​Introduction

 

In August 2025, ScotPAG interviewed a former manager in education in a large Scottish education service and a head teacher of a moderately sized primary school. Both interviewees shared with us their concerns about the impact gender ideology and the transgender movement is having on our Scottish education system, the teaching profession, pupils and their families. We have put the two interviews together in this article so that readers can compare and contrast the interviewees’ responses. We think that our interviewees’ answers provide much food for thought.

 

Both interviewees requested to remain anonymous; sadly, our Scottish context has not yet arrived at a place where open discussion and critical thinking can occur without recourse to being attacked by activists and punished by employers. (August 2025)

 

ScotPAG Interview with an Education Manager

 

1.    Please provide a brief summary of your background in education

I started out as a primary teacher for a local authority. I was a primary teacher for a number of years before I became a Head Teacher of a moderately sized primary school. I then moved to various senior managerial roles in education at both local and national levels.

 

2. When did you start to become aware of the ‘transgender’ ‘gender identity' issue & what  

    alerted you to it?

I became aware of this issue approximately ten years ago, mostly through social media. I came across Magdalen Berns who was brilliantly entertaining and also incredibly astute in her assessment of what the gender ideology movement meant for our culture and the implications for potential harms for women and children.

 

3. Did you have immediate concerns or did these develop over time? 

Absolutely, I had concerns right away. I was worried about how children might be affected especially the influence of social media. Initially though I expected gender ideology to be largely a niche issue. I think I became surprised about how it developed over time and how influential it has become. I find it appalling that society and its leaders have mostly taken a view that is simply not impartial. It is incredible that it is an issue that is not really open to discussion amongst many people, even within families. It has become the latest fad. In my day it was Goths. Goths wanted to express themselves but you rarely see a middle aged Goth so I can only presume they all get out of it. However, gender ideology, if taken to the extreme, can lead to permanent changes. I worry that the young people of today are sleepwalking into serious issues- both physical and mental.

 

4. When did you become aware of the Scottish Government’s ‘trans’ guidance for school 

    pupils?  What did you think of them?

I was immediately aware of the guidance when it was published in August 2021. I thought the guidance was shockingly misinformed and did not present a balanced approach. I thought the guidance was pandering to an ideology that basically just a fad. I thought that the guidance was potentially dangerous, not based on sound evidence and not at all helpful to anyone let alone professionals in the Scottish education system.

 

5. Have you been able to discuss your concerns about gender ideology with your staff in schools? What response did you get?

Yes, I have discussed my concerns about gender ideology on an individual level with trusted educationalists. However, it has been very tricky to navigate the issues created by the gender ideologues as they became so influential. This movement was being pushed by the Scottish Government. It really did feel that some of our politicians were pressuring us to promote this in schools. Perhaps with the benefit of hindsight, I could have done more. It seems to me that the push for the ‘inclusion’ of transgender individuals, whatever we mean by the term ‘transgender’ is promoting a willful neglect of child safeguarding.

 

6. Have you been able to raise any concerns that you have about gender ideology with education managers in your local authority?

Yes, on individual basis about specific cases. For example mixed sex bedroom sharing arrangements on a school trip. I got legal services involved to ensure single sex facilities was provided for all pupils.

 

7. Have you been able to discuss this issue with other non-teaching professionals in your local authority? eg educational psychologists, social workers, school doctors? How helpful were these discussions?

Yes I raised the issue with some educational psychologists but they were reluctant to engage in discussion with me. I also talked with some senior leaders in the Council. I also raised the issue of language used by HR colleagues. My view was and is that  language as used by gender ideologues erases women, is harmful to children, and is an insidious use of language.

 

8. In your view what are the harms caused by gender ideology?

 

• Scarce resources are diverted away from those that really need support eg disabled 

   children and adults, children who live in poverty or who have experienced trauma, women  

   needing treatment for issues that only affect them.

• Safeguarding of children is compromised

• It’s unhelpful and confusing to children and adults alike to peddle ideas not based on    

   reality

• psychologically harmful to tell kids lies about their bodies 

• It’s anti-women and deeply misogynistic as it promotes gender stereotypes for both extra 

• It’s anti-gay as this ideology strongly encourages, in some cases, potentially same sex  

  attracted young people to become the opposite sex instead which, of course, is not   

  possible in any biological sense. There is no “watch and wait” strategy- it is about  

  affirmation. 

• There are clear medical harms caused by making kids think they should seek puberty  

   blockers, surgery etc

 

9. Parents of children who have identified as ‘trans’ vary in their response: some affirm, 

    some do everything they can to avoid affirming their child. What has been your 

    experience?  

I have limited direct experience of this. But my view is that there is no such thing as a trans child and the claims by some that a child can become suicidal etc if they don’t receive so-called  ‘affirming care’ is a dangerous assertion and one which places parents on an impossible position . I have huge sympathy for parents who are having to grapple with these issues because their child or children have been indoctrinated. My view is that affirming a child or teenager will cause problems not solve them. I am aware of a number of individuals who are now adults, who transitioned as children. They have become very unhappy adults. I know there is quite a bit of research on this too…although I can’t quote the studies off the top of my head!

 

10. Have you come across colleagues who disagree with you about this issue? If so, what 

      has happened?

Yes. Although there are many who think like me, they do not express it.  Others are more captured by the current trend.  I would like to think that due to a lack of critical examination, they have adopted a misinformed, populist view….perhaps they just have not done their homework! As soon as you do a bit of research and reading around this topic, it is perfectly apparent that the claims around gender ideology are false. As a society, we need to have an open discussion about what has happened and is happening to our public services. We need to talk about how its staff have embraced a false concept and in many cases have, for various reasons, been unable or too frightened to speak about it.

 

11. What has surprised you most about the gender ideology issue? 

It’s hard to credit the behaviour of some seemingly intelligent people who have bought into an ideology that is extremely damaging to children. You don’t affirm kids with anorexia, and transgenderism is similar. Adolescence is such a difficult time for many children as they are experimenting with themselves and are trying to find out who they are. The last thing they need is for a bogus ideology to come along and tell them that they are born in the wrong body or can change sex. In my view, the kids who are affected by this are being impacted by a social contagion. What is shocking is that a number of  adults who should know better are encouraging this or certainly failing to stop this by going along with things and failing to offer any challenge. Also I think there has been an unseemly haste to medicalise this issue.

 

12. Do you think that schools have, at least in part, been responsible for the huge increase 

      in children thinking that they can change sex and/or wanting to change sex?

Yes…schools are hierarchical and are deeply influenced by the Scottish Government and council policies as well as the views promoted by their Trade Unions. They are unlikely to challenge either as a result. Schools got better at supporting kids in terms of issues to do with sexual orientation and homophobic bullying but over the last ten years thanks largely due to the Scottish Government and activists, they have ended up almost promoting one particular ideology to the detriment of all others. This is ridiculous. It also takes away from other protected characteristics such a disability where there is a huge need for more resources and support for children. In less authoritarian times, teaching staff might have been encouraged and supported by their union to think for themselves and to speak out more.

 

13. What is your view of the stance Education Scotland has taken about gender ideology?

Education Scotland is the regulatory body for Scottish education. It should be clear about the standards it is setting and clear about safeguarding. It has presided over the ‘trans’ school guidance and its unbalanced and fictitious representation of ‘trans’ issues. It would appear to be dominated by a Scottish Government agenda and has no critical evaluation of the potential  harms of gender ideology.

 

14. In your view, what next steps should politicians and educational leaders be taking?

Educational leaders should get rid of the schools ‘trans’ guidance as a matter of urgency. 

Currently our Scottish educational leaders are burying their heads in the sand, especially given the Supreme Court ruling. 

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ScotPAG Interview with a Head Teacher

 

1. Please state a brief summary about your background in education

I changed careers in my early thirties and retrained to be a primary teacher. I’ve worked in a range of posts in primary education for a local authority. I’ve held the following posts: Principal Teacher, Depute Head Teacher and Head Teacher.  I’ve worked in various primary schools in a variety of settings from big to small and rural to city and large conurbation areas. I’ve been a Head Teacher for over 11 years.

 

2. When did you start to become aware of the ‘transgender’ ‘gender identity issue & what 

    alerted you to it?

I can remember exactly! It was JK Rowling’s comment on 6th June 2020 in response to an article discussing ‘people who menstruate’: “‘People who menstruate.’” I’m sure there used to be a word for those people. Someone help me out. Wumben? Wimpund? Woomund?” Then there was a pile on on her Twitter account. I became curious regarding what was going on.

 

3. Did you have immediate concerns or did these develop over time?  Please give details

My concerns definitely evolved over time. Early on I was concerned about women being undermined and erased from our language so I started researching the issue. I also started to become aware of people using pronouns in emails and when they were introducing themselves.

 

4. When did you become aware of the Scottish Government’s ‘trans’ guidance for school 

    pupils? What did you think of them?

There was no big fanfare in our Council when this guidance came out. I was aware that it was published in August 2021 at the start of the school session. But schools were at that point, still in covid restrictions and full-on aiming to recover what had been lost because of the restrictions, so we were much more focussed on that. 

 

5. Have you been able to discuss your concerns about gender ideology with your staff in 

    schools? What response did you get?

Yes. All my staff know what my views are about ‘trans’ ideology. There’s no way we would promote gender ideology in our school. My staff know that it’s ok not to agree about gender ideology and that it’s safe for them to air their views.

 

6. Have you been able to raise any concerns you have about gender ideology with 

    education managers in your local authority?

No. there’s never been really been an opportunity. However I’m part of a network of schools called a learning community which involves 9 other schools and we are able to discuss the issue in that context. many of my friends are teachers and the majority do not support the concept of gender ideology. My impression is that secondary schools may be more in support of promoting the idea of gender ideology because more pupils, as far as I can tell, in secondary are identifying as ‘trans’.

 

7. Have you been able to discuss this issue with other non-teaching professionals in your 

    local authority? e.g. educational psychologists, social workers, school doctors? 

    How helpful were these discussions?

My educational psychologist wears a lanyard associated with gender ideology, otherwise I would have raised this with her. I haven’t discussed the issue with any other professional outside of education.

 

8. In your view what are the harms caused by gender ideology?

Safeguarding is a huge issue. It seems to be the case that some professionals and adults have lost sight of the fact that in education we are dealing with children and schools are being encouraged by activists to teach children things that are not true. Children are being encouraged to believe lies and to disbelieve facts. This has huge potential to confuse children and to cause mental stress. I also think that there are huge cultural and societal implications for promoting what is in effect a mass deception. I am also aware that student teachers are being pressured to conform to gender ideological ideas. Also there are some individuals who are basically displaying a fetish in public, have been emboldened by what has happened over the last five to ten years. I have witnessed an every increasing number of fetishistic behaviours being displayed in city centres (eg a man dressed as a six year old schoolgirl). This feels really quite threatening to women and children.

 

9. Parents of children who have identified as ‘trans’ vary in their response: some affirm some 

   do everything they can to avoid affirming their child. What has been your experience ?

I haven’t experienced that in my school although I’m aware that a pupil who was previously at my school is now in secondary school, has been affirmed by the parent and the pupil is now identifying as ‘trans’. 

 

10. Have you come across colleagues who disagree with you about this issue? If so, what 

      has happened?

       No. 

 

11. What has surprised you most about the gender ideology issue?

I’ve been surprised that something so obviously false has become so power across all our public institutions.

 

12. Do you think that schools have, at least in part, been responsible for the huge increase 

      in children thinking that they can change sex and/or wanting to change sex?

Yes in part, especially if you are willing to teach all of the Relationships, Sexual Health and Parenting (RSHP) module. There is a section in the Primary part of the RSHP which discusses ‘trans’ and affirmation. And gender ideology is interwoven throughout the secondary RSHP. So there’s a real ‘product placement’ going on. Also LGBTYS has had a huge influence especially on the secondary schools.

 

13. What is your view of the stance Education Scotland has taken about gender ideology?

The have been captured by gender ideology and have gone along with it completely. They have sanctioned Time for Inclusive Education (TIE) which promotes gender ideology as compulsory for all schools. Education Scotland have failed to think critically and failed to look at the evidence. They have gone along with the Scottish Government in helping to normalise a fetish.

 

14. In your view, what next steps should politicians and educational leaders be taking?

They should be the adults in the room. They should be understanding what the cultural impact is on society for promoting a lie. Instead, many individual leaders and politicians seem to have joined in on promoting the lie. They should have been taking a lead in stopping this deception.

 

15.  Any other comments?

So many children do feel different and it is just a normal part of growing up. That is nothing new. But over the last decade children have been encouraged and indoctrinated to think that there is something wrong with themselves. Those children who feel like they don’t fit in, and children in general, have been encouraged down the rabbit hole of gender ideology which has the attraction of badges, banners, affirmation and being made to feel special. This is a collective harm which in turn, harms society.