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Sarah Holmes vs. transgender people

Sarah Holmes is an Irish anti-transgender activist. Holmes is a volunteer with anti-trans group Genspect and has presented at their conferences.

Background

Sarah Holmes is from Wicklow and has three children.

Anti-transgender activism

In 2022, Ireland’s National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) proposed a curriculum that aimed to help students “appreciate that sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression are core parts of human identity and that each is experienced along a spectrum.” Via The Times:

Sarah Holmes, a mother of three from Wicklow who made a submission objecting to the proposed change during the NCCA’s public consultation, is pleased that the learning outcome has been removed.

She said teaching that gender identity and gender expression were experienced on a spectrum was a “new” and “radical” concept to introduce to junior cycle students.

The proposed learning outcome risked causing “widespread confusion” among pupils, she said, adding: “This ideology appears to have been taken on in schools without any debate and without parental knowledge.”

In 2023 Holmes appeared on a Genspect panel about how the Irish education system teaches about gender. Participants were Laoise UĂ­ Aodha de BrĂșn, Stella O’Malley, Iseult White, Estelle Birdy, and Colette Colfer.

References

O’Donoghue, Patrick (February 26 2023). Spectrum idea is dropped from Ireland’s gender learning plan for schools. The Times https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/spectrum-idea-is-dropped-from-irelands-gender-learning-plan-for-schools-zcdmwhcf3

O’Sullivan, Jerry (March 10, 2023). Should Gender Identity Be Discussed in Schools? Kerry Today https://www.radiokerry.ie/podcasts/kerry-today/should-gender-identity-be-discussed-in-schools-march-10th-2023-321386

Media

Genspect (un 16, 2023). The Bigger Picture Conference: Gender Ideology in Irish Education Moderated by Stella O’Malley. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNPsZf0fvs8