A young trans student has hit out at comments made by Catholic church school authorities that primary school pupils should not be taught about "what it means to be trans".
Rob, who is studying at a Dublin third-level college, told RTÉ News that young trans people like him were "exhausted" by such comments.
Catholic primary schools have told the Government that their pupils should not be taught about transgender issues.
In a letter to Minister for Children Roderic O'Gorman, the Catholic Primary School Managers Association (CPSMA) said that the science on transgender issues is "far from settled" and that there is "mounting evidence of psychological contagion".
Rob says that he suffered needlessly as a direct result of the fact that children in Ireland are generally not taught about trans issues in primary school.
"I really wish I had been given the language in primary school to know who I was. If I had then I would not have struggled for so long as I did."
He feels that having knowledge at that young age would have helped him to come out earlier to his parents and that means he may have been able to access the child mental health supports that he needed.
In the end, Rob was 15 when he came out to his parents as trans and lengthy waiting lists meant he was too late to access those services for children. He was also too young to access adult mental health services.
When children do not have knowledge trans kids end up "trying to fit in a world that is not designed for you".
"You might feel more comfortable playing with the boys but they don't see you as a boy, and so you are excluded.
"Trans children exist and there is no point in denying that, but as a child not having the language to describe who you are is very distressing."
Rob dismisses the Catholic Primary School Managers Association's claim that teaching children about trans issues could lead to "contagion".
The General Secretary of the CPSMA said there is "no scientific consensus" on what it means to be transgender.
Speaking on RTÉ's Drivetime today, Seamus Mulconry said it is "very much" an area that is a "source of scientific controversy".
He said there has been an increase in the number of gender non-conforming children who are now presenting as gender dysphoric, which "appears to show signs of social transmission" rather than a genuine phenomenon.
Rob says: "There is no solid scientific basis for social contagion and a report from the American Association of Paediatrics directly refutes it."
"It's kind of funny to hear that from Catholic school managers. Schools used to force left-handed children to write with their right hand because they said using the left hand was the sign of the devil. But there was nothing wrong with left-handed children, they were just being themselves."
"It's the same with trans children."
Rob also points out that there is nothing "wrong" with being trans, but there is a lot very wrong with a child’s identity being denied because they don’t have the language to understand themselves.
"Your first 'coming out’ is to yourself and not knowing who you are is such an alienating experience."
"It’s not always painful to be trans, it is a joyous thing. You have a sense of belonging and trans children deserve to belong."
"Trans joy is a very internal experience and it is so special. It is a feeling of being whole. But if trans children are not given the language to describe themselves it means they will have no sense of ‘home’."
The hostile attitude displayed by some towards trans people is the reason why Rob does not want us to reveal his identity in this article.
"I don’t want to be targetted by the far-right," he says.
Rob also wants to become a teacher when he finishes his undergraduate degree and he feels that being identified in the media as trans could jeopardise his chances of getting a job in a school later on.
The CPSMA letter states that the organisation "has worked (for many years now) with a significant number of schools to ensure that children who are gender questioning are treated with respect, consideration and support".
But Rob says this letter from the Catholic school authorities tells him that "trans teachers are not welcome in their schools".
LGBTQ+ support organisation BeLonG To says there has been a documented rise in the number of attacks against LGBTQ+ people over the past year.
