Ralph Shearer Northam (born September 13, 1959) is an American politician and physician serving as the 73rd Governor of Virginia since January 13, 2018. A pediatric neurologist by occupation, he was an officer in the U.S. Army Medical Corps from 1984 to 1992. Northam, a member of the Democratic Party, served as the 40th Lieutenant Governor of Virginia from 2014 to 2018 prior to winning the governorship against Republican nominee Ed Gillespie in the 2017 election.
Republican School Board Rejects State's Transgender Policies
Glenn Youngkin and the state's Department of Education.The school board for Amherst County Public Schools voted 6-1 on Wednesday to reject the state's policy finalized in July that made recommendations for K-12 students and defers to the "rights of parents to determine how their children will be raised and educated."The new rules overturned a policy enacted by previous Democratic Governor Ralph Northam that included students being allowed to use restrooms and locker rooms matching their gender identity, in addition to teachers using students' preferred pronouns.Present guidelines imposed by the Youngkin administration provide more power to parents, who determine their children's names and pronouns as part of official record—and are the only ones who can change the record.
Schools are also instructed to tell parents about any changes to students' "well-being," including their "health, social and psychological development."Narissa Rahaman, executive director of the LGBTQ+ advocacy group Equality Virginia, told Newsweek that the "cruelty is the point" when it comes to the state's model policies on transgender and nonbinary students—especially in a time when Virginia public schools are underfunded compared to other states and they may possibly have to pay for legal counsel if they buck present law."We applaud the Amherst County School Board for taking action to not adopt a model policy that would create a hostile and unsafe learning environment for students," Rahaman said."They understood the harm and discrimination the governor's Department of Education policies would inflict upon transgender and nonbinary students and made the best possible decision, that Amherst schools are safe for all students."The Amherst school board reportedly heard from five community members on Thursday evening during the public comment portion of the meeting before their final vote, according to local ABC affiliate WSET.Three of them supported the school following Youngkin's directive, with.
