The Ministry of Education (MOE) and a disgruntled transgender student have been engaged in a verbal joust for the last couple of weeks, and neither seems to be backing down.
On Thursday (14 Jan), the student alleged in a Reddit post that she was supposed to undergo hormone therapy as part of her treatment, but was stopped from doing so by the MOE.
MOE denied the allegation, saying that medical treatment was a matter for the family to decide on.
Now, the student has hit back with another post on Reddit.
Student: MOE Trying to Deny Existence of Meeting with Doctor
In her post, the student said she believes the ministry is trying to deny the existence of a meeting between MOE and the student’s doctor, which took place sometime between July to August last year.
The student claims the ministry insisted in the meeting that “schools had to work with and consent before any referral or life-changing decisions was done.”
The student, who had been diagnosed with gender dysphoria at the Institute of Mental Health (IMH), was likely referring to her proposed hormone treatment.
Last month, the aggrieved student claimed that MOE had blocked her hormone treatment even though it was prescribed by her doctor.
Despite the ministry’s insistence that it will work with the student to resolve the issue, what the student called an “intentional disregard for proper medical advice and discrimination” on the ministry’s part has left her feeling unsupported.
The student, who said she’s a “male-to-female” transgender girl, was also displeased with the ministry’s decision to misgender her in its post, as it referred to her with the male pronoun.
“This shows little interest in protecting transgender people against discrimination or acknowledgement of the medical community’s professional advice,” the student wrote.
School Allegedly Preventing Student From Entering
The student also claimed in her post that she has been prevented from returning to school because she has chosen not to cut her hair.
Initially, she was allegedly threatened with expulsion for not trimming her hair, but after details of her case were made public, she was told: “we will not expel you for being trans, and you will be allowed to do home-based learning.”
But, as seen in an exchange with a school staffer, the student was later told that her request for home-based learning was denied on the grounds that it was not fair to other students.
One of the vice-principals in her school later allegedly claimed that it was because they were “overloaded” and could not provide the necessary resources.
When the student offered to tie her hair up in accordance with the school’s dress code, she was allegedly told that “females can have short hair too”.
Response to Lawrence Wong’s Parliamentary Speech
On Monday (1 Feb), Education Minister Lawrence Wong touched on the issue of students with gender dysphoria after he was asked a question by Sengkang MP He Ting Ru on MOE’s policies regarding the matter.
“Students diagnosed with gender dysphoria and undergoing hormone therapy could face difficulties with certain school rules,” he said.
“Where there are valid medical grounds, schools can exercise flexibility and work out practical arrangements for these students.”
The student, however, has not seen this flexibility in her own schooling life, as she claims she has been prevented from returning to the classroom even though she is physically able to do so.
“As far as I am concerned, my personal dressing conforms to the female dress code, and does not affect others in the classroom, let alone personally affect anyone’s personal life,” the student said.
Still, she believes that if she chooses to express her gender identity, as professionally diagnosed, she will be forced to undergo home-based learning.
The student ends her post by addressing a simple but incisive question to the education ministry: “You do not allow anti-maskers to go about without masking up due to the scientifically-accepted risks and dangers of Covid; why are you not just encouraging, but participating in discrimination at the expense of years of professional medical research?”
You can read her full post here.
Featured Image: Donal Keane / Shutterstock.com
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