Student called ‘despicable’ by teacher after questioning peer who identifies as a cat: report

A 13-year-old girl was called “despicable” by her teacher at a Church of England school in the United Kingdom on Friday after asking a classmate how she identifies as a cat.

The schoolgirl and her friend were reprimanded by their teacher at Rye College in East Sussex at the end of an eighth-grade “life education” class, where they were told that they could “be who you want to be and how you identify is up to you,” The Telegraph reported.

Following the lesson one of the students asked a classmate: “How can you identify as a cat when you’re a girl?”

The teacher told the students they were being reported to school administrators and would no longer be welcome at the school if they continued to express the view that only boys and girls exist, according to a recording of the exchange.

In the clip, taken by one of the students, the teacher starts off by saying, “How dare you, you’ve just really upset someone” by “questioning their identity,” according to The Telegraph.

The student replies: “If they want to identify as a cat or something then they are genuinely unwell – crazy.”

The teacher then asks the young girls where they got the idea that there are only two genders.

“Gender is not linked to the parts that you were born with, gender is how you identify, which is what I said right from the very beginning of the lesson,” the teacher said.

The teacher added: “There is actually three biological sexes because you can be born with male and female body parts or hormones” and “there are lots of genders – there is transgender, there is a gender who are people who don’t believe that they have a gender at all.”

The students disagreed, telling the teacher, “if you have a vagina you’re a girl and if you have a penis you’re a boy.”

The teacher then interjected, raising their voice to say that while the students may consider being cisgender the “norm” it is not the law.

“You are talking about the fact that cisgender is the norm, that you identify with the sexual organ you were born with. That’s basically what you’re saying, which is really despicable.”

The teacher then suggested that the girls were homophobic or confused – claims they quickly denied.

“If you don’t like it you need to go to a different school,” the teacher replied, adding that she was going to report the students.

“You need to have a proper educational conversation about equality, diversity and inclusion because I’m not having that expressed in my lesson.”

A parent of another student who received the same lesson told the outlet that while they understood the point the teacher was attempting to make, they shouldn’t have prevented students from having a discussion on the topic.

“I understand the point the teacher was attempting to make, what bothers me is the shutting down of debate in such a threatening and aggressive manner, which I don’t believe is appropriate in an educational setting,” the parent told The Telegraph.

“Regardless of the subject, education should serve to build awareness of differing points of view to widen the understanding of a subject. It shouldn’t be a case of indoctrination.”

Teachers at the Church of England schools were allegedly told earlier this year to “re-educate” students using “negative language” such as “that is mental” and “stop acting like a girl.”

A spokesman for Rye College, where the incident took place, said: “We are committed to offering our pupils an inclusive education. Teachers endeavor to ensure that pupils’ views are listened to, and encourage them to ask questions and engage in discussion. Teachers also aim to answer questions sensitively and honestly.”

“We strive to uphold the highest standards across the school. We will be reviewing our processes and working with the relevant individuals to ensure such events do not take place in the future.”