Australia’s Northern Territory (NT) government has reversed its decision to introduce gender-neutral language at schools after being criticized for “attempting to apply Marxist ideology” into the education system.
According to draft guidelines on diverse sex, sexuality, and gender identity pushed by the NT Education Department, teachers could have been banned from calling students “boys and girls” or “ladies and gentlemen,” perceived as confirming “gender stereotyping,” which can be “alienating for gender questioning and gender diverse children.”
The leaked document, published by Sky News on April 19, suggested that teachers could use “vocabulary such as ‘students,’ ‘class,’ ‘crew,’ ‘everyone,’ ‘people’ or ‘year X’ that are more inclusive.”
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