By Rashleigh MacFarlane

Cornwall’s library service offers several books about transgenderism aimed specifically at children.

Children who can read news coverage of the Supreme Court ruling about the 2010 Equalities Act, or who puzzle over who can and cannot use women’s toilets, are likely to leave their local library even more confused.

A survey of the Cornwall Council library service online catalogue reveals how children’s literature has changed over the decades.

Typing the word “transgender” into the catalogue search bar returns seven titles aimed at children.  But at least one of these appears to actively promote a gender-critical approach to the issue.

One title, “My Awesome Aunty,” is intended to encourage children’s acceptance of transgenderism.

But then a rhyming picture book for 3-6 year-olds, “My Body Is Me!” is published by Transgender Trend – a campaign organisation set up to defend biological differences between boys and girls.

Available in the children’s fiction section at Camelford library, “My Awesome Aunty is a children's book that centres around a child's fears when their dearly-loved uncle transitions to aunt.

“We journey along with the child's potential fears and subsequent acceptance and happiness of their awesome aunty. It is written for children aged four and older, to start a conversation around gender diversity. It is a useful tool for families and friends of the transgender community.”

“My Body Is Me!” is currently available at Bude library.

Published “in consultation with TransgenderTrend, it introduces children to the workings of the human body, and celebrates similarities and differences while challenging sex stereotypes.”

One well-known title, “I Am Jazz,” available at St Columb library, was later turned into a reality television series for adults.

But the book is aimed at primary school children, telling the story of Jazz Jennings who “from the time she was two years old, knew that she had a girl's brain in a boy's body. She loved pink and dressing up as a mermaid and didn't feel like herself in boys' clothing.

“This confused her family, until they took her to a doctor who said that Jazz was transgender and that she was born that way. Jazz's story is based on her real-life experience and she tells it in a simple, clear way that will be appreciated by picture book readers, their parents, and teachers.”

Other non-fiction transgender titles available from the Cornwall library service are aimed at older children and introduce issues such as the battle for statutory rights.

The news follows a recent row about children’s literature in Kent where the county council is now controlled by Reform UK.  The selection of books available in Cornwall’s libraries could provoke some head-scratching among Cornwall councillors.

Last year the council was forced to withdraw a controversial “Trans Toolkit” from schools amid concerns that it actively encouraged teachers to promote transgenderism.

Last month the recently-appointed Cornwall Council cabinet member for equalities, Liberal Democrat Thalia Marrington, said she was determined to make sure that her colleagues knew the difference between a man and woman.

Tiptoe through the minefield: in the battle over transgenderism, Cornwall's libraries offer little boys and girls a choice between self-identity and biology.  But no longer available are some classics from a less confusing era

A few weeks later the North Cornwall Liberal Democrat MP, Ban Maguire, quit Twitter (X) after blundering into a spat with the children’s author J.K. Rowling.

rashleighmacfarlane@cornwallreports.co.uk