An elite private school for girls has decided to allow its students to adopt male identities and wear boys’ clothes if they want.
St Paul’s Girls’ School, in West London, has enacted a new policy which lets students apply for permission to be known by male names and dress and wear male clothing.
The option is open to students in the sixth form (aged 16 and above). Younger girls are are also encouraged to “explore their gender identity” with a view to applying when they are old enough.
However, the school insists that students cannot legally change gender, and would have to leave if they have surgery.
Sixth-formers at St Paul’s pay at least $28,000 (£23,000) a year to attend the prestigious school, which sends many students on to Oxford and Cambridge.
Alumnae include Dodie Smith, who wrote 101 Dalmatians, actress Rachel Weisz and Rachel Johnson, a magazine editor and sister of Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson.
The changes, first reported by the Sunday Times, show that more fluid gender identities are becoming a trend even at single-sex institutions.
The school’s high mistress, Clarissa Farr, said: “We are moving to the point where your gender is a choice. I see this as a social phenomenon, especially in London, which is much talked about among school leaders.”
Around ten girls are said to be experimenting with male or gender neutral identities at the school.
Under the rules, girls can use male names in lessons, for sports and on school trips – but must use their female names for formal school documents and in public exams.
The school’s charter was amended to include the name protocols, but insisted that everyone studying their must formally be female.
It said: “We are only able to educate students who are legally and physically female. The school will not admit pupils who are physically and/or legally male, nor therefore will it normally be able to continue to educate anyone who has transitioned fully and become physically and/or legally male.”
