School under fire after teenage pupils are told ‘many’ transgender people are murdered ‘simply because they try to be themselves’

An Edinburgh school has come under fire after pupils were told that “many” transgender people are “often killed” because of who they are.

The leading state school, which is part of a programme run by the charity LGBT Youth Scotland, teaches young people that ‘transgender people’ are ‘often abused and killed simply because of who they are’, it said The Telegraph.

A parent at the school told the newspaper that teachers were perpetuating “myths” from transgender activists who claim there is a “genocide” taking place against transgender people.

They accused the school of “misleading” students by feeding them “propaganda and misinformation” and “teaching children to believe things that are not true”.

There have been no recorded incidents of transgender people being murdered in Scotland, despite Channel 4 data from 2018 showing the ‘transgender murder rate is lower than the UK average’.

Leading state school teaches students that ‘transgender people’ are ‘often abused and killed’ because of who they are, according to The Telegraph (Stock photo)

The Telegraph claims it has seen teaching materials from the school, which is not being named to protect the identity of its students. According to the school, “transgender people are often abused and murdered simply because of who they are.”

The document also states that the “assigned gender” is “based on reproductive organs” that do not match “who [transgender people] ‘are’, the newspaper reported.

According to the educational institution, there has also been a ‘major increase in the number of racist incidents against ethnic minorities in England’ since the Brexit referendum.

A parent of a pupil at the school told the Telegraph: ‘The statistics presented to children are a misleading mess, with no context or basis whatsoever.

‘Although the focus is on transgender people, there is no mention of domestic violence, which many women experience, or of people with disabilities, who are a very vulnerable minority.

‘To me it just feels like propaganda and misinformation. They are trying to convince students that this is part of a story that is being told in Scottish schools.’

The school is part of a charter programme run by LGBT Youth Scotland, which has previously encouraged headteachers to build gender-neutral toilets and mark Transgender Day of Remembrance.

They added that there are many LGBT flags and pronouns displayed in Scottish schools, which “many parents and pupils are very fed up with”.

Transgender rights activists protest during a Gender Identity Talk at Portobello Library on March 14, 2023 in Edinburgh

Transgender rights counter-protesters disrupt Let Women Speak demonstration in Edinburgh on April 6, 2024

The parent said the idea that ‘you can be born in the wrong body’ has become normalised in Scottish schools, which they said is ‘really destabilising for a lot of children’.

Fiona McAnena, campaigner at the charity Sex Matters, called it “disgraceful” to teach pupils in this way and described it as a “new low” in the way sex education is taught in Scottish schools.

She said: ‘It is difficult to understand how someone involved in developing educational materials could be so irresponsible as to tell sensitive teenagers the lie that people who identify with the opposite sex are ‘often’ murdered.’

Ms McAnena added that the worksheet “fails to take into account the many ways in which women are disproportionately victims of crime” and that it makes it appear that other minority groups are “more in need of sympathy” than women and girls.

It comes after The Telegraph reported in May that Scottish primary schools had appointed children as ‘LGBT champions’ and were being encouraged to ask children as young as four whether they were gay, lesbian or transgender.

The paper claimed that schools were setting up LGBT clubs and “gender and sexual orientation alliance groups” for their pupils as part of their membership of another LGBT Youth Scotland programme.

As part of the programme, school staff will receive training from the charity, which provides an online guide and letter templates for children who want to change their gender at school, The Telegraph reports.

Schools participating in the program would be required to appoint at least two students and two staff members as “LGBT champions.”

They are also advised to conduct a survey among schoolchildren asking them if they are ‘part of the LGBT community’, in order to find out whether ‘bullying affects these students equally within the school’.

MailOnline has contacted Edinburgh City Council and LGBT Youth Scotland for comment.