Debbie Hayton Debbie Hayton

Should it be left to a teenager to fight back against gender ideology?

(Getty images)

As we reflect on the Keira Bell case last week, spare a thought for another young person who is challenging an authority that has been bewitched by gender identity ideology. 

A 14-year-old schoolgirl, known only as Miss B, believes sex is distinct from gender identity. Many others agree with her. But unlike those who have been silenced or learned to self-censor in what is so often a malicious and nasty debate, this teenager is not prepared to stay quiet. She is taking a stand against the College of Policing’s guidance on ‘hate incidents’, because she fears that the vague definition of ‘hostility’ used on the College’s website – that even includes the perception of ‘ill will’, ‘unfriendliness’ or ‘dislike’ – could leave her with a police record.

She is right to be cautious; views like hers, which are nonetheless still mainstream, can be dangerous to hold in 2020. They cost Maya Forstater and Sasha White their livelihoods. They led to vicious campaigns against JK Rowling and Rosie

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