School's letter to parents tells them male teacher will return to class as a woman

[DarkWingedAngel]

A primary school has written to parents to explain that a male teacher will be returning after Christmas as a woman.
St Mary Magdalen's School in Accrington have asked pupils to address Nathan Upton as Miss Meadows from the start of the Spring term.
Karen Hardman, the headteacher at the Church of England school, said Mr Upton, who will also be dressing as a woman, has her full support.
Mr Upton has asked for his privacy to be respected, saying it had not been an easy decision to make.
Headteacher Karen Hardman said she realised that the issues was "bound to arouse interest".
But she added: "This is a personal matter for our staff member, who has our full support, and we are all working together to ensure it has the least impact on the smooth running of our school."
In a statement Mr Upton thanked school governors and colleagues for their support, and asked for his privacy to be respected.
The letter, notifying parents and guardians of staff changes at the Church of England school, ends: "Mr Upton has recently made a significant change in his life and will be transitioning to live as a woman. After the Christmas break, she will return to work as Miss Meadows."
The announcement has provoked concerns from some parents, who claim it has confused pupils who have got to know him as a man.
Dad Wayne Cowie has three sons at the school, aged six, eight and ten.
Mr Cowie, of Westwood Street, Accrington, said Mr Upton is his son's year group teacher.
He said: "He has had this teacher for three years. All of a sudden he is going to be coming to school after Christmas as a woman.
"They are too young to be dealing with that."her
See more in the Accrington Observer (http://www.accringtonobserver.co.uk/) , out on Thursday

I think this is disrespectful, he could have at least had the decency to at least use her desired gender pronouns.

Original article on Lucy's transition and return to work:
http://www.accringtonobserver.co.uk/news/local-news/accrington-schools-letter-parents-tells-1273948
Article on Lucy's death
http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/local-news/teacher-due-begin-new-term-1767749
Insincere obituary with incorrect pronouns from The Daily Mail
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2297116/Primary-school-teacher-32-announced-pupils-changing-sex-dead-home.html?ito=feeds-newsxml
The now removed column from The Daily Mail's Richard Littlejohn:
http://web.archive.org/web/20121221195332/http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-2251347/Nathan-Uptons-wrong-body--hes-wrong-job.html
page with links on article
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151426192112961&set=a.10150233180642961.323186.90277962960&type=1
and this is a petition to fire littlejohn.
https://www.change.org/en-GB/petitions/the-daily-mail-fire-richard-littlejohn-for-victimizing-lucy-meadows-leading-to-her-possible-suicide

[Ajmichael]

Actually, the letter was sent before he made a public change to being a woman, so it is right that the gender pronouns were used in order to inform parents which member of staff was changing to become a woman. The newspaper also informs readers of the change. If the article was to use the female gender pronoun only when referring to Mr Upton, the article would itself be pointless, as it would be informing people that a woman, now wished to be a woman. I think it is actually very respectfully written in a situation where the there is much political correctness, as you have demonstrated.

[DarkWingedAngel]

Actually she had come out. that's enough need to wright it in the female pronouns. he also said in a different article that her being the way she was it is wrong to be a teacher. Last time a checked transgender people can be a teacher and it doesn't change a thing. now unless you are saying it is wrong to be a transgender teacher.

[Desuetude]

We had the exact same thing happen in our school, one of the teachers has gender dysphoria and a couple months ago came back to school as a woman. Honestly it's hard to know what to refer to her as. She was my teacher last year and when people talk about her in past tense they always pause to wonder if they should refer to her as he. It's not disrespectful, if anything people are just confused as to what they should say. They're trying to be respectful, I don't think they'd go out of their way to anger people and disrespect people with a real medical condition.

Also conserning the article I do think it will be a little hard for the students to adapt to calling her Miss especially since the kids are a lot younger than my school which is 11-16 and even we had trouble at first and some kids are awkward talking to her. I don't think she should have to change jobs because it, that is what's disrespectful. The kids will learn eventually and at least they might be taught about it at a younger age which means they should be more open minded about the subject as they grow up.

[Stronger]

Actually she had come out. that's enough need to wright it in the female pronouns. he also said in a different article that her being the way she was it is wrong to be a teacher. Last time a checked transgender people can be a teacher and it doesn't change a thing. now unless you are saying it is wrong to be a transgender teacher.

Where did he even mention that?

We had the exact same thing happen in our school, one of the teachers has gender dysphoria and a couple months ago came back to school as a woman. Honestly it's hard to know what to refer to her as. She was my teacher last year and when people talk about her in past tense they always pause to wonder if they should refer to her as he. It's not disrespectful, if anything people are just confused as to what they should say. They're trying to be respectful, I don't think they'd go out of their way to anger people and disrespect people with a real medical condition.

Also conserning the article I do think it will be a little hard for the students to adapt to calling her Miss especially since the kids are a lot younger than my school which is 11-16 and even we had trouble at first and some kids are awkward talking to her. I don't think she should have to change jobs because it, that is what's disrespectful. The kids will learn eventually and at least they might be taught about it at a younger age which means they should be more open minded about the subject as they grow up.

This I agree with, it may be confusing for those who don't under stand the term transgenered, and in turn wouldn't know how to properly address said person who is transgenered.

[Ajmichael]

Can I also point out that the person in question was found dead at her home the other day? Apparently not in suspicious circumstances but I did not want anyone else commenting and saying things which would be disrespectful.

[DarkWingedAngel]

Look through the links. There are more articles about her that the guy wrote. He said it was wrong to be a teacher and go through the transition. that is why I posted this. don't just read the quoted shit read everything then you will understand (hopefully) why I am pissed about the guy who wrote all this.

[Ajmichael]

Could I just point out that he writes for the Daily Mail?

[xxPerryPlatypusxx]

aw man this is horrible
I mean that this parent didn't have the proper decency to respect that this teacher now wanted to be addressed as a woman. I mean whether its confusing or not.... people should still accept transgenderism
people that are against it sicken me
just like people who are against gays and what not. they are all people too. they deserve equality and respect.
I hope that her change doesn't effect her career in any way like parents try and get her fired because descrimation based on genderism etc is against the law.
if she were my teacher I would totally respect her. and call her by whatever she decides. +1 for this teacher :)

[Fiction]

I don't think the father is deliberately trying to be disrespectful. He doesn't understand the teacher, and we're naturally scared and don't trust things we don't understand. The father then had to leave his children in the care of something he doesn't trust. Of course he's going to speak out about that. Protection of our children is one of the strongest biological urges we have as a human.

I'm not condoning it as right, but I don't think he's wrong in what he's doing either - it's natural. And until it's become a commonplace thing the reactions will be the same. The man needs education, and not being called disrespectful.

[Ryhanna]

We shouldn't be so harsh on the father. Like it or not, transgenderism still isn't a social norm, and in fact, most people know very little about it. It's yet to really be brought to the mainstream, and many people haven't had experience in dealing with transgendered people.

I love that the school is being supportive of the teacher, though. It's great to see that they're continuing to treat her as a human being rather than condemn her for exposing the children to transgenderism.

[youthought08]

The bottom line: Let's respect each other's opinions.