Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin Declares War on Transgender Kids
Virginia's governor has stripped transgender public school kids in the state's schools of fundamental rights to dignity and belonging.
Under new policies by Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin, Virginia will no longer allow transgender students to use facilities marked by their gender identity in schools, a move that critics say is inhumane.
The Virginia Department of Education released several guidelines on Friday that reversed policies it had outlined the previous year regarding transgender students' rights.Students must now file legal documents to change their pronouns if they wish.Teachers must also out their students to their students' parents to give parents more power over their children's place in society, in line with Youngkin's claim that parents need more control over their children's education.The so-called Model Policies state that teachers must "keep parents fully informed about all matters" related to a child's development, and schools can't "encourage or instruct teachers to conceal material information about a student from the student's parent, including information related to gender." While Youngkin claims that the policies enable parents to control what their children learn in school, a school employee will not be required to address or refer to a student "in any manner" that would conflict with that employee's personal or religious beliefs.A spokesperson for the U.S.
Department of Education tells The Advocate that the new policy is just designed to confuse people and that the result will be undermining classroom instruction."[The policy's] fine print requires compliance with federal law in every instance — and the federal courts have already confirmed, specifically in a case involving Virginia schools —.
