Parents Angry After Teacher Shames Pupil for Questioning Classmate Who Identifies as a Cat

Keeping track of the various pronouns people identify as can be challenging, especially when considering the additional complexity of individuals who identify within the feline category. Catgender, a xenogender, encompasses those who experience a strong connection to cats or other felines. However, some people refuse to accept others as identifying as cats. This week, a student was shamed for questioning her classmate, who identified as a cat, and her parents are fuming. 

A 13-year-old girl and her friend at Rye College in East Sussex were shamed by a Church of England School teacher on Friday, The Telegraph reports. At the end of a Year 8 "life education" class, the teacher reportedly instructed them that you can "be who you want to be and how you identify is up to you."

According to reports, the issue arose after they questioned how one of their peers identified as an animal. "How can you identify as a cat when you're a girl?" they asked her. 

According to The Telegraph, they listened to a recording of the exchange taken by another pupil. In it, the teacher says, "How dare you – you've just really upset someone" by "questioning their identity."

"If they want to identify as a cat or something then they are genuinely unwell – crazy," the student responded. The teacher then asked them: "Where did you get this idea from that there are only two genders," adding: "It is not an opinion."

The teacher continued to tell them that "gender is not linked to the parts that you were born with, gender is about how you identify, which is what I said right from the very beginning of the lesson." She added that "there is actually three biological sexes because you can be born with male and female body parts or hormones" and "there are lots of genders – there is transgender, there is 'agender' who are people who don't believe that they have a gender at all."

The girls responded that they "don't agree with that" and that you "can't have" an agender identity. "What do you mean you can't have it? It's not a law … Cisgender is not necessarily the way to be – you are talking about the fact that cisgender is the norm, that you identify with the sexual organ you were born with, that's basically what you're saying, which is really despicable," the teacher said to them, accusing the girls of being homophobic and confused.

"If you don't like it you need to go to a different school," the teacher told them, adding: "I'm reporting you to [senior staff], you need to have a proper educational conversation about equality, diversity and inclusion because I'm not having that expressed in my lesson."

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"We are committed to offering our pupils an inclusive education. Teachers endeavour to ensure that pupils' views are listened to, and encourage them to ask questions and engage in discussion. Teachers also aim to answer questions sensitively and honestly," a spokesman for Rye College told the Telegraph. "We strive to uphold the highest standards across the school. We will be reviewing our processes and working with the relevant individuals to ensure such events do not take place in the future."