500,000 British children were left confused due to LGBTQIA curriculum (2010-2020) – don’t let it happen to Sri Lanka’s 4.2m children

by Shenali Waduge · 5th October 2025

Countries that once proudly promoted “inclusivity” and “gender diversity” in schools are now backtracking —the United Kingdom is leading that reversal after destroying lives of 500,000 British children. It began as a movement to “end bullying” and quietly turned into a campaign that taught children to question their own sex, reject biology, and distrust parents & distance themselves from faiths. Between 2010 and 2020, the UK government allowed foreign-funded NGOs and activist groups to rewrite school policies under the banner of “LGBTQIA rights.” Teachers were re-trained, curriculums rewritten, and children as young as five were told that being “born in the wrong body” was normal. Sri Lanka’s Govt is trying to launch this same program.

The British government that once enforced these teachings has declared them harmful, unscientific, and inappropriate for children. Parents, teachers, and doctors have sounded the alarm on the psychological and physical damage caused to an entire generation of children. The Govt will reverse policy – but the damage done to 500,000 British kids is irreversible.

This is why we cannot allow this failed experiment to be launched in Sri Lanka.

As Sri Lanka faces growing pressure to adopt similar “inclusivity” and “gender education” under imported DEI (Diversity, Equity & Inclusion) models, we must pause and learn from the UK’s experience — before our own children are exposed to the same harm.

Between 2015 and 2022, over 9 million UK schoolchildren were taught gender ideology as part of “inclusivity” lessons.

Within a few years, at least 20,000–25,000 were sent for medical gender referrals, while another half a million children showed signs of confusion, anxiety, or distress.

The UK government has since shut down the Tavistock Clinic, restricted teaching of gender ideology, and admitted that these lessons were not age-appropriate and caused harm.

How it Started

Around 2010–2015, the UK government began promoting “inclusivity and diversity”in schools under the banner of LGBTQIA rights and gender identity education.
This came through new Relationships and Sex Education (RSE)
It was heavily supported by NGOs, activist groups, and foreign-funded organisationswho said it would help reduce “bullying” and make schools “safe spaces.”
By 2020, it became compulsoryin all English schools to teach about “different kinds of relationships” — including same-sex relationships and gender identity — even to very young children.

What these Policies meant in Practice

Schools were told to:

Teach children as young as 5that they could be “born in the wrong body.”
Use cartoons like “The Genderbread Person”(instead of Gingerbread Man) or “The Gender Unicorn” to explain that gender is a “spectrum.”
Replace words like “boy”and “girl” with “learners” or “friends.”
Allow children to choose new names or pronounswithout informing parents.
Make teachers attend “gender sensitivity” trainingand face complaints if they didn’t use preferred pronouns.
Display Pride flags and gender postersin classrooms — even in nurseries.

What British Children were really taught

In Primary Schools (Ages 5–10):

Children were told that “you might have a boy’s body but a girl’s brain” — and that “only you can know who you really are.”
Pupils learned songs and stories saying that “boys can have babies” and “girls can have penises.”
Teachers were instructed to replace “he” or “she”— with “they” or “friends.”
Classrooms displayed Pride flagsand gender symbols year-round, not just during June.
Some schools used colouring books asking children to choose “what gender they feel like today.”
Storybooks like “Introducing Teddy” (a teddy bear that changes gender) and “Julian is a Mermaid” were made part of early literacy lessons.
Children were told to try on different clothes and “see what gender feels best.”
“Gender-free bathrooms” were introduced, causing distress and complaints from both parents and students.

In Secondary Schools (Ages 11–16):

Teachers were told to treat a child’s declared gender identityas fact, without parental knowledge.
Lessons taught that “sex is assigned at birth”and “gender is fluid.”
Some schools asked students to list their “pronouns”at the start of class (e.g., “she/her,” “they/them”).
Videos shown in class explained how to “bind your chest” or “come out safely” to parents — without medical or parental guidance.
Students who disagreed were called “transphobic”or sent for “inclusivity counselling.”
Teachers faced disciplinary action for using “the wrong pronoun.”
Biology teachers had to say “people who menstruate”instead of “girls.”
Some schools invited activist speakers who claimed “gender is a feeling, not a fact.”

What British Parents and Teachers Said

“My daughter came home crying because her class was told that if she likes trucks, she might be a boy.”
“Our 7-year-old was told she could change her name and pronouns without telling us.”
“Teachers were warned that questioning the school material was discrimination.”
“Boys stopped joining sports teams because they were afraid of being called sexist.”
“Even science class became politicised — they told us biology is ‘socially constructed.’”

Outcome

By 2023–2024, even UK officials admitted these lessons were inappropriate, confusing, and ideologically driven — not based on science or child psychology.

The Cass Review called the system “built on weak evidence, activist influence, and lack of clinical safeguards.”

What Went Wrong

Within less than 5 years, parents, teachers, and even doctors began to raise serious concerns:

Children were confused— many thought normal childhood feelings meant they might be “transgender.”
Parents were not consultedabout what was being taught.
Genuine Teachers were afraidto question or discuss the materials for fear of being labelled “transphobic.”
Hundreds of childrenwere referred to gender clinics like the Tavistock Centre, which later shut down after investigations found serious harm and lack of proper medical oversight.
Mental health issues roseamong confused students.
Faith-based schoolsfelt their values were being overridden.

Public Backlash and Investigations

A major UK review (the Cass Review, 2024) found that gender identity services had rushed children into medical treatmentswithout proper evidence. Irreversible health issues for children.

Having to take lifelong expensive medication.

The UK’s Education Departmentbegan investigating schools that taught gender ideology as fact instead of a belief or debate.
Parents protestedacross the UK, demanding transparency and the right to withdraw their children.

Why Policies are Now being Reversed

In 2024–2025, the UK government began reversing or restricting the LGBTQIA-DEI policies because:

The teachings were not age-appropriate.
They caused psychological confusionamong children.
They were based on ideology, not science.
Parents’ rights were ignored.
They divided schoolsand distracted from real education.

Today, many UK schools have removed “gender identity” lessons, and new guidance says:

Children under 9 must notbe taught about gender ideology.
Schools must not teachthat gender can change or that people are “born in the wrong body.”
Any discussion on gender identity must be presented as a contested idea, not fact.

The Lesson for Sri Lanka

What started as “inclusivity” in the UK has ended in confusion, regret, and reversal.
Sri Lanka must learn before it imitates the psychological-mental & even physical damage to children. Only a parent will understand the horrors.

Our Constitutionalready guarantees human rights to all — there’s no need to create special categories.
Our religions and cultureuphold respect and morality without promoting private lifestyles.
Our childrendeserve protection from imported ideologies that even their creators are now rejecting.

Learn from the UK:

Protect Our Children,
Our Culture,
Our Classrooms.

The Warning for Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka does not need to repeat the mistakes of the West.

Our Constitution already guarantees equality and human rights for every citizen — regardless of identity. What it does not do is grant special privileges based on private sexual behaviour or imported ideologies that contradict our culture, religion, and national values.

The UK’s reversal is proof that “gender education” was not inclusion — it was a confusion.

It divided classrooms, silenced teachers, undermined parents, and left thousands of children with emotional scars and lifelong regret.

Let us protect our next generation from this same fate.

Let Sri Lanka remain a country that values family, faith, moral education, and biological truth — not imported theories that even their creators are now abandoning.

If Sri Lanka imports these programs, every one of our 4.2 million schoolchildren would be exposed — but even if just 2–3% experience confusion, that’s 80,000–120,000 children at risk of serious psychological harm.

Once such teaching begins, it is almost impossible to reverse without deep damage — as the UK discovered.

Shenali D Waduge