A boy of ten has returned to school dressed as a girl because he believes he was born the wrong sex, it was revealed yesterday.
The year six pupil was born a boy physically but has suffered from gender dysphoria, a disorder that makes a person unhappy with the gender they were born with.
His mother is supporting his decision. She has allowed him to dress as a girl and says he will start hormone blocker therapy - the first step to changing gender - when he is 12.
The boy, who wishes to remain anonymous, wanted to be a girl from the age of two-and-a-half and would play with Barbie dolls rather than Action Man. The headteacher at his primary school in Worcester gave a special assembly - attended by his parents and a police officer - to explain the change to other children and prevent bullying.
But the boy's mother said other pupils have been more understanding than adults since he “came out” as a girl over the summer holidays.
The 36-year-old said neighbours and parents had branded her son a “freak child” and reduced him to tears by heckling him. She said of her son: “She is within her mind a girl but she has a boy’s body. She is the same as everybody else apart from the fact she doesn’t feel right in her own body.
“She would rather play with a doll than a car. She is a girlie girl. She wants all the latest fashions. There is nothing about her which is male.
“It wasn’t a problem until she got to primary school at the age of seven-and-a-half. Then she would have to lie about what she got for Christmas and say a football or an Action Man when in fact she got a pair of sparkly shoes and a Barbie. Everything she was having to do was a lie.”
She added that her son had known he wanted to be a girl since he was two-and-a-half but was forced to act like a boy at school.
He would then act and dress like a girl when he got home but became a target for abuse as more and more people realised his secret.
His mother added: “We went to a performance at the school and my daughter (the boy) went as herself. Some of the parents were unhappy she was allowed to go into the school. They were walking past, coughing and saying: “That’s that freak family. That’s that freak child”. It’s not a phase. It’s not a choice - what child would choose to be completely miserable?
“I don’t expect people to understand. I just don’t want people abusing my child. I don’t want her to be called a freak. I want her to be left alone. Some people need glasses. Some people are required to go in wheelchairs. My daughter needs to dress like a girl because she is a girl.” The mother added that the school had been very understanding, as had many of her son’s classmates.
But some parents said they should have been consulted before an announcement was made to the pupils on their first day back.
One parent with a child at the school said: “The headteacher told all the kids that there was a kid at the school who was a girl trapped in a boy’s body. The parents we spoke to are absolutely outraged that they weren’t consulted about this. This kid is just going to be bullied now. Why didn’t the school send us a letter?”
The school head said: “We operate an inclusive policy and work hard to ensure all our pupils have the support they need.
“As part of this, we feel it is important to encourage discussion and promote understanding. We strive to make sure that all our children get the most possible out of their time here and a key part of this is helping pupils understand that all their peers are unique.”
According to the NHS, an estimated one in 4 000 people is receiving medical help for gender dysphoria. On average, men are five times more likely to be diagnosed with the condition than women. - Daily Mail