The Christian parents of a 14-year-old girl in the U.K. took legal action against the local council for supporting their daughter’s transition to another gender.
The girl apparently talked to local authorities and expressed her desire to have her name changed into a boy’s name, and they have given her their support. However, the girl’s parents opposed the move, saying she is too young to make such decision.
They insisted that she be under parental responsibility until she turns 16.
They also claimed social workers had been pressuring them to allow their daughter to transition into the opposite gender. They are afraid that their failure to comply would lead to their daughter being removed from their custody.
Their lawyer, Michael Phillips of Andrew Storch solicitors, likewise said if the parents would insist on not following the advise of the social workers, their daughter could be taken from them.
The council apparently addressed their daughter as a boy in correspondence. It also recommended that she be assessed at a center that guides children who want to pursue a sex change.
“The rights of parents in the U.K. are being eroded, especially those who have traditional Christian values. It is leaving parents to feel fearful, vulnerable and intimidated,” the girl’s mother said, according to the The Sunday Times.
“We have been horrified with the prospect that the name we gave our daughter, with all the meaning that entails, will be stripped from her, all because of the social workers’ politically motivated ideology,” she said.
The girl’s mother explained that her daughter was “mentally unwell.” She said her daughter started to dress like a boy and wanted to be called by a boy’s name shortly after they stopped homeschooling her.
The changes in her behavior intensified, and soon she was self-harming. Her mother believed her gender identity issues are connected with her psychological problem.
“We were told by the psychiatrist that Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services said that if the name change does not happen then she would be a high suicide risk,” she said.
The parents’ legal action was backed by the Christian Legal Centre, which also shouldered the relevant costs. Andrea Williams, director for Christian Legal Centre, said in a tweet that the girl’s case “demonstrates a shocking disregard for parental authority,” adding that the parents “have the child’s best interests at heart.”
“In gender there's objective reality. Here misguided social workers are forcing an agenda that's untrue & harmful to children,” she said in another tweet.
The girl’s parents will meet with her teachers and social workers to discuss if she should be called by a boy’s name at school.
