Court action over Oxfordshire County Council's transgender policy

Oxfordshire County Council "utterly refutes" that it has put any children at risk

Court action on behalf of a 13-year-old girl opposed to a council's transgender policy is set to proceed later this year.

Oxfordshire County Council's policy says transgender girls can share toilets, changing rooms and dormitories with girls.

The case will be heard at the High Court after a judge allowed it to proceed to a full hearing.

The council "utterly refutes" that its policy puts children at risk.

Mr Justice Choudhury has given permission for the legal action to be taken, with a court date expected in the autumn, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS).

The action opposed to the council's Trans Inclusion Toolkit was initially going to be made on behalf of an Oxfordshire parent, a teacher and the girl, but will now only be made on the girl's behalf.

The teenager's mother said: "The more my daughter reads that gender identity is more important than her status as a young woman, the more frustrated she becomes, because she knows that she is entitled to female-only spaces, to compete in female-only competitions and sleep in female-only dorms."

The Safe Schools Alliance, which is supporting the girl's claim, said: "There needs to be case law established so that all children can both be safe and feel safe in schools, knowing that their dignity and privacy will be protected and their rights upheld."

A council spokesman said the toolkit sought to address the "challenges faced by young people who feel they are not the gender they were assigned at birth".