Fury as Scottish school fundraises for transgender clothing

A school is Glasgow has has come under fire for promoting a coffee morning to raise money to buy chest binders for transgender pupils.

An invite was sent to staff at Bannerman High School, for the event and they were told that their £2.50 entry fee would be put towards the tight-fitting compression tops.

Chest binders are an item of clothing often used to flatten and hide the appearance of breasts. Some people who use them can experience negative side effects such as back and chest pains, breathing difficulties or fractured ribs.

Campaign Group For Women Scotland told Sky News that the chest binders are a 'dangerous practice' and said it 'beggars belief that the school would raise money to pay for these incredibly damaging devices'.

The group has called for the school to undertake an urgent review of policy and safeguarding and claimed it is as dangerous as breast ironing, which is illegal in the UK.

It is understood that senior pupils on the school equalities group came up with the idea to raise money for the binders. 

The email was said to have been sent from a staff member, with one teacher telling the Daily Record no consultation had been carried out.

The teacher told the newspaper: 'Staff would be paying money to raise funds to buy breast binders for young girls and we have no idea if parents are in agreement with this.

'This is a delicate and sensitive matter and the staff who took it upon themselves to organise this are not specialists in this area.'

After concerns were raised about the fundraising and a lack of consultation with staff and parents, the school decided to distribute the money raised elsewhere on a range of other things related to equality.

A spokesperson for Glasgow City Council said: 'This is an annual fundraiser organised by the school's equalities group.

'The senior pupils will work with school staff to decide the best way to use any funds raised. Bannerman is proud to be an LGBTQ+ gold charter school.

'We would urge any teacher or staff member to raise their concerns with the school's senior management team.'