The push for gender-neutral uniforms is great – but it has nothing to do with being trans

Adoption of the policy by Welsh schools has been hailed by the media as progress for the ‘trans agenda’. But for the most part they are unrelated. Claiming they are suggests we have a long way to go before people understand trans folk

The Welsh government announced the school uniform policy on Wednesday (Getty)

Joy! The phone rings, tearing me from happy slumber and putting an abrupt end to dreamtime. It’s a private number. So I know, even before I answer, that this will either be some earnest call-centre type concerned by the accident in which I was recently injured, or a media outlet seeking comment on the latest transgender-agenda-gone-mad story.

I am not disappointed. Schools in Wales have adopted gender-neutral uniforms. Would I, a trans person, like to comment on how this would have made my school days easier?

Well, yes, I would. But mostly to explain that the idea that this is of any special relevance to trans folk is almost entirely misplaced. For two reasons: one trivial; one serious.

The trivial reason is that I transitioned late. Not because I wasn’t trans before. But for much of my life, especially the bit where I was growing up and going to school, I had no awareness of what it meant to be trans, or how that was relevant to me. Which is not to deny some very strong trans instincts. I still remember vividly a moment, early puberty, when I stood in front of a mirror – naked, natch! – and got quite upset at the body life seemed to have presented me with.

It wasn’t right. There was that nasty penile appendage for starters. It was just... the wrong gender.

When it came to fixing it, though, my first thoughts were nothing to do with clothes. Later in life, as these feelings continued, I occasionally crossed paths with those who solved this issue by cross-dressing. That, though, was never me. Clothes do not maketh the man. Or woman.

At the same time, the focus on clothing, in some parts of the trans community, was a major factor in my delayed self-awareness. Because if that was what trans was about... count me out.

At school, there was much about the (compulsory) uniform that I disliked and I did my best to disrupt convention on this front. Ridiculous flares. Platforms. And hair that post-year 5 (year 11 in modern currency) was significantly longer than that of most girls in my year. But then, it was the Seventies.

Would it have “helped” me? Only in the sense that I would have preferred a more liberal policy all round.

But there is a second more problematic aspect to this question which I would file under: yet more cis nonsense. Which is a mostly affectionate, occasionally not, reference to the fact that even when cis/non-trans folk try to be helpful, they get it wrong. Because the positioning of this story does trans folk double disservice. It locates transness in clothes – which is entire misunderstanding of what being trans is about. And it adds fuel to the bonfire of fears about trans agenda and takeover.

That is compounded by a finding in research I carried out with Trans Media Watch earlier this year looking at media bias in trans stories. One of the most compelling, unsurprising but also unexpected findings was how little trans people get to tell their own stories. For instance, in a sample of 120 stories that were rated anti-trans, two-thirds of comment was anti, one-third pro. But just six of those pro-trans comments (5 per cent) came from out trans people. It’s like we can be in the room for the great trans debate, yet everywhere, it carries on without us.

It’s the same when it comes to the gender-neutral uniform move, which as recently as this weekend has been announced by British Airways too.

I’ve read several stories on this subject and pretty much every comment, including claims this will be good for trans children, comes from people who are not trans, including the obligatory non-trans head teacher.

Bottom line: gender-neutrality when it comes to clothing conventions is long overdue. There are times of year when trousers are sensible and times when skirts work better. Like similar moves in the police and RAF, this is a move that will benefit ALL individuals, ALL genders. It will also be helpful for some trans and gender-fluid folk.

But to argue this is a trans measure is patronising, tokenist and wrong. Even, mildly transphobic. Rather like making Kylie Minogue compulsory listening at the school disco and claiming you are being pro-gay. And if you centre your support for trans folk in clothing stereotypes, maybe you are less of an ally than you think.