Win: Legal challenge against school’s inclusive approach withdrawn

A legal challenge against a school that has stood by its commitment to safeguarding all pupils, including trans children, has been withdrawn.

When the anti-trans lawyer Paul Conrathe started legal action against a school over their toilets and changing rooms earlier this year, Good Law Project stepped in.

This case wasn’t prompted by any problem. The school was following the law, taking a case-by-case approach to toilets and changing rooms that considered the individual circumstances, needs and safety of all pupils. Rather than imposing a blanket policy, it put children’s individual needs first.

Now Conrathe has withdrawn his misguided challenge.

The school meets the standards set out in the revised Keeping Children Safe in Education guidance, including the provision of private, gender-neutral spaces. 

But the fight isn’t over. Schools still have a duty under the Equality Act to protect trans pupils from discrimination. They must consider individual children’s needs, as well as making sure not to put them at any disadvantage, expose them to harm or force them to out themselves.

Schools should be places where every child is safe and supported – not battlegrounds for other people’s politics. 

According to Zoe Johannes, Senior Associate at Good Law Project, the withdrawal of this claim is “an important moment in the wider fight to protect the rights of trans children”.

“We will continue to stand with schools, families and young people in the fight to keep education safe and inclusive,” Johannes said. “Every child deserves to be treated with dignity, fairness and respect.”

Children are not pawns in a culture war. Their safety, wellbeing and rights must always come first.