New guidance from the Church of England has caused controversy for its inclusive stance on transgender and non-binary children.

The Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby said in the update: “All bullying, including homophobic, biphobic and transphobic bullying causes profound damage.

“We must avoid, at all costs, diminishing the dignity of any individual to a stereotype or a problem.”

The Archbishop recently admitted that the split within the Church on LGBT+ issues is “irreconcilable,” with several accusations of discrimination in recent years. The guidelines are positive and inclusive, saying: “Pupils need to be able to play with the many cloaks of identity (sometimes quite literally with the dressing up box).

“Children should be at liberty to explore the possibilities of who they might be without judgement or derision." The Church guidance continued: “They are in a ‘trying on’ stage of life, and not yet adult and so no labels need to be fixed.

“It may be best to avoid labels and assumptions which deem children’s behaviour irregular, abnormal or problematic just because it does not conform to gender stereotypes or today’s play preferences.”

This advice comes days after a maths teacher and part-time pastor was suspended from a school in Oxfordshire after allegedly misgendering a trans pupil several times.

School uniforms are also discussed in the 48-page document, pointing out that inflexible uniform policies can affect transgender children. Read more via PinkNews