Resist Gender Education (RGE) welcomes the Coalition agreement to “Refocus the curriculum on academic achievement and not ideology, including the removal and replacement of the gender, sexuality, and relationship-based education guidelines.”

“There is a great deal to be done to de-programme New Zealand’s education system from gender ideology, and replacing the current RSE Guide is the first positive step”, says Marg Curnow, the spokesperson for RGE.

RGE looks forward to seeing new guidelines and lessons for schools that help children to learn about relationships and sexuality without being taught the falsehood that human sex is on a spectrum and can be changed.

“The current affirmation of gender ideology in schools is teaching children that sexist stereotypes are what determine their sex. As a consequence, would-be lesbian and gay children are learning that if they don’t conform to feminine or masculine stereotypes, their bodies ought to be medically altered,” says Ms Curnow.

“RGE would welcome the opportunity to contribute to new guidelines that are scientifically accurate and age-appropriate and teach children that there is no one right way to be a boy or a girl,” she says. “We also look forward to the removal of unisex toilets and changing rooms in all schools and their replacement with single-sex spaces, for the benefit of both sexes.

RGE is heartened by the commitment to refocus the curriculum away from ideology and calls on the new Minister of Education to stop naming transgender advocacy groups as “trusted organisations” from whom schools should seek advice.