Toddler 'kicked out of nursery for being transphobic'
31 March 2025, 09:14 | Updated: 31 March 2025, 10:24
A toddler was kicked out of nursery for being "transphobic", figures have revealed.
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The child, aged either three or four, was suspended for "abuse against sexual orientation and gender identity", data from the Department for Education (DfE) showed.
The incident took place during the 2022-23 academic year at a state school, according to the Telegraph. Further details of the case were not disclosed.
In the same academic year, 94 pupils at state primary schools were suspended or permanently excluded for transphobia and homophobia.
Ten of which were from year one and three were from year two, where the maximum age is seven.
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Helen Joyce, director of advocacy at Sex Matters, told the paper: "Every once in a while, the extremes of gender ideology throw up a story that seems too crazy to believe, and a toddler being suspended from nursery for so-called 'transphobia' or homophobia is one such example.
"Worse still, this is not an isolated case. Apparently 13 four and five-year-olds were suspended or permanently excluded from school for the same reason.
"Teachers and school leaders involved in this insanity should be ashamed of themselves for projecting adult concepts and beliefs onto such young children.
"It’s unforgivable for children’s vital early education to be so traumatically disrupted by school leaders who prioritise activists’ demands over their charges’ wellbeing."
The number of pupils expelled or suspended for homophobic or transphobic behaviour across all state primary schools increased from 164 in 2021-22 to 178 in 2022-23.
The area with the largest number of suspensions and exclusions in the year 2022-23 was Essex, with 16, closely followed by 15 in Birmingham, 11 in Bradford and eight in Norfolk.
Figures only began in the 2020-21 academic year.
Director of the Free Speech Union Lord Young said: "It beggar’s belief that schools are suspending children as young as five for breaching their ‘transphobia’ policy.
"I would have thought that if your ideology is so rigid it justifies you punishing toddlers for not complying with it, that’s a powerful argument for discarding it in favour of something less dogmatic."
A DfE spokesman said: "All pupils and staff should feel safe and protected at school and should never face violence or abuse.
"The Education Secretary has been clear that she expects school leaders to enforce good behaviour and we are committed to a comprehensive programme of behaviour support for schools.
"Our Plan for Change sets out our relentless focus on making sure every child gets the best life chances, no matter their background, including establishing free breakfast clubs in every primary school, providing access to mental health support and making attendance one of the four core priorities of our school improvement teams."
