Transgender Student Questions Glenn Youngkin on Restrooms
Glenn Youngkin faced questions about his state's LGBT guidelines for public education from a transgender student from Arlington during a CNN town hall Thursday.According to Virginia's Department of Education (DOE) Model Policies released in 2022, students would be required to use bathrooms, locker rooms and participate in sport leagues that correspond to their biological sex.
Schools are also only permitted to change the legal name or sex of a student's record "if a parent or eligible student submits a legal document ...
substantiating the student or former student's change of legal name or sex."During the town hall Thursday, Youngkin was pushed on several of Virginia's proposed guidelines by students in attendance, such as 17-year-old high-schooler Niko, who identifies as a transgender man."Governor Youngkin, your transgender model policies require that students play on the sports teams and use the restrooms that correspond with their sex assigned at birth," Niko said. "Look at me.
I am a transgender man. Do you really think that the girls in my high school would feel comfortable sharing a restroom with me?"In a clip of the exchange posted by CNN on Twitter, Youngkin starts by thanking Niko for attending the town hall, and said that it was "really important" for parents to be engaged in conversations about gender policies in schools."I also think that there are lots of students involved in this decision, and what's most important is we try very hard to accommodate students," the governor continued. "That's why I have said many, many times, we just need extra bathrooms in schools.
