The Times - UK (2022-01-03)

the times | Monday January 3 2022 V2 13

News

A leading group of girls’ schools is to
close its doors on boys who identify as
girls to protect their status as single-sex
institutions.
Girls’ Day School Trust (GDST),
which represents 25 schools across
England, has updated its gender ident-
ity policy. Previously, most girls’
schools had been unclear in their ad-
missions policies about whether they
would accept transgender pupils.
While many have pupils at the school
who have changed their gender ident-
ity, asking to be treated as male or non-
binary, they had avoided explicitly stat-
ing whether they would admit biologi-
cal boys who identify as girls.
GDST, which includes Wimbledon
High School, Royal High School Bath,
Oxford High School and Newcastle
High School for Girls, says in its new
policy: “GDST is committed to single-
sex education for girls. Admissions to
GDST schools are based on the pro-
spective student’s legal sex as recorded
on their birth certificate.”
It says of applicants who are legally
female but who identify as trans or non-
binary: “Applications will be carefully
considered on a case-by-case basis.
Single-sex schools present a particular
context for transgender students.
There may be cultural challenges in-
volved in a trans student who does not
identify as a girl attending a school
which deliberately tailors its ethos and
educational approach to cater specific-
ally for girls.”
The trust says of children who are le-
gally male but identify as trans or non-
binary: “GDST schools are able to oper-
ate a single-sex admissions policy, with-
out breaching the Equality Act 2010 on
the basis of an exemption relating to bi-
ological sex. GDST believes that an ad-
missions policy based on gender ident-
ity rather than the legal sex recorded on

people aged over 55 said it was possible

the landing was faked.

Bill Kaysing, a former US navy offi-

cer who in 1976 wrote We Never Went to

the Moon, is credited with being one of

the first conspiracy theorists. “It’s well

documented that Nasa was often badly

managed,” he said. “But as of 1969 we

could suddenly perform manned flight

[to the moon] with complete success?

It’s against all statistical odds.”

The Flat Earth Society claimed that

Nasa hired Stanley Kubrick, the Holly-

wood director, to “film” the footage,

with the “moon” only a film set.

In 2002 Bart Sibrel, a conspiracy

theorist, was punched by Buzz Aldrin,

the second man on the moon, after

confronting him about the landing.

Roger Launius, a former chief histo-

rian of Nasa, said that everyone loved

conspiracy theories, adding: “Every

time something big happens, some-

body has a counter-explanation.”

Trans pupils are

turned down by

girls’ schools as

threat to status

Nicola Woolcock Education Editor a student’s birth certificate would jeop-
ardise the status of GDST schools as
single-sex schools under the act.
“For this reason, GDST schools do
not accept applications from students
who are legally male. We will, however,
continue to monitor the legal interpre-
tation of this exemption.”
Cheryl Giovannoni, the GDST chief
executive, said that the schools were
trying to offer a “supportive environ-
ment” to pupils exploring their gender
identity. “Our trans students are wel-
come in our schools and our policy pri-
marily sets out ways in which schools
can support them,” she said.
The guidance was updated and
shared with member schools before the
Christmas break. State school head-
teachers are also keen for guidance.
Julie McCulloch of the Association of
School of College Leaders (ASCL), said
that as more children identified as
transgender, heads were forced to make
decisions on biological sex and gender.
“The lack of formal guidance for
schools is something that we are con-
cerned about,” she told The Sunday
Telegraph. “It is something that almost
all schools are having to think about but
particularly single-sex schools.”
Stonewall, which champions
LGBTQ rights, works with schools,
companies and government depart-
ments, advising them on how to be
“champions”. But several institutions
have dropped their membership over
concerns about its diversity scheme.
Stone King, a firm of lawyers special-
ising in education, says that co-educa-
tional schools must not discriminate
against a transgender child.
Its website says: “Where a transgen-
der applicant applies for admission,
single sex schools should carefully con-
sider the matter and whether any ad-
justments can be made to accommo-
date the child: a blanket refusal other-
wise risks being unlawful.”

T

rigger warnings

have been used

to ensure that

students are not

upset by

references to violence

against women in an

ancient Greek poem

(Nicola Woolcock

writes). The work, Types

of Women, which is more

than 2,500 years old, is

taught to first-year

Classics students at

Reading. The university is

one of several institutions

to issue warnings about

potentially distressing

content. The Globe

Theatre in London

warned audiences last

year that its production of

Romeo and Juliet showed

suicide and fake blood

and shared the

Samaritans’ phone

number before

performances.

Reading removed the

trigger warning after the

professor running the

course decided to change

the extract taught,

removing the most

upsetting references. This

was partly to avoid

distressing students and

partly because the new

extract was more

relevant, the university

said. The poem by

Semonides of Amorgos,

written in the 7th century

BC, refers to smashing

out the teeth of an

uncontrollable wife. It

says the Greek god Zeus

created ten types of

women, only one of

whom is virtuous.

Students were told

before discussions that

the work was an example

of “extreme misogyny in

archaic Greece”.

In response to a

freedom of information

request by the Mail on

Sunday, the university

said: “The portion of the

poem now omitted

involved a brief reference

to domestic violence.” It

added: “That part seemed

unnecessarily unpleasant

and (potentially)

triggering.”

Ewen Bowie, professor

emeritus of classical

languages and literature

at Oxford University, told

the newspaper that

ancient works needed to

be “understood in

context”. He added:

“When you start

censoring reading lists

you are putting your foot

on the slippery slope.”

Reading said the poem

contained “a particularly

nasty reference to

smashing your wife’s

teeth out with a rock, in

an effort to control her”.

It said the professor

decided not to include

those lines to avoid

focusing on extreme

misogyny and “so as not

to give first-year Classics

students, who may be

learning about ancient

Greece for the first time,

an inaccurate impression

of Greek culture and

literature from this

period, which while

clearly misogynistic, does

not generally highlight

acts of domestic abuse.”

It added: “This is not

censorship, nor is it

mollycoddling over-

sensitive students.

Nothing has been

cancelled.” The university

said the full text of the

poem was available in

printed copies and online

for students.

University needs boars,

Kevin Maher, Times2, page 2

Greek poem

‘censored’ to

avoid upset

for students

Women in ancient Greece,

depicted here on pottery

from 400BC, were the

subject of “nasty” domestic

violence lines in the poem

ALAMY

Brixton plaque to honour Darcus Howe

A blue plaque is to be unveiled in
honour of the black rights activist
Darcus Howe on the street where the
1981 Brixton riots began.
Howe arrived in London from Trini-
dad, where he was born, as a teenager in
1961 intending to study law before join-
ing the British Black Panthers.
He first came to public attention in
1970 as one of the nine protesters —
known as the “Mangrove Nine” — ar-
rested and tried on charges including
conspiracy to incite a riot.
The trial followed a protest against
police raids of The Mangrove restau-
rant in Notting Hill, west London.
Howe and his fellow co-accused were
acquitted of the most serious charges.
The case was dramatised in the
acclaimed 2020 BBC series Small Axe.
Howe later edited Race Today, and
was chairman of the Notting Hill
Carnival, but was probably best known
as a charismatic television broadcaster,
presenting the pioneering Channel 4
series Black on Black and the current
affairs show Devil’s Advocate.

He died aged 74 in 2017, at his home

in Streatham, south London, where he

lived with his wife Leila.

A plaque in his memory is due to be

unveiled tomorrow on Railton Road in

nearby Brixton, which was known as the

“Front Line” during the riots.

It will join an existing plaque mark-

ing the time the revolutionary, writer

and historian C L R James spent in Brix-

ton. Both are on the building that cur-

rently houses the Brixton Advice

Centre and was previously home to the

Race Today Collective, which Howe

co-founded.

The plaque honouring Howe was

created by the Nubian Jak Foundation,

which works with English Heritage. It is

sponsored by Black History Walks. A

spokesperson for the tour operators

said: “With the struggle against police

racism and brutality currently happen-

ing across the world, it is vital that

young activists learn about the recent

history of black radicalism in Britain,

including the black radical press, in or-

der to harness the revolutionary

potential of the media in the fight for ra-

cial justice.

“Race Today and its collective of writ-

ers fought police brutality, challenged

racist institutions and, by linking the

experiences of black communities in

Britain with other struggles revealed

the interconnectedness of exploitation

on the basis of race, sex and class.”

It was expected that a DJ will play

some of Howe’s favourite music at the

unveiling ceremony.

The London blue plaques scheme

began in 1866 and is believed to be the

oldest of its kind in the world. More

than 950 plaques honour individuals

and groups on buildings across the

capital city.

Over half of Britons doubt

moon landings were real

More than half of Britons believe that

the moon landings may have been

faked, with millennials the most scepti-

cal, according to a survey.

A poll of 2,000 people found that

54 per cent were not sure that Neil

Armstrong was the first man to walk on

the lunar surface in July 1969.

Despite the Apollo 11 mission being

watched by 650 million people world-

wide, more than half of those asked said

they believed the landing could have

been “staged” by America in its battle

for dominance in space with Russia.

The survey, by ToppCasino-

Bonus.com, asked if people thought it

was “possible” for the 1969 landing and

subsequent missions to have been

faked. Millennials (those aged 24 to 35)

were the most sceptical, with 64 per

cent doubting the landing. The propor-

tion dropped to 62 per cent among 16 to

24-year-olds and 50 per cent for 35 to

54-year-olds. Forty-five per cent of

Darcus Howe died

in 2017; he had

edited Race Today