A UK teacher got into a heated argument with two eighth grade students for their views about gender ideology, according to a secret audio recording of the incident.
"How dare you, you just really upset someone," said a teacher at Rye College, a coeducational secondary school in East Sussex, according to a Sunday report from the Telegraph. "Saying things like ‘Should be in an insane asylum.’"
The student responded, "I haven't said that. I was just saying if they want to identify like a cat or something then they're like genuinely unwell."
During the heated interaction, the teacher argued the students' views on gender ideology were not consistent with "equity and inclusion," and were therefore not an acceptable opinion. She added a threat that the students would be reported to the administration, should go to a different school and would benefit from a re-education.
"If you don't like [these ideas], you need to go to different school, and I am reporting you to [the assistant headteacher]. You need to have a proper educational conversation about equality, diversity and inclusion."
"I am not having that expressed in my lesson when I'm teaching you about you can be who you want to be and how you identify is up to you."
The teacher had originally critiqued the students for "questioning [a classmate's] identity."
"Where did you get the idea that there are only two genders?"
The student attempted to explain it was their opinion. "If I respect their opinion, why can't they respect mine?"
"It is not an opinion that's okay," the teacher replied. "Gender is not linked to the past that you were born with. Gender is about how you identify. Which is what I said in the very beginning… [T]here are lots of genders."
The teacher added that some people do not have any gender.
"Well, I just don't agree with that," the student said.
"Yeah, but you can't have that," another student added.
"What do you mean you can't have that, it's not a law? You're talking about the fact that cisgender (identifying with biological sex) is being normal, that you identify with the sex organ that you were born with… which is really despicable," the teacher said.
"Wow," a student replied.
The student added that her mom would also agree that biological sex is the same as gender.
"Well that's really sad then," the teacher said.
Rye College is part of Aquinas - an educational trust of eleven schools in the south-east UK.
Aquinas released a statement to Fox News, which 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," the statement continued.
