Parents asked to help their 4-year-olds choose their gender

LONDON -- A city council has sent a letter to thousands of parents asking them to support the gender their children "most identify with" when confirming school places. 

The letter, sent this week, requested that parents help their children "choose" their gender identity, asking them to leave the gender section of the form blank if their child is non-binary. 

“We recognise that not all children and young people identify with the gender they were assigned at birth or may identify as a gender other than male or female, however the current systems (set nationally) only record gender as male or female," read the letter. 

“Please support your child to choose the gender they most identify with."

“Or if they have another gender identity please leave this blank and discuss with your child’s school.”

However, some have criticised the council for asking four-year-old children to choose their gender. 

"Asking 4 year olds what gender they identify with? PC madness. At 4, I thought I was a dog!" wrote one person on Twitter. 

"Rather amazed that any under 5 or even under 10 could have even an early concept of their gender principles," wrote another.

LGBTQ organisation Stonewall welcomed the move, saying it backs all efforts to "support children on trans and gender identity issues and ensure that they feel happy, welcome and accepted at school".

"Children may describe and express their gender identity in many different ways and this registration form rightly recognises that.

"We believe it is important for children to learn about diversity and inclusion, in an age-appropriate way," a spokesperson for Stonewall told Mashable.

Brighton & Hove City Council’s lead member for equalities, Councillor Emma Daniel defended the move, saying that the additional text about gender identity was "in response to calls from families, young people and schools to show an inclusive approach to gender".

"There are increasing numbers of children and young people nationally identifying as trans. Many trans people nationally report having been bullied when they were at school," said Daniel in a statement emailed to Mashable. 

"By acknowledging the range of gender identities in our school communities we are helping ensure schools are safe spaces for everyone. 

However, Daniel conceded that concerns had been raised about the wording used on the form relating to gender identity. 

"We will review this to see whether we can in future make it clearer that we consider discussions around gender identity to be an option for parents if they feel it is appropriate rather than an obligation," she said. 

The city council's move comes after Blatchington Mill School and Sixth Form College in Brighton sent home a gender survey with 25 options to choose from, including “tri-gender”, “gender fluid” and “genderqueer”.

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