is transgender, there is a gender who are people who don't believe that they have a gender at all."
They were in disagreement with the teacher, saying that "if you have a vagina, you're a girl, and if you have a penis, you're a boy."
The educator then spoke up to remind the class that being cisgender is not only not the law but also not the norm. "You are talking about the fact that cisgender is the norm, that you identify with the sexual organ you were born with. That's basically what you're saying, which is really despicable," the teacher stated.
She then made remarks implying the girls were homophobic or confused, which the students swiftly refuted.
The educator responded that the pupils should find a new school if they did not like the idea and that she would be reporting them.
A Debate on the Matter
A parent of another kid who got the same lesson told the media that although they understood the argument the teacher was trying to make, they should not have barred pupils from having a debate on the matter.
The parent told The Telegraph, "I understand the point the teacher was attempting to make. What bothers me is the shutting down of debate in such a threatening and aggressive manner, which I don't believe is appropriate in an educational setting."
They added that regardless of the topic at hand, education should promote the knowledge of other perspectives and that no brainwashing of any kind should occur.
