I say yes to this guidance change

Let teachers teach.Let parents be parents.Let kids be kids, and simply learn basic academics.
 Smaller government and less reach.  If politics must be in school, demand CIVILITY or silence.  And civility doesn't mean agreement - it means respectfully disagreeing and letting the other side disagree respectfully.

<!DOCTYPE html>

Let teachers teach.
Let parents be parents.
Let kids be kids, and simply learn basic academics.

 Smaller government and less reach.  If politics must be in school, demand CIVILITY or silence.  And civility doesn't mean agreement - it means respectfully disagreeing and letting the other side disagree respectfully.


We strongly oppose this policy.   This will negatively impact students and families.

<!DOCTYPE html>

<p>We strongly oppose this policy and it’s negative effects on the mental health and well being of students and families.   </p>


Strongly Oppose!

<!DOCTYPE html>

I’m a student involved in the LGBTQ+ community at a Virginia public high school and I strongly oppose this law. While I don’t identify as trans, I have plenty of friends who do, and I can’t imagine what the benefit is of denying my friends and so many others the right to be identified the way they prefer. “Parents’ rights” shouldn’t include denying access to counseling and forcing children to use names and labels they’re uncomfortable with. I am incredibly disappointed in the VA government for allowing the policy to come this far and I hope they’ll soon realize the error of their ways.


All natural, organic, born this way and YES!  I support.

<!DOCTYPE html>

How in the world did we go from being all natural, organic, filtered water, milk from cows not treated with rSBT, and of course FREE RANGE CHICKENS and EGGS .... to being ok with artificial hormones and drug  treatments for children who may not feel like they fit in their body?  WHO DOES feel like they fit in their body most of the time in middle and high school?!   It is cruel to allow children to make decisions which cause them such IRREVERSIBLE DAMAGE.  Trans kids from 10-15 yrs ago are now trying to speak out and are being silenced.  That is bad - why not listen to them too, if you care so much about trans experiences?

And don't keep such information/struggles a secret from me if it's my kid struggling at school.  That is all this policy is about: bringing the parents back into the picture.


Trans Rights are Human Rights


I oppose new anti-transgender guidance as an educator and a supporter of equal rights.

<!DOCTYPE html>

The new guidance on transgender students is contrary to state law and the constitution.  As an educator, I oppose any policy that puts students' mental health and lives at risk.  Please reject these new guidelines.


I strongly support this transgender policy rewrite

<!DOCTYPE html>

<p>One solid foundation we stand on is truth.  We expect to be told the truth and we expect our children to tell the truth.  Boys can't be girls and girls can't be boys.  Telling them they can, promotinng gender dysphoria, and/or making special accomodations for a group of children with some mental health issues will only worsen the situation.  Parents aren't parenting, they are friending and are failing to set expectations and providing consequences for this ridiculousness.  It may be too late considering we have schools in the commonwealth already placing litter boxes in class for students who think they are cats and dogs.  Common sense and logic need to come back in to play.    </p>


I strongly oppose the Governor’s new model policies as to transgender and nonbinary students

<!DOCTYPE html>

I strongly oppose the Governor’s model guidance regarding transgender and non-binary students. I believe this policy was unlawfully proposed and is more about the Governor signaling his political ambitions than supporting kids or their parents. While hiding behind a false cloak of parental rights this proposal seeks to harm transgender and non-binary kids. Scoring political points at the expense pf very vulnerable youth is shameful in any context. The Governor and his minions should focus on the many issues in our schools post-covid and helping to strengthen the Virginia school system which has played a key part in our state’s economic growth.  As a Fairfax parent, I am horrified at this transphobic and homophobic  proposal.


SUPPORT TRANS KIDS!

<!DOCTYPE html>

<p>Support Trans Rights. </p>


Strongly Support Governor Youngkin

<!DOCTYPE html>

<p>It is the parents responsibility for raising their children not the school system to promote ideas upon minds that are not fully developed to make life changing decisions that cannot be reversed later in life. Be a parent to your children not their best friend. </p>


I oppose the proposed changes to the Transgender model policy

<!DOCTYPE html>

<p>In order to protect the mental health and welfare of transgender students in the state of Virginia, I oppose the proposed changes to the existing model policy. I believe that all students have the right to feel safe at school and under the current 2021 model policy, transgender students can have a school environment that allows them to feel safe even when home is not that place. I strongly oppose the proposed changes. </p>


Don't erase transgender and nonbinary youth from Virginia schools!

<!DOCTYPE html>

I strongly object to this decision and I vote!


OPPOSE!

<!DOCTYPE html>

I strongly oppose the gamges.


Oppose this model policy; support transgender kids

<!DOCTYPE html>

I am the mother of a transgender female. Transgender kids are regular human beings who just want to learn at school, make friends, play sports and be allowed to go to the bathroom when needed, just like any other kid. Please look at the medical professional guidance and the mental health association guidance in this area and use that for the model policy.


In re transgender policy for all VA Schools

<!DOCTYPE html>

I have grandchildren and great-grandchildren in our local schools here in Augusta Co., in the Shenandoah Valley and I want to submit my thoughts on a proposed policy for how to handle the transgender students who attend our schools.

First, any transgender student who attends one of our schools should have to use the restroom of their birth gender, not what they say they are or what they want to be, but what they actually are.

Second, no transgender student should be allowed to participate in any sport for girls/females if they were not born a female/girl. And, no transgender student should be allowed to use the locker room and/or shower of the opposite sex, but use onr for the sex they were born to be not what they say they are.

We, as parents and Grandparents, must stand up for our kids until they are old enough to stand up for themselves and dog gone it, we will.


OPPOSE. Love your kids. Listen to them. NO MORE SUICIDES

<!DOCTYPE html>

<p>Trans kids have a much higher rate of suicides without supportive families and having to go through puberty in assigned genders they do not align with. Depression, anxiety, withdrawal. Puberty blockers are used to push back difficult decisions. Allow more time. These kids need understanding and love, support and acceptance by family and community. Not government telling them how to be. </p>


Opposed

<!DOCTYPE html>

I must oppose this policy.  It contradicts itself by stating that it will respect children, but will also allow teachers and school staff to disrespect their names and pronouns.  These two rules cannot coincide with each other.  This also removes any protection that students have at school, especially those that may not have a safe home.  This bill will do nothing to protect children and target those that have little protection to begin with.  I struggle to find any source of morality or sense in this policy, other than a hatred for trans youth.


STRONGLY OPPOSE! Look at the facts.

<!DOCTYPE html>

<p>Don't force your religion into policy. I guess asking Republicans to do research is asking too much. </p>


<!DOCTYPE html>

Strongly support the new transgender guidance policy


Transgender policies

<!DOCTYPE html>

I strongly agree with Governor Youngkin’s policy and support the parental rights guaranteed to us by constitution and the Code of VA.


I support keeping people with penises out of my daughter’s bathroom and locker rooms

<!DOCTYPE html>

Anyone that feels different needs psychiatric help.


I cannot tell a lie. I love this new policy!

<!DOCTYPE html>

If your child is confused about his/her gender, fortunately the school will now keep you informed so you can be the parent that child needs you to be.  Your family's needs are not mine - and I will not put my family's needs or problems on you.  So do not require me or any of my family members to lie and call her a "he" or him a "she."  To do so requires me to affirm that some kind of mistake happened somewhere.  And NO CHILD IS A MISTAKE!  I will not call him a "her" and I cannot call her a "him."  I can say "Hey you!" And I will smile and be kind.  But do not expect me to lie.  It's like supporting the anorexic in the lie that he/she is obese.  Anorexics SEE something different in the mirror.  And no, I will not affirm a false self-perception.  It is not being kind or loving: it is the most hateful thing I believe I could do to another vulnerable human being.


<!DOCTYPE html>

strongly support Governor's transgender policies


STRONGLY OPPOSE ANTI-TRANS PEOPLES POLICIES

<!DOCTYPE html>

As a Virginian, tax-paying resident, I strongly oppose any anti-trans peoples policies.


Strongly opposed to Governor’s policy on transgender students

<!DOCTYPE html>

<p>I strongly support the right of transgender students to be treated with respect and have their  gender identity and personal pronouns recognized. The Governor’s policy is inhumane and illegal. Transgender students are human beings with feelings and should not be used as pawns to further the Governor’s political ambitions. </p>


I strongly support this policy change

<!DOCTYPE html>

My children are grateful.  I am grateful.  We are not hateful people.  We simply want bathrooms to be safe again.  We want locker rooms to be safe again.  We want girls' sports to be safe for biological girls.  This is only happening to GIRLS.  There are no biological girls screaming to join the boys' teams.  Females are naturally, for the most part smaller and more physically vulnerable.  Kids who are uncomfortable using their biological sex bathroom - I truly feel for them.  I saw The Breakfast Club and I know how horrible kids can be to each other.  So find a safe solution for the few who need an alternative.  But the majority should not be afraid - and that fear is very appropriate after all the assaults and rapes that have happened as a result of the previous leadership's destructive faux pas.


Using a student’s preferred name/pronouns does not = encouraging “mutilation” OPPOSE THIS POLICY

<!DOCTYPE html>

The proposed model policies mention the need for school communities to show “compassion and respect for all students” and to create a “positive, safe, and nurturing learning environment for all students”. However, the document outlines actions that blatantly disrespect transgender students, and this will create a negative, unsafe environment for transgender students:

Allowing staff and students to misgender and misname students is traumatizing for transgender students. This says to a student, “I don’t believe you, and I don’t value who you are.” It also draws negative attention to transgender students, making them easy targets for bullying by others.

Requiring schools to out transgender students to their parents will put students at risk. For some students, school is one of the only places where they are able to be their true selves.  Forcing adults to out students to their families will expose some students to abuse at home, or even homelessness. Furthermore, it will deter teachers and other school professionals from supporting transgender students out of fear of negative consequences under the new restrictive policies.

Basic respect for transgender and non-binary students by using their preferred names and pronouns is not even remotely close to “encouraging bodily mutilation” and any argument in that vein is nothing more than  a straw-man argument for the purpose of being unnecessarily inflammatory.  No harm is done by simply respecting a student’s wishes regarding how they want to be addressed.  A lot of harm may be done by refusal to do so.  Kindness and compassion cost nothing.


I strongly oppose the proposed changes.

<!DOCTYPE html>

I strongly oppose the proposed policy on transgender policy. Not only is it illegal at both the national and state level but it is also plainly wrong.


Strongly oppose the governor’s policy on transgender children.

<!DOCTYPE html>

Transgender students should be treated with respect and compassion.  They are at risk of self harm when they are not welcomed as genuine member of the school community


Strongly oppose Governor youngkins policies on Transgender youth.

<!DOCTYPE html>

I support transgender students throughout Virginia and their right to make their own choices about gender identity their dress and their preferred pronouns. I also condemn Governor Youngkins attempt to sacrifice transgender youth to further his political ambitions.


Strongly OPPOSE governor’s policy on trans kids

<!DOCTYPE html>

<p>I support transgender students throughout Virginia, and their right to make their own choices about gender identity, their dress and their preferred pronouns. I also condemn Governor Youngkin’s attempt to sacrifice transgender youth to further his political ambitions. </p>


Strongly oppose governor’s policy on transgender children

<!DOCTYPE html>

<p>Take care of our children. </p>


I strongly oppose: I support trans kids Dr

<!DOCTYPE html>

<p>Support trans kids. It's their right to have their freedom of choice. </p>


Strongly Oppose

<!DOCTYPE html>

We know that supporting and welcoming transgender youth is suicide prevention. Governor Youngkin’s policy proposed here will directly harm our students in ways that are lasting and devastating and at times, tragically irreversible. Virginia should be a leader in creating welcoming school districts that families want to move to. For the sake of our children and the future generation of Virginians, please reconsider this policy.


Parent of a nonbinary student STRONGLY OPPOSED!

<!DOCTYPE html>

Please rescind these hateful and harmful model policies. Students “outed” against their wills to their families could end up homeless, abused, or dead. These policies will also negatively affect trans and nonbinary students who have their parents’ support by sending a strong and clear message that the state does not recognize or respect who they are, that the state views them as “different” and “other” (as if they do not already have to deal with that on a regular basis), that the state does not believe they are worthy of being protected. It sends the message that their very existence is so abnormal and harmful that parents must be notified, that only parents can grant these students the power to be who they truly are. It will affect their sense of self-worth and their ability to feel safe, secure, respected, and valued in school. And what happens if my child's teacher refuses to use their preferred name and pronouns, even with my permission? Why should that teacher’s “beliefs” take precedence over the mental health of my child? I would be willing to bet that none of the supporters of these policies have a trans or nonbinary child, that they have no idea what it's like to send their student off to school with a silent plea to the universe to please be kind to their child. I do not want my child to be another statistic. I refuse to allow you to risk them becoming another statistic.


Stringly oppose proposed policy

<!DOCTYPE html>

<p>I support  transgender students throughout Virginia and their right to make their own choices about gender identity,  their dress, and their preferred pronouns.  I also condemn Governor Youngkin's attempt to sacrifice vulnerable trans youth to further his political ambitions. </p>


Glenn Youngkin hates children!  I will oppose his agenda with all my might.

<!DOCTYPE html>

Transgender students must have the right to make their own choices identity, dress, and pronouns.  Lives are at stake.  Youngin should stop his obvious attempts to appease the GOP core voters by playing up to their fear and hatred.


I support trans kids

<!DOCTYPE html>

<p>I support transgender students throughout Virginia, and their right tomake their iwn choices about gender idenity, thei dress and their preferred pronouns. I also condem Governor Youngkin’s attempt to sacrifice transgender youth to further hus political ambitions. </p>


Strongly oppose: and do support trans kids

<!DOCTYPE html>

Please support our trans kids. All kids need to be heard

and we need to respect all.


STRONGLY OPPOSE ANTI-TRANS POLICIES

<!DOCTYPE html>

<p>I support transgender students and their right to come out to whom they feel safe and protected in their own timeline. I reject the spirit of these policies and admonish those in the Youngkin administration who wrote them. </p>


Strongly oppose: support trans kids

<!DOCTYPE html>

I support transgender students throughout Virginia and their right to make their own choices about their gender identity, their dress, and their pronouns.

I strongly condemn governor Youngkins attempt to sacrifice transgender youth to further his political ambitions.


STRONGLY OPPOSE Youngkin’s Anti-Trans Youth Education Policy

<!DOCTYPE html>

<p>I support transgender students throughout Virginia in their right to make their own choices about gender identity, their dress , and their preferred pronouns. I also condemn Governor Youngkin‘s attempts to sacrifice transgender youth to further his political ambitions. These are human rights that he is proposing to take away! </p>


My kid my choice

<!DOCTYPE html>

Keep ur hypocrisy to yourself re my child    My child / my family choice    Strong families do not need fake ones like yours in our lives!!!


I oppose this harmful policy.

Virginia Resident Who Supports Trans Students

<!DOCTYPE html>

I support trans students in VA. This is a policy aimed to harm the most vulnerable of students. 82% of trans people have considered suicide and 40% have attempted suicide, and a policy which forces students into the closet or outs them to non supportive parents will only lead to more dead children. This policy is also a direct violation of Virginia law, by the Virginia Human Rights Act. Trans students deserve to feel safe in schools, and this direct attack on them by their governor is shameful.


Strongly opposed - I support trans kids

<!DOCTYPE html>

<p>I am strongly opposed to the governor's cynical use of transgender kids to further his political ambitions. Trans kids throughout Virginia should have the right to make their own choices about gender identity, their dress and their preferred pronouns. I am especially disturbed that the governor's "model policies" discourage adults to use the student's preferred name. These policies should not go into effect. </p>


New Model Policies

<!DOCTYPE html>

<p>I strongly oppose the new Model policies and support transgender youth. I am the father of a transgender youth who went to public schools and wanted to be identified by pronouns of their choice . This harmed no one, and was brave of him to demand to be identified how he chose. I also object to using religion as an excuse to discriminate against st transgender students. </p>


Support transgender kids

<!DOCTYPE html>

I truly support trans kids in Virginia and the right to be who they want and identify as however they please. I oppose Governor Youngkin's policies hurting and ostracizing trans kids, they deserve all the help and support. They should not be political pawns in his game to run for higher office.


Strongly Oppose and Support Trans Children

<!DOCTYPE html>

I support trans children and youths’ rights to support their identity, live their lives and in those individual freedoms go by the names, pronouns, and gender that best confirms to their identity.


Protect trans kids!

<!DOCTYPE html>

<p>I oppose the new policy proposed by the governor.  The results of such a policy will be devastating for any trans or gender diverse youth in the state of VA.  Ironically, the more fully transitioned a youth is, the more dangerous it will be for them to essentially be "outed" by policies which require them to act in ways that are inconsistent with who they are and where their sex assigned at birth might not be known to their peers.  I encourage you to educate yourself before making sweeping policies without knowing the details of how it will affect people.  </p>


Strongly Oppose

<!DOCTYPE html>

Strongly oppose using kids and vulnerable populations for political gains


Oppose this change

<!DOCTYPE html>

<p>Trans people deserve to be protected and respected. I oppose this change. </p>


No more McCauliffe damage, big YES to Younkin revovery

<!DOCTYPE html>

I see ithe problems in school when there is no dad or mom.  Teachers should not have the burden of silence placed on them.  We want to include the guardians and parents as much as we can and in my school parents really support teachers.  It isn't my job to help your child figure out their gender.  I studied to teach.  I want to teach.  And I want my kids to learn, not be indoctrinated or persuaded from peer pressure or even adults who may think they have good intentions but are actually bullies to any who don't agree with what they want the world to look like.


100% support - kids need their parents protection again adult predators

<!DOCTYPE html>

Heartwrencing de-trans stories


Support the Safety or Our Children in Schools - No mixed bathrooms

<!DOCTYPE html>

I never thought I would have to write something like this in America.  What has happened to our country?

Schools should encourage education and not social agenda's of either party.  Provide the facts as the fact's and let people make their own choices.  Protect our girls from predators in private spaces and go back to the practice of helping the students who are confused in life.  Stop indoctrinating our children into mental disorders and encouraging them to be something they are not.

I oppose transgender students being in a bathroom that is not associated with the gender on their original birth certificate!


Object to this policy

<!DOCTYPE html>

<p>Support and are for transgender children </p>


Kids have right to be protected by their parents!


Support innocent kids not being brainwashed to mutilate their bodies


Support to stop hateful people mutilating our children

<!DOCTYPE html>

How on earth would some people want to mutilate children


Trifecta: Youngkin, Winsome Sears & Miyares - I SUPPORT

<!DOCTYPE html>

<p>We are in good hands, hope it's a full return to science-based reality and common-sense in this state.  Children need parents: school should absolutely prioritize parents' involvement and input.  Children appropriately need parents permission and support. </p>


I support legislation- no more discrimination against girls.

<!DOCTYPE html>

Stop discriminating against girls. Give them back their sports. Give them back their bathrooms and locker rooms. If this makes kids suicidal, then get them mental health care… but don’t give them my daughter’s bathroom.


100% support - who would support mutilating children but sick and evil people


Support the rights of trans-children!

<!DOCTYPE html>

As an educator, I work daily with children and young adults struggling with this issue. They desperately need our support as they navigate the burden they've been given. They are not making a choice!


?? support, oppose hateful propagada aim to mutilate children

<!DOCTYPE html>

Stop mutilating children behind parents back


Rights of Children

<!DOCTYPE html>

I am adamantly OPPOSED to the proposed model policies and wonder when the rights of the child are given priority over the adults in their lives. Is it only when the child is unborn that their rights trump those of their parents? Children, even after they are born, have rights that must be honored and protected. The lives of born children are of the utmost importance. In particular, our LGBTQIA+ children must know that they are valuable and they have a right to exist.


I OPPOSE THIS ! PROTECT TRANS FOLKS!

<!DOCTYPE html>

I 100% oppose this hateful policy! Protect trans folks!


Support trans kids

<!DOCTYPE html>

More should be done to protect all of our vulnerable trans kids. Adults should be compassionate leaders.


Strongly Support the new guidance affirming a parent's responsibility and rights.

<!DOCTYPE html>

<p>I strongly support the new education guidance re-affirming a parents right and responsibility to be a part of important decisions in their children's lives. Young, vulnerable children who are subject to many diverse influences throughout their school years, should have the support and guidance from those who know and love them best before making potentially life-altering decisions. </p>


Vehemently Oppose This Hateful Legislation

<!DOCTYPE html>

Legislators have no right to strip transgender teens of their human rights. This legislation is dangerous to the mental health of an already vulnerable population. Let’s focus on passing laws that actually benefit our youth, regardless of their gender preferences. This is hateful legislation that has no place in Virginia schools.


LGBTQ Path

<!DOCTYPE html>

<p>I am opposed any LGBTQ agendas be it in schools or out. Immorality of any kind is an assault on a normal society. Having human rights must not include immorality as an alternate "normal." Immorality will always be immorality and its subtile destructive effects will always cause great failure in a normal society. When you lose sight of true morality you lose period. You lose common sense ethically, socially, and put the rest of society at health risks also. A rebellious mind will always end up selfish, self willed, pushing to get its way at others expense, justify itself, compromise on many fronts, accuse normal moral people as haters and not tolerant, scheme against their opposers even with violent pranks and threats. Would it be moral or humane to give your pet dog a sex change? Why then do we think it good to change a human's normal birth sex? </p>


Trans Individuals Reality/ Genetics are permanent, NOT a choice !

<!DOCTYPE html>

As a Physical BioCHEMIST Ph.D. I would like to educate the Governor and other ignorant judges as to a simple fact of Genetic reality.

It turns out that 2% of all hominids (Humans, Gorillas, Orangutans, Bonobos & Chimpanzees) are homosexual. This reality, expressed across ALL of these species seems quite clearly to be therefore a GENETIC trait.

Now, our species is a lot more complicated, intellectually than the others, however, it seems most obvious that a strong influence from our inheritance is at work in this area of our behaviour. Testimony of many gay folk as well bolsters the idea that much of this tendency is hardly in the CHOICE realm, particularly in the more oppresive past, many would have desired to feel the "usual" way for a person of their physical characteristics given all the discrimination & abuse they feel in their lives.

By the way, hormonal concentrations also do not always reflect the sexual organs on a human, as is well known.

Most likely, there is a spectrum across human tendencies influenced by diverse genetic & epigenetic factors that determine any individuals' phenotypic behavior, however the fact is that the presumption of two distinct, never intertwined sex definitions is surely too extreme to accurately describe all humanity.

As a veteran substitute Teacher in the Fairfax County School System for half a decade as well, I can see how the rising generations are so much more inclusive & understanding of diverse Cultural, racial & sexual differences. This is not a trend which is likely to reverse itself and our responsibility to help young people socialize in a mature way is obstructed by trying to turn back the clock on the evolving reality of human society.

Youngkin's homophobic Trans attack is not leadership, it is arrogant ignorance by judges who know not what they speak of for political gain amongst similarly ignorant people who want to impose their incompetence on others & harm the defenceless young.

Let's leave policy to those who know what they are talking about !

Steven Dwight Ferber, Ph.D. Chemistry, Howard University 2005

                                        B.S. Chemistry, University of Virginia 1976

                                       (~A.B.D. Physical Chemistry, Univ. of Minnesota 1981)


Support this change 100% !!!!

<!DOCTYPE html>

<p>Support this change!  </p>


I oppose this

<!DOCTYPE html>

<p>I oppose everything about this. Our children should be protected at school. Not everyone has a home environments that is welcoming. School can be that welcome place. </p>


Support this change 100%


Feel sorry for these kids. Protect girls! Support this change 100%


This policy is illegal and does the exact opposite of protecting our kids

<!DOCTYPE html>

The 2022 Model Policy discriminates on the basis of gender and is illegal both from federal and state laws. It discriminates against any students in schools who portray themselves as a gender that does not align with their biological sex. That is illegal. It takes away the rights of those kids and makes them feel horrible inside. Taking away the right for someone to use their preferred pronouns increases the rates of suicide by a lot. According to the Trevor Project, if a genderqueer, genderfluid, nonbinary, transgender, etc. child has one adult in their lives who uses their correct pronouns, it can decrease the likelihood of suicide by up to 40%, which is nearly half. If teachers aren’t allowed to use a student's preferred pronouns, then that will mean that more people will die from self-inflicted harm. Another thing is that sometimes students will only feel safe to be themselves at school, which could mean that they are openly transgender at school, but aren’t at home. This could be for a variety of reasons; the child’s parents may not be accepting, may be violent, rude, never around, etc. If a child would like school staff to use different pronouns but their parents won’t sign for one of the reasons stated above or others, then that’s unfair for the child. Also, if one of the parents of the child is gone and not in touch anymore, that would mean that the child would not be able to use different pronouns, which is totally unfair. Outing a transgender child to their parents could cause a situation where it ends in suicide. With this policy, suicide rates will go up, and isn’t that what we’re trying to avoid? Last I checked, suicide is a bad thing, and I doubt that has changed in the past two weeks. Please consider this when you decide whether to make this official or not. Thank you, Kinsley.


I oppose this policy.

<!DOCTYPE html>

I am very frustrated and do not quite know where to begin. First off, I’d like to address the issue of ‘safety’ in bathrooms. I can more than assure you that no kid is going to risk the hate and bullying associated with trans to use the restroom associated with a different gender— sometimes including trans kids. I hear some people concerned about their students being assaulted in the bathroom but I can tell you as a student with PTSD and a survivor of sexual assault, the bathroom was one of the only places i felt safe at school. I could sit behind a locked door and have some space to cry or calm myself down or just be alone.

Where did i not feel safe? In the classroom under the gaze of some of my (cisgendered) male teachers. One of them touched feminine students inappropriately during my time in high school and is still employed. He would squat next to the more feminine students and place his hand on their thigh when assisting them with problem sets. He would rub the shoulders of some of his favorite girls when they were stressed. his gaze made me feel sick. Even now when I run into him around town I am sent into panic attacks and feel physically sick, vulnerable, and violated. And yet he is my little sister’s teacher this year.

if you want to focus and helping your students feel more safe, focus on that. Listen when your students tell you they are uncomfortable. Every. single. girl I’ve met at college has a teacher or a mentor they remember who was much the same. and many times worse. If you truly want to protect your children from predators, listen when they tell you an adult makes them uncomfortable. trust them to know their own boundaries and respect those boundaries.

quick side note: I can tell you what your students are doing in bathrooms and that’s vaping. almost all of my friends from high school used juuls or other vapes and every one of them is still addicted to nicotine. In between almost every single class, the girls i knew would take vape breaks in the bathroom. They’d all huddle into the handicap stall and vape and vape and vape until the next bell rang. My friends have tried to quit. They’ve flushed them down toilets, they’ve thrown them in the dumpster, but eventually they break and go out and buy a new one.

so parents, if it’s about parental rights and control, focus on the nicotine market. Or literally anything other than your kid being the person they are and expressing themself as such.

sincerely,

a very frustrated college senior/YCSD alum


Support Parental Input

<!DOCTYPE html>

<p>A common agreement among educators is that for the success of the student, the family is a vital part of the educational process.  Parents, who have the greatest interest in the success and well being of their child, must be a part of every major decision.  I will support all efforts that focus on keeping parents in the educational process. </p>


We support the Governor - protect our kids!!!

<!DOCTYPE html>

I support this change in its entirety!!!


We support the Governor!


Protect Our Trans Youth

<!DOCTYPE html>

<p>I strongly oppose this anti-trans bill. I believe that it will devastate the Virginia transgender youth community. As an educator, my number one job is to protect my students. I am doing just that by opposing this bill. I urge all educators to do the same. </p>


Support this 100%!


Sports Participation

<!DOCTYPE html>

For the purposes of participating in sports, the sex designated on a person's birth certificate should be used to decide on which sporting events they should be eligible to participate. More specifically, Males per their birth certificate should not be allowed to participate in Women's sports. It isn't fair to women to have a transgender male participate against them.


You don’t really want boys in the girls bathroom? Support this 100%!


I agree with the Governor-

<!DOCTYPE html>

<p>I support the change in policy. It is needed for safety of our children. </p>


OPPOSE

<!DOCTYPE html>

<p>The proposed policy neglects the fact that not all parents are responsible and caring. The supreme court noted in Prince v's Massachusetts that parents cannot put their children in harm's way. This policy puts unknown numbers of children at risk. Please do not allow this policy to go through. </p>
<p> </p>


Strongly Oppose

<!DOCTYPE html>

I oppose this policy as a parent and educator. By forcing students to use an identity some one else imposes on them creates not only higher rates of suicide and depression in transgender and nonbinary students, but also increases the risk in cis-gendered students as well. Affirming and supportive environments are good for all. The school system is not indoctrinating students or lying to parents, we are doing what parents expect of us--protecting all students. This policy, as proposed, would prevent the school system from protecting all our children. Do

NOT pass this policy.


I fully support the governor.

<!DOCTYPE html>

I strongly support Gov. Youngkin's new policy to protect our school children.


Support the Gov.


I do not support!

<!DOCTYPE html>

<p>I do not support this. </p>


Do NOT Pass - OPPOSE - This is a hateful and targeted plan and does not support ALL students


STOP BLAMING NORTHERN VIRGINIANS

<!DOCTYPE html>

Come to one of our school board meetings and you will find that this is not representative of Northern Virginians. There are a few attention seeking parents and teachers that want to bully people into their narrative. I am not friends with one parent that believes boys should be allowed in girls bathrooms or locker rooms.


Do NOT Pass - OPPOSE


Transgender policies

<!DOCTYPE html>

I Strongly Approve of Gov. Youngkin's Transgender Policy Changes

Our schools need to focus on their real job: education. Not indoctrination. Teachers in our schools have the responsibility to teach children the objective subjects of reading, writing, math, science, and history.  Parents have the responsibility to teach their own children their morals and their belief systems, not teachers. Parents have the ultimate authority over and the ultimate responsibility for their children's lives, not school administrators and teachers.

Children who are too young to legally drive or vote or consume alcohol are also too young to make irrevocable choices which will mutilate their bodies and/or chemically castrate themselves.

Gov. Youngkin's policy is a good first step in preserving parental rights over the upbringing of their children.

I strongly support the proposed updated Transgender guidance suggested by the VDOE.  Parents have the important responsibility of guiding their children through many different phases of development before they reach adulthood.  Our children are bombarded by many different influences, many of which, we, as parents, would prefer to protect them from.  This is a difficult task in this day and age.  This policy reinforces the fact that parents are the ultimate influencer and decision maker in a child’s life. I applaud Governor Youngkin and his staff in their efforts to draft a fair policy that addresses a very sensitive topic.


Oppose

<!DOCTYPE html>

I oppose this revision.  It is a matter of common courtesy to address students by the name and gender with which they identify; to prohibit school personnel from doing so is hurtful and shameful.  Other policy changes in this revision are similarly cruel and discriminatory.  Please search your conscience and reconsider these changes.


Support common sense: oppose wacko northern Virginia nonsense.

<!DOCTYPE html>

<p>Keep boys out of girls bathrooms and locker rooms. Period no exceptions. If you want a sexual free for all them do it in your own houses and leave my kids out of it. </p>


PROTECT & SUPPORT KIDS; Oppose Republican fear

<!DOCTYPE html>

It's time to get out of the dark ages and stop the witch hunts. Let children be children without fear mongering. Christians supposedly believe in love, but Republican self-proclaimed christians seem to spew a lot of hate.


Oppose from the bottom of my heart

<!DOCTYPE html>

Nobody, as things stand now, is required to respect trans students. Not teachers, not parents. Schools are not being converted to places where anyone can use any bathroom, they're just making bathroom usage accessible to people who are trans, which make up a small minority. (That doesn't mean they're not important, though!!)

Making it illegal to respect them unless there is paperwork/parental consent is completely unfair to those who want to and really makes trans kids feel like second-class citizens. Making it a requirement to come out at home is extremely dangerous for some kids.


Oppose new policy

<!DOCTYPE html>

<p>As a parent of a Virginia public school student, and as a VA taxpayer and sociologist, it pains me to see this administration actively harm the health and well-being of our children.  We have an obligation to promote a supportive learning environment for all children in our communities that protects and promotes the physical and mental well-being of all students.  This policy reverses the trend toward creating a more inclusive, tolerant, supportive learning environment for all. Do not </p>


Authority to parents where it belongs

<!DOCTYPE html>

I strongly support this proposed change.

Parents need to be informed and involved in all aspects of the lives of their children.  It is Parents, not government in any form that knows best, cares most has the God ordained responsibility to guide and nurture their children.  The rare occurrances of parental abuse are frequently cited as a basis for keeping vital information about minors from their parents.  The default position should be to inform parents absent some known problem.  Even then parents should be informed in a setting which would offer protection to the child.

Policies which withhold information from parents have the effect of weakening the family.  For students struggling with their identity the strength of the family is critical and needs to be supported, not undermined.


Oppose

<!DOCTYPE html>

There is a lot that the general public is still learning about transgender and LGBTQ issues. In the meantime cisgender people need to provide the safest environment possible for this very vulnerable population. It is better to err on the side of kindness than to err on the side of harm. It is just not that hard.


OPPOSE--This policy is unenforceable and illegal

<!DOCTYPE html>

<p>The proposed policy is rooted in transphobia and seeks to further harm trans and nonbinary students. It is unenforceable and would likely be struck down in court because it violates both state and federal law. Discrimination against transgender persons is illegal discrimination on the basis of sex. </p>


Support for proposed model policy

<!DOCTYPE html>

I have read and support the proposed update to Virginia’s model policy for transgender students. It strikes a balance between gender and religious identities of students without subordinating either. It reinforces the rights and responsibilities of parents regarding medical health concerns and the education of their children. Parents by law and throughout recorded history are responsible for their children. The commonwealth has a responsibility to respect limits of its authority as it relates to parents over their children. I pray this policy is adopted and puts parents back in charge of our education system.


I strongly oppose this policy

<!DOCTYPE html>

This policy completely ignores nonbinary students, and will only force trans kids further into the closet, particularly when their parents may be unsupportive. Studies have shown that not being able to express their identity leads to higher rates of suicide. It is highly likely that children will die because of this policy, no matter how much the people who wrote it tried to hide the real meaning of this model policy behind words that sound like they support human rights. But trans rights are human rights, and this document does absolute nothing to protect trans and nonbinary students. This is nothing but harmful and a step in the wrong direction.


Parent with OCR CLAIM of actual discrimination of trans student in my FAMILY against LCPS.

<!DOCTYPE html>

I am a PARENT of LCPS students and I want our school to teach compassion and not set an example that it is OK to disregard human rights of others. Understand that the roll back will make it less safe for trans students. Understand the roll back is a civil rights roll back which is designed to make trans students existance in schools difficult. It is part of agenda to not support trans persons. This is a REAL ISSUE. I had to hire and attorney to ensure one of MY Students could graduate as this school system prefers to have trans students NOT be visible. The roll back is FEAR BASED. But lets look at the facts.

FACT: trans students do EXIST.

FACT : trans students are Bullied exponentially more than other students.

FACT: TRANS PEOPLE ARE NOT MORE LIKLEY TO ABUSE OTHERS (only state this as that fear of their own kids being safe somehow seems to be the fear of those opposed to accepting the existance of trans students).

FACT: Some of the very parents upset by rights of students ARE still going to have trans kids whether they like it or not.

Forcing teachers to not let a kid know they are accepted for who they are even when some parents might have a hard time with this will not help those few students. Parents rights include parents of trans students who want our students to be respected. As for other parents, if you don't have a trans kid why would you care if schools allow a safe bathroom for trans kids to go to without being bullied? I think you SHOULD CARE As you should want your children to learn compassion and respect for all and you should want to support teachers who are createing safe spaces for all children. It is cruel and particularlly awful legistalation that puts teachers in a position to be expected to actually OUT trans students. What a lack of respect not only of trans students but teachers as well to ask teachers to be complicit in what amounts to setting up trans kids for abuse. This is directly due to not being accepted by families or their own communities. The legislation of 2020 was designed to improve mental wellness and safety of trans kids in particular. Improving this for trans kids in NO WAY causes any harm to any other kids. Existance of trans kids being visible is NOT going to make it more likely other trans kids will exist. BUT KEEP IN MIND MANY TRANS KIDS ARE NOT VISIBLY TRANS! There is this fear of trans being "trendy" or somehow a threat to some other parents. News flash: If your kid is gay or trans they will be gay or trans regardless of whether you accept and support them or not. Lets not roll back schools accepting and supporting trans kids just because some parents can't do so or some parents are afraid somehow being gay or trans can be "contagious" or "learned behavior". It is not.

Further FACT:   I am a parent who has a child that has an ACTIVE CASE accepted by the Office of Civil Rights due to violation of CIVIL RIGHTS when my trans autistic student was DROPPED from enrollment in LCPS.   This case filed in fact still active/pending with the Federal OCR.  This case was ACCEPTED as YES it is a violation of CIVIL RIGHTS when a student is not granted equal access to education based on the identity of who that student is.  CIVIL rights protect race, religion, disability and yes also GENDER identity.  TRANS STUDENTS HAVE A RIGHT TO EDUCATION and to make it impossible for a trans student to attend school ,be it overt discrimination by unenrolling a child who uses "they/them' Pronouns OR   be it by setting up policy so that child can not attend school WITHOUT being bullied or without feeling SAFE- and make no mistake this roll back will make it unsafe for some kids who are trans to attend school-   The result is the same: it is a clear violation of human and civil rights to deny a trans student the meaningful opportunity to exist in school and study.  No access to a bathroom with safety is the same as not providing ability for a trans student to safely attend school.  ANY Policy designed to discriminate against a student based on some characteristic of who that student is- be it based on race, religion, gender or disability status is in fact a violation of human rights and civil rights that our country has made it a priority to protect.


Support this new policy - it is fair

<!DOCTYPE html>

<p>This policy respects ALL students as opposed to putting the rights of one over the others and ensures that parents have ALL the information about their children and their education.   There are different ways to ensure everyone maintains dignity and receive education but, schools must teach the basics and not assume the parent’s role. Schools must respect parents and their universal rights as parents. Any parent who is willing to give up their rights as parents or willing to force their children to give up their rights is teaching their children to simply roll over to the government. There are many different ways to resolve the dignity and rights of all students and this policy moves the state closer to that compromise. </p>


Support Gov. Youngkins policy to protect the family and parental rights.

<!DOCTYPE html>

<p>I strongly support Gov. Youngkins revised policy to protect families, children and parental rights. </p>


Fully Support the Governor

<!DOCTYPE html>

School systems need to get back to a focus on education of our children on the basics and that does not include confusing them on sexual orientations, proclivities, etc.  Nor does it include indoctrinating them on socialism and turning them against their parents and family.  Get back to basics!


Democrat Insanity!  Get some help! Fully Support Change! More!!!

<!DOCTYPE html>

<p>Thank you Governor Youngkin!  </p>


OPPOSE

<!DOCTYPE html>

<p>As a Virginia resident and human being, I strongly oppose this legislation. Trans and nonbinary youth have an extremely heightened rate of suicide. Youngkin is prioritizing the comfort of a few transphobic, privileged parents over the LIVES of students. In addition, these policies are not only inhumane, they are against state law. </p>


Please protect LGBTQ+ youth

<!DOCTYPE html>

If you truly believe kids deserve an education 'free of harassment and bullying' you would not support these measures. Kids deserve safe places to develop their identities and schools should be a safe place for all kids.


Republican bullying

<!DOCTYPE html>

These politicians are picking on such a small segment of youth

just to feed a political agenda that is just designed to feed

hatred for a very very small and vulnerable part of our youth

This man has only one thing on his mind and that Is to do

what is good for the far right extremely conservative Republican Party

I just wish politicians would keep their nose out of our personal

lives and protect not exploit the more vulnerable part of our

society.


Completely oppose this new policy

<!DOCTYPE html>

<p>Transgender students should not be pressured in any way, shape, or form to reveal their gender identities to their parents or teachers. Enforcing such a rule would be a cruel abuse of power, and one that would have no place in a space for encouragement and learning. Rethink your priorities. </p>


totally support the new transgender policy

<!DOCTYPE html>

<p>Parents absolutely need to be involved their children's education and transgender students need to use restrooms and participate in spots based on their biological sex.  </p>


Strongly oppose

<!DOCTYPE html>

As a VA tax payer and a parent of FCPS students, I am appalled by this policy. It targets a vulnerable segment of the student population and creates an unsafe environment in our schools. The transgender population already sees a higher percentage of homelessness, abuse and suicide. How sad to use them as a political pawn to appeal to "Christians."


Strongly Oppose this Motion

<!DOCTYPE html>

Trans people are subject to violence and hatred in their daily lives. By passing this proposal, you will put massive targets on every trans kids' back. It is not the right of parents to know every secret in their children's lives, and informing bigoted parents their child is trans will harm the health of that child. Every invisible minority deserves to come out when they feel comfortable, and not before anyone else chooses. Forcing teachers to deadname trans kids, making trans kids use the wrong bathrooms, and outing trans kids to their parents is not in the best interest of the children. It is violent policy meant to belittle the dignity of our community. Trans people aren't the benefactors of this motion, nor are the parents of trans people necessarily benefitting either. The motion is simply an invasion of privacy, and an example of intolerance towards the needs of an already vulnerable group of people.


OPPOSED to 'policy'; support Trans kids!

<!DOCTYPE html>

If I were reading this six years ago, before my older child came out as gender-fluid, I might have mistakenly thought that this policy was reasonable. It sounds reasonable to tell parents what is happening to their child at school, but it is not. Learning that your child is trans can sometimes be a shock to adults; a shock that can permanently harm a child.

I would never have imagined myself to be the type of parent who would be unsupportive and hurtful to my child, but that is who I was when they first told me. Thankfully, my spouse and our friends helped me to grow into a more supportive role for our child.

That is not always the case. As a teacher, I have held the quiet confirmations of students' identities before they tell their parents. It's important information, and they know it. They don't want to lose their family's love, so they experiment by telling friends, and teachers, and counselors first, to see how it goes over. Because losing a parent is much harder than losing a friend. Please oppose this horrific 'policy' and return to the sensible, and legally written policy of March 2021.


Fully Support Governor Youngkin!!!

<!DOCTYPE html>

The policy should be changed - I do not want my daughter using a bathroom with a boy!


Please! Parents decide!  Fully Support Governor Youngkin!


Partnering with Parents, Respecting Students Rights = Win-Win

<!DOCTYPE html>

I fully support the 2022 Model Policies. It walks a fine line in this culture war, but parents must be kept in the loop regarding their child(ren). Reasonable accommodation for trans gender students is part of the policy, so it's a win-win.


The model transgender policy for schools.

<!DOCTYPE html>

I support the transgender model policy.  Parents must be informed about transgender issues and be involved  in any decisions  involving their child.  Allowing transgender decisions to be made by schools directly involving a student without the parent(s) knowledge is wrong and promotes secrets being kept from the parent(s) who are responsible for their child.


Support the Updates: Parents Must Not Abdicate Critical Decision Making/Parenting

<!DOCTYPE html>

Critical decisions regarding a minor child's health, welfare, and education must remain in parents' hands. Sending a child to a public school is not an agreement to give up parental rights and responsibilities. School boards and agenda-driven organizations should not have a say in personal, family decisions.

For too long, parents have been led to believe that when they sent their children to school each weekday that appropriate learning was taking place. Instead, systematic indoctrination has occurred, without parental consent and knowledge. From locker rooms to libraries, parents must step back up and get involved in the details of the public schools. They can no longer assume that because they live in a nice area and pay plenty of taxes that their children are receiving an appropriate education.

If children are of an age they believe that can be unicorns or superheroes, and they still believe in Santa and the tooth fairy, they are not developmentally ready to decide of they are a boy or a girl. If they are young enough to still require parental permission for a tattoo, they are not ready to make medical decisions about gender-transforming surgery or medications. For the majority of children the trans movement is a fad which would simmer down if the adults around them were whipping up a frenzy. The favorite argument for schools keeping name and pronoun changes secret is that children might be abused by parents who do not support a gender transition. I believe this is a made-up or extremely small likelihood risk, and although sad- and illegal- if it happens, there are existing child abuse laws on the books.

Parents should always have the primary role in key decisions about their own children.


OPPOSE Youngkin’s cruelty

<!DOCTYPE html>

<p>Most Virginians OPPOSE Youngkin’s cruelty and see clearly that he’s pandering to the far-right and Trump supporters because he has Presidential ambitions. All children should be protected and included </p>


Strongly Oppose

<!DOCTYPE html>

<p>As a parent of an FCPS student, VA taxpayer, and public health specialist it pains me to see this administration fail in its duty to protect the health and well-being of our children.  We have an obligation to promote a supportive learning environment for all children in our communities that protects and promotes the physical and mental well-being of all students.  This policy reverses the trend toward creating a more inclusive, tolerant, supportive learning environment for all.  </p>


OPPOSE. Trans Rights are Human Rights.

<!DOCTYPE html>

Have you no shame? I am a Christian, and because we are apparently ignoring the separation of church and state, I will not allow anyone to falsely claim that the Bible supports your baseless hatred. Trans children, like all children, deserve protection. They deserve rights. The LGBTQIA+ community is of no harm to anyone. You are the one causing harm. It is so easy to simply respect people. Why are you trying to strip people of their rights? What is the source of the hatred in your heart?


I strongly oppose this policy

<!DOCTYPE html>

I am a first year UVA student who strongly opposes these new policies. They're incredibly harmful to transgender and nonbinary students, and can result in higher depression and suicide rates. Please, if you care for someone who is transgender or nonbinary, do everything you can to fight for their rights and mental/physical wellbeing.


I Am Afriad

<!DOCTYPE html>

Since hearing about the new model policy, I have seriously considered the fact that I may be homeless within the next month. I am safe to express myself at school, but I fear that I may not be able to be myself anywhere. This policy makes me afraid for my safety. Please protect me and my community.


Hateful policies

<!DOCTYPE html>

A strong leader needs to unite rather than divide. You are not that. These policies will harm transgendered students and not help. Bully!


Strongly oppose

<!DOCTYPE html>

What about following medical guidelines and other experts rather than pandering to your base?


Strongly Oppose

<!DOCTYPE html>

My trans daughter killed herself less than a mile from the Governor 's Mansion on September 22nd. Your roll back of LGBTQ protections contributed to why she lost all hope.


Trans rights are human rights

<!DOCTYPE html>

Quit taking us back in time. These policies harm- not help.


I SUPPORT Gov new proposal

<!DOCTYPE html>

<p>I totally support the Gov new proposal. I am in mental health and am appalled at the people in my field that bought into this evil hoax. If you got a penis, you use the men's room. If you have a vagina, use the girls room. Otherwise, use the principal's bathroom. </p>


Vehemently oppose

<!DOCTYPE html>

These policies rollback hard fought advancements for transgendered students. Quit taking us back in time. Parental rights my butt. Parental rights for your base only.


New guidance from Virginia Department of Education

<!DOCTYPE html>

I support the new guidance that reinstates parental involvement and requiring students to use facilities based on birth gender.


I support mental health resources for suicidal kids- not access to girl’s locker rooms.

<!DOCTYPE html>

<p>Common sense people. Obviously those supporting this nonsense don’t have girls in school. </p>


Support Right to protect Children

<!DOCTYPE html>

I fully support the rights of the transgender community. I do NOT Support the right for a transgender (biologically male) to be changing in a biologically female locker room or in a biologically female bathroom. The sexual crimes against young girls from males is too risky. Even the crimes from a male to a transgender female - it is simply too risky to allow.


Oppose

<!DOCTYPE html>

trans and non-binary students deserve peace and respect


Oppose Youngkin’s hatred for what he doesn’t understand, practice acceptance and kindness

<!DOCTYPE html>

As a Christian, I follow Jesus’ teachings to show love and kindness to even the smallest or most vulnerable among us.  We should be empowering students to live their truths rather than bullying them.  Support trans kids, not flawed political ploys.


Trans Rights are Human Rights

<!DOCTYPE html>

<p>We the people are all created equally. Our elected officials must stop adopting and supporting policies that say some of us are equal but not all of us. Human rights apply to all of humanity. We all deserve to be affirmed and treated with respect and dignity. Trans rights are human rights. </p>


Strongly Oppose

<!DOCTYPE html>

Trans youth should have access to a safe schooling environment much like any other student within VA. Changing how schools should treat someone based on how they identify is discrimination which is something we should be working against.


Politically Motivated Child Abuse Bill - Denying They Exist, Removing Protections Against Bullying

Youngkin's Last Frail Vestiges of a Conscience

<!DOCTYPE html>

Children are already a vulnerable group of people. To further put them in harms way by denying them the simple human dignity of privacy protections in schools around aspects of their body is an egregious act.

This bill REMOVES protections from cyberbullying, physical or monetary bullying, teacher/student harm and abuses committed by school staff. If they are no longer safe to attend schools, they will likely consider homeschool instead. This reduces their interactions to mainly online ones. But it also reduces the schools well-being by losing students and families that once considered themselves as an equal part of their communities.

Considering the fact that this is being done as a political statement, not based on any real knowledge of trans or non-binary youth and certainly not based on how it affects them or other students when such policy is implemented, it demonstrates your willingness to blindly lash out at vulnerable communities for sport.

Trans children aren't your political pawns. The inhumanity of this is so extreme it defines 'public harm'. Children being refused the proper care they need in schools to not only survive childhood but thrive during it, just for a perceived 'political win' is horrific.

Further isolating an already extremely marginalized group of people does not make a 'safe environment for children'. It jeopardizes their safety, security and well-being. This creates a hostile environment for ALL children, but especially those who are trans or non-binary, not just in schools, but in their communities.

Your failure to understand what it means to be trans or non-binary is an exhibit A of a longstanding case for not choosing Republican leaders. Because you NEVER choose to side with children or empathize with their needs.

Not ONE person NEEDED a bill that targets trans or non-binary youth. And the people who want/wanted it are either intentionally obtuse, hateful or severely ill-informed. A fact I'm sure you don't mind taking advantage of. After all, if Louisianans' don't know any better, why educate them right? That's what this entire bill is about, removing trans and non-binary children from schools where they too could get an equal education.

This bill does NOT solve any problems, it only generates new ones for Virginian schools.

Putting children in harms way to make a political statement vs choosing to protect children, especially vulnerable ones, is a form of child abuse. Politically motivated child abuse.

Children should be protected, not tortured by dehumanizing them and implementing humiliation focused policy that drives children to the brink. This negatively impacts their metal health, and puts them at risk for suicide as well. A risk NO adult should ever willingly take.

Suicide is extremely high in youth today, but even higher for LGBTQIA youth. To further that risk by removing social support of children in schools is a deliberate move to see them harmed. This in NO WAY benefits children of any gender or sexuality. Pushing children to the edge for TV gigs is exactly why we have child abuse laws on a federal scale.

Because people like you can't be trusted around children.


Oppose! Trans rights are human rights!

<!DOCTYPE html>

As a health care worker in the mental health field, I oppose this bill which will cause more harm than protection.

All LGBTQ+ children need to be supported and protected. The research behind providing them support and increased mental well being is pretty strong.


Support!!!

<!DOCTYPE html>

<p>As a girl in high school I don’t feel safe knowing boys can be in whichever bathroom or locker room they feel like. It’s also not fair for sports! The biology and genetics of boys gives them an advantage in sports. We are physically different and should be able to compete as such. Fairness in sports & safety in locker rooms - please support this!!! </p>


Protect Trans Kids

<!DOCTYPE html>

Protect Trans Kids, support ALL youth not just the majority.


Opposing Proposed Transgender Policy

<!DOCTYPE html>

<p>As a long time Virginia educator who supports all students and their right to feel safe and respected at school,  I strongly oppose the proposed policy and want VDOE to reject it. Trans rights matter to me even in my Jewish religion, while there are certain standards and expectations within our community, the first and most important pillar of the Jewish community is kindness and acceptance. This policy is not being addressed by a school teacher who has students that want to be themselves. We instill kindness, acceptance, and peace to our students. Denying those that differ for one reason or another  goes against policy that we preach to our students. Our VA governor changed from party to party, depending on affiliation, should we be judging? If affiliation doesnt matter, why does gender affiliation? </p>


Transgender, nonbinary, and gay kids will suffer.  OPPOSE this policy.

Jennifer - parent of a trans son in high school

<!DOCTYPE html>

We support our transgender son, but many families don't.  Sometimes, the only place a trans or gay kid can find acceptance and guidance is from a trusted adult at school.  If schools are forced to out these kids to their parents, some kids will be kicked out of their homes or abused.  Trans kids have a high suicide rate because they are rejected by their families and communities, but with support, they can make it to adulthood.  Don't take away their only safe place.


Strongly support- kids & parents

<!DOCTYPE html>

Supports parents by recognizing the primary role they play in their children’s education and upbringing. For example, the policy states “Parents have the right to make decisions with respect to their children,” and “schools shall respect parents’ values and beliefs.


Governor is Doing Great

<!DOCTYPE html>

I support Governor Youngkin 100%. Wokism is like Reign of Terror or Cultural Revolution where socialists try to cancel everyone. Without pushback, America is finished.


support new policy

<!DOCTYPE html>

<p>Governor Youngkin is bringing back decency and common sense. Parents should be partners in education, and can only do so when teachers include them. It is of utmost importance for teachers to notify parents if child is exhibiting unusual or concerning sexual behavior, including dressing of opposite sex, asking to be called pronouns/names inconsistent with birth name. Until an adult, parents need to be notified. Schools job is to teach academic subjects; parents are to do the parenting.  </p>


Strongly oppose. Protect kids!

<!DOCTYPE html>

<p>I strongly oppose this measure. Showing kids that some of us can be ourselves, but others can't, isn't good for anyone, neither trans nor cis kids. This measure will breed hate, inequality, and put trans kids at risk. Rates of depression and suicide are already incredibly high in this group, they need encouragement and support, not oppression. This political tactic of demonizing one small group of people to boost your votes is disgusting and see through. </p>


Oppose: Solve real problems, don't create new ones or exacerbate existing ones

<!DOCTYPE html>

Let's use the evidence-based practices that were painstakingly developed by a nonpartisan group of experts, the transgender community, and concerned school administrators and teachers. I'm appalled that Governor Youngkin would willingly increase children's suicide rates and mental health struggles simply for political gain and splashy headlines.


Strongly OPPOSED!

<!DOCTYPE html>

Youngkin's proposed model policies are hateful and dangerous; they will cause transgender and nonbinary students physical, emotional and mental harm, and put them at increased risk of bullying, harassment, and suicide attempt. Youngkin obviously seeks to erase transgender students with his heartless policies, and doesn't seem to care that he is hurting this already marginalized population of children. Students' rights to equality and respect should be the priority; parents who are complaining that their own rights are more important than those of children should take a long moment to reflect on their morals. These proposed policies should be scrapped, and Virginia should keep the original 2021 policies already in existence which make Virginia schools safe places for all students.


8th grade girl supports all people but please don’t let boys in my locker room

<!DOCTYPE html>

I like all people and want them to be happy but I don’t understand why adults want boys to be in my locker room where we shower after soccer practice. Places like our bathrooms and locker rooms should not have boys in them. It isn’t fair to us.


TREAT TRANS KIDS WITH RESPECT! OPPOSE!

<!DOCTYPE html>

I strongly oppose this measure. How do you think parents feel that are parenting children that are non-binary or trans? Trans students are not a danger to cisgender children -- what is dangerous is to treat trans students as unworthy of a gender affirming school experience. It leads to depression, anxiety, and suicide. We must show LOVE!!!! Strongly oppose this bill. What truly matters more than being inclusive, loving people, and teaching our children those values???


Youngkin Transgender hate policy

<!DOCTYPE html>

Strongly oppose discrimination and bullying of Transgender kids!!


Oppose This Change.

<!DOCTYPE html>

 OPPOSE the New Policy!

As a teacher teaching several trans students, the impact this policy will have on the school community is counterproductive. By forcing teachers to out their students and disrespect their identities, it turns school into an unsafe, threatening environment rather than a place of learning.


Opposing Youngkin's pandering to the far-right

<!DOCTYPE html>

<p>Having entered public life inflaming the paranoid grievance of white racists Youngkin now seems to believe his path to the White House must be paved with the bodies of trans kids. It won't work of course because Youngkin lacks the toxic "charm" of the more accomplished hate-mongers in Florida. Youngkin's performative reversal of Northam's reforms is already being opposed by the higher quality teachers in Fairfax. They will continue using preferred pronouns and protecting trans kids from bullies inside and outside of their schools because Northern Virginia attracts teachers focused on preparing students for life in the 21st century, not the Dark Ages in which aspiring feudal lords and dungeon masters like Youngkin would be more at home. </p>


FCPS teacher opposed

<!DOCTYPE html>

<p>As a teacher in FCPS and a parent, I’m shocked and upset by this policy. Our students shouldn’t have to fear walking in the building because of who they are. Anyone who agrees with this is point blank wrong. We have enough to deal with as it is. </p>


Even trans should support this

<!DOCTYPE html>

Nothing in the proposed policy harms the trans community; it just requires parents to be involved.  Both sides should get behind that.


Support for first amendment reasons AND Parents' rights

<!DOCTYPE html>

I support this document because it supports the first amendment rights of teachers and the rights of parents. I am a parent in Arlington public schools. This document strikes the right balance between the rights of trans students to not be bullied and the rights of parents to have access to their child's health records. It also protects the first amendment rights of teachers. I am a HUGE proponent!


Human Rights Are Not Optional

<!DOCTYPE html>

The policy proposed would not only hurt the vast community of trans and LGBTQIA+ youth across Virginia schools but would put students in a position where who they are is not valued or respected by the school community. Not everyone is safe at home, so essentially forcing kids to come out to their parents when it may not be safe for them to do so puts innocent and vulnerable youth in harm's way. The policy would also set a dangerous precedent. If a child reports parental violence and abuse to a teacher, will you require the teacher to inform the parents? Once the floodgates open, they cannot be pushed back. Once you tell LGBTQIA+ students that they aren't valued as human beings, you cannot preach a false message of diversity and acceptance when your very policies undermine those principles. This goes beyond political party, beyond ideologies. Trans lives--human lives--will be negatively impacted if this policy is enforced.


Oppose proposed rule- support transgender youth

<!DOCTYPE html>

<p>This proposed rule is contrary to state law and will be extremely harmful to transgender and nonbinary kids. The 2022 Model Policies are not evidence-based practices that create a safe environment to our most vulnerable children. It will deprive a group of children that deserve dignity and respect like all other children who attend Virginia Public Schools. All children deserve the opportunity to go to school and be true to themselves and this proposed rule will impeded that opportunity. I opposed this proposed rule and hope that the VDOE leaves the existing 2021 Model Policies in place. </p>


Parents know what is best for their children

<!DOCTYPE html>

Teachers should not be encouraging students to lie and deceive. Teachers are to teach academics not life to our children. I ask teachers to have respect for the family and keep their personal agendas away from our students and out of our schools.

Current teachers are destroying what used to be a revered profession. Your sex life is not my child's concern so please stick to reading,writing and arithmetic.


Support!  Protect students!  Absolutely no bathroom sharing!

<!DOCTYPE html>

Thank you Governor Youngkin!


No identity exploration! Don’t want to know what that it!  SUPPORT!

<!DOCTYPE html>

<p>Thank you Governor Youngkin!  </p>


Shame on you - ALL children should be loved not harmed

<!DOCTYPE html>

Please rethink this policy change. It does harm to children. It does not help to restrict transgendered children's rights. They should be protected not bullied by the Virginia state agencies, procedures, regulations and laws.

Youngkin - do not use our children as a political weapon.  They deserve to be cared for.  Make policy to help not hinder these children’s lives.


Strongly support

<!DOCTYPE html>

<p>Strongly support.  Stop this craziness.  </p>


OPPOSING COMMENTS ARE EITHER BOTTS OR NATION WIDE TRANS ACTIVISTS

<!DOCTYPE html>

Youngkin’s victorious “Parents Matter” campaign galvanized weary family advocates, and his new policies are cause for hope. But forces are rallying against such initiatives, including school boards, teachers’ unions, heavily funded ideological groups, and Democrat Party leaders. In Fairfax, the public comment perioe for Youngkin’s transgender policy opened Sept. 26, with comments exceeding in a day the comments received in a month about the previous guidance.


Strongly Oppose: Keep Schools Safe Spaces for Identity Exploration

I am a trans, non-binary adult working at a Virginia public middle school. I feel strongly that these policies, if implemented, would harm and constrain students and adults in our education system, to the detriment of community health and educational goals. I work directly with students who benefit from the support of caring peers and adults who are willing to see them in ways that validate how they see themselves: students who may face punishment or harm at home for thinking and acting in ways that threaten no one. School should remain a safe space to experience a community wider and larger than what they experience at home, and a structured place to create, acknowledge, and experiment with new ideas and identities. These are essential skills needed for healthy living in our society, and our entire community benefits when students see diverse people and ideas presented and accepted around them; when they understand how people can change; and when they can grow into their true selves with support and validation. Students who cannot be acknowledged as themselves will struggle more on their academics and become understandably distrustful of their community and of society at large. Worse, they may become desperate for escape, leading to self-harm or suicide. Bullying is worse too when adults are not able or willing to validate a young person's identity. But peer-reviewed research shows that transgender and non-binary youth who report acceptance for their identities by teachers and peers are much less likely to attempt suicide (https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/10.1089/trgh.2021.0079), https://www.thetrevorproject.org/research-briefs/accepting-adults-reduce-suicide-attempts-among-lgbtq-youth/). I myself have worked directly with several students who found relief and solace in speaking with an adult willing to explore and accept their non-binary identities. Forbidding school administrations and teachers from acknowledging the identities of their students undermines those administrators' and teachers' efforts to build healthy, trusting relationships with their students. Those relationships are essential to reaching educational goals and essential to keeping schools physically and emotionally safe for all students.I interact with 6th, 7th, and 8th graders every week who are exploring their identities at school. They are trying out new activities like athletics and robotics to see if their future lies along those paths. They are making new friends and learning how to be in community with each other. And yes, they are figuring out who they love and who they really are, in a place saturated by their peers and stewarded by caring adults. Increasingly, that identity creation and experimentation involves trans, non-binary, queer, gay, and many categories other than 'girl,' 'boy,' 'woman,' or 'man.' But this creating and acknowledging and even playing has been an important part of schooling for a long time. It's a great thing: young people get immediate feedback from peers and adults at school, and ideally they also get a safe space to try out ideas that may turn out to be life-changing. Students can even try out ideas that may not be safe at home, like what it would mean to be a career artist; what it feels like to express strong emotions; and yes: what it might be like to live outside of traditional gender norms.If my school board were to adopt policies using these guidelines as a model, I would not be able to effectively run a GSA club, which I currently offer as an after-school enrichment program. GSA can stand for 'Gay-Straight Alliance' or 'Gender and Sexuality Acceptance,' but the idea is the same: to provide a space for students of all gender identities and who build relationships with all kinds of people to find validation, support, and community at their school. How can I provide student-centered activities that uplift and explore their identities when I can't even refer to them by the names and pronouns they choose? Our school is faced with challenges related to high poverty; a toxic student sub-culture of sport-fighting and bullying; and the effects of systemic racism. Our entire staff and community are involved in positively changing social and educational outcomes at our school and the idea that the Department of Education would essentially take away some of the tools we have to make that change is disheartening, to say the least.When I was a student in Virginia's public school system, I saw very few examples of people who were neither masculine nor feminine. I certainly gravitated toward peers who blurred the traditional gender lines, but it wasn't until I was in my thirties that I realized I was non-binary. I have always struggled with self-acceptance and self-confidence, but exploring my identity outside my gender-assigned-at-birth and receiving trans health care to live in a body that feels more my own have made a world of difference for me. How much faster would I have grown into myself if my local community and school had celebrated gender diversity? How much more good would I have been able to do for my neighbors and our society if I had been this healthy two decades ago? I want young people today to see the limitless possibilities of who they can be as they grow up. This is a defining reason for why I continue to work with young people and in public schools today. I want to give students today something that I did not have when I was young: validation for however they choose to express themselves and however they choose to positively relate to each other and to their community at large. These suggested changes to the DOE model policies seek to prevent and limit that gift I freely give to my own community, and I will not be excluded from that role without speaking out.The 2021 Department of Education policies provide a much safer environment for all students. School administrations vary across the state and many need consistent, well-intended guidance to safely and effectively meet the needs of students expressing identities unfamiliar to many adults. Do not take a 180-degree turn on the policies we just set last year. It will only cause confusion and delay the positive effects we are all hoping for for our students and communities. Instead, please continue to empower school administrations to make positive changes in their districts that uplift our diverse population and safeguard students from harm at home and at school. The 2021 DOE policies make a solid step forward toward that environment while the Virginia Values Act provides a legal framework for LGBTQ+ protections in places of public accommodation, like schools. Additionally, the Virginia High School League is already addressing issues of gender identity in athletics through their own policies.These new suggested guidance documents are a dangerous and drastic change in direction from what our state has already started to implement. They put students in danger and limit what caring adults at school can do to help young people. And they attempt to deny the fact that young people have their own agency and identities. Whether or not the government steps in to acknowledge someone's identity, that person will continue being themselves. I want to build a community that uplifts and validates those people, not one that limits the expression of their individual reality. Please scrap these changes and return to the 2021 guidance.

<!DOCTYPE html>

I am a trans, non-binary adult working at a Virginia public middle school. I feel strongly that these policies, if implemented, would harm and constrain students and adults in our education system, to the detriment of community health and educational goals. I work directly with students who benefit from the support of caring peers and adults who are willing to see them in ways that validate how they see themselves: students who may face punishment or harm at home for thinking and acting in ways that threaten no one. School should remain a safe space to experience a community wider and larger than what they experience at home, and a structured place to create, acknowledge, and experiment with new ideas and identities. These are essential skills needed for healthy living in our society, and our entire community benefits when students see diverse people and ideas presented and accepted around them; when they understand how people can change; and when they can grow into their true selves with support and validation. Students who cannot be acknowledged as themselves will struggle more on their academics and become understandably distrustful of their community and of society at large. Worse, they may become desperate for escape, leading to self-harm or suicide. Bullying is worse too when adults are not able or willing to validate a young person's identity. But peer-reviewed research shows that transgender and non-binary youth who report acceptance for their identities by teachers and peers are much less likely to attempt suicide (https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/10.1089/trgh.2021.0079), https://www.thetrevorproject.org/research-briefs/accepting-adults-reduce-suicide-attempts-among-lgbtq-youth/). I myself have worked directly with several students who found relief and solace in speaking with an adult willing to explore and accept their non-binary identities. Forbidding school administrations and teachers from acknowledging the identities of their students undermines those administrators' and teachers' efforts to build healthy, trusting relationships with their students. Those relationships are essential to reaching educational goals and essential to keeping schools physically and emotionally safe for all students.

I interact with 6th, 7th, and 8th graders every week who are exploring their identities at school. They are trying out new activities like athletics and robotics to see if their future lies along those paths. They are making new friends and learning how to be in community with each other. And yes, they are figuring out who they love and who they really are, in a place saturated by their peers and stewarded by caring adults. Increasingly, that identity creation and experimentation involves trans, non-binary, queer, gay, and many categories other than 'girl,' 'boy,' 'woman,' or 'man.' But this creating and acknowledging and even playing has been an important part of schooling for a long time. It's a great thing: young people get immediate feedback from peers and adults at school, and ideally they also get a safe space to try out ideas that may turn out to be life-changing. Students can even try out ideas that may not be safe at home, like what it would mean to be a career artist; what it feels like to express strong emotions; and yes: what it might be like to live outside of traditional gender norms.

If my school board were to adopt policies using these guidelines as a model, I would not be able to effectively run a GSA club, which I currently offer as an after-school enrichment program. GSA can stand for 'Gay-Straight Alliance' or 'Gender and Sexuality Acceptance,' but the idea is the same: to provide a space for students of all gender identities and who build relationships with all kinds of people to find validation, support, and community at their school. How can I provide student-centered activities that uplift and explore their identities when I can't even refer to them by the names and pronouns they choose? Our school is faced with challenges related to high poverty; a toxic student sub-culture of sport-fighting and bullying; and the effects of systemic racism. Our entire staff and community are involved in positively changing social and educational outcomes at our school and the idea that the Department of Education would essentially take away some of the tools we have to make that change is disheartening, to say the least.

When I was a student in Virginia's public school system, I saw very few examples of people who were neither masculine nor feminine. I certainly gravitated toward peers who blurred the traditional gender lines, but it wasn't until I was in my thirties that I realized I was non-binary. I have always struggled with self-acceptance and self-confidence, but exploring my identity outside my gender-assigned-at-birth and receiving trans health care to live in a body that feels more my own have made a world of difference for me. How much faster would I have grown into myself if my local community and school had celebrated gender diversity? How much more good would I have been able to do for my neighbors and our society if I had been this healthy two decades ago? I want young people today to see the limitless possibilities of who they can be as they grow up. This is a defining reason for why I continue to work with young people and in public schools today. I want to give students today something that I did not have when I was young: validation for however they choose to express themselves and however they choose to positively relate to each other and to their community at large. These suggested changes to the DOE model policies seek to prevent and limit that gift I freely give to my own community, and I will not be excluded from that role without speaking out.

The 2021 Department of Education policies provide a much safer environment for all students. School administrations vary across the state and many need consistent, well-intended guidance to safely and effectively meet the needs of students expressing identities unfamiliar to many adults. Do not take a 180-degree turn on the policies we just set last year. It will only cause confusion and delay the positive effects we are all hoping for for our students and communities. Instead, please continue to empower school administrations to make positive changes in their districts that uplift our diverse population and safeguard students from harm at home and at school. The 2021 DOE policies make a solid step forward toward that environment while the Virginia Values Act provides a legal framework for LGBTQ+ protections in places of public accommodation, like schools. Additionally, the Virginia High School League is already addressing issues of gender identity in athletics through their own policies.

These new suggested guidance documents are a dangerous and drastic change in direction from what our state has already started to implement. They put students in danger and limit what caring adults at school can do to help young people. And they attempt to deny the fact that young people have their own agency and identities. Whether or not the government steps in to acknowledge someone's identity, that person will continue being themselves. I want to build a community that uplifts and validates those people, not one that limits the expression of their individual reality. Please scrap these changes and return to the 2021 guidance.


Where were all these "transgender" kids in the 80s?

<!DOCTYPE html>

Went to school in Virginia in the 80s.  There were homosexual kids -- but sure weren't any guys who thought they were girls and vice versa.  So what's changed since then?  Who put the notion in a kid's head that if things start to get rough in middle school you can just "opt out" of your biological body?  Have you seen what these freak-show surgeries do to children?  It's child abuse.  The best way you can support a teen through the rough patches (and that's exactly what middle and high-school is -- does ANYONE want to do those years over again?) is to listen to them, encourage them, and remind them that they will get to the other side.  But don't lie to them.  Don't tell them they can "change" their gender.  Thank you, Gov. Youngkin.  I support your new policy.


I support Governor Youngkin’s Proposed Changes!

<!DOCTYPE html>

Please understand that as a father to 4 children ages 10, 6, 4, and 1 that it is critically important to me that my children as well as others aren’t taught what I deem to be dangerous ideology at such impressionable ages, while I want my children to learn about these topics, I want them to be old enough to critically think about each topic as they need to develop their own world views just as I did as an older child and young adult. I do not want teachers pushing their own agendas particularly when it goes against factual science, there are men and women, nothing else and while people may mentally believe they are a mistake and should’ve been the opposite sex that it their perception, not factually what they were born as and if they as adults choose to undergo a transition to the opposite sex that is their prerogative as an adult. I strongly support Governor Youngkin’s proposed changes and implore those with the power to support this at a legislative level to do so as it is your moral obligation.

Sincerely,

JD Tackett


Transgender Rights

<!DOCTYPE html>

Respect those who are transgender. I oppose the changes.


Thank you Governor Youngkin for this work!  Enough craziness!


Thank you for defending Parents rights!

<!DOCTYPE html>

Thank you Governor Youngkin for doing what is right!


SUPPORT!

<!DOCTYPE html>

<p>I fully support that the parents should be informed. </p>


This is is insane!  Support this change 100%!

<!DOCTYPE html>

Thank you so much Governor Youngkin!  FCPS parent.


Support for transgender students

<!DOCTYPE html>

<p>I support transgender students and their rights to full participation in public activities supported by taxpayer dollars,local, state and federal. This is the 21st century and to set aside the rights of any person because of their gender is backward thinking and detrimental to society and it's grand potential. It is an idea anathema to education itself. We should all be able to learn from the diversity of thought and being in the world. Little minds create stifled markets, the rise of authoritarianism and cruelty among humanity.  It is the responsibility of government to education it's citizens of all genders to be good citizens and to recognize that this diversity is not dangerous but provides for growth, understanding and opportunity in our democratic and capitalistic society. </p>


Bans on bodies, bans on books, bans on transgender children. Where will this end?

<!DOCTYPE html>

<p>I strongly oppose imposing bans on the free expression of transgender identities in public schools. Every child deserves a free and safe public school experience. Transgender identities are real. Their free expression isn’t party political. It’s a human right! Everything else must derive from this fundamental principle. </p>


Youngkin’s proposed anti trans bill is absolutely horrific!


UU’s oppose this policy on religious grounds

Equality UUCA-Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington

<!DOCTYPE html>

Equality UUCA is empowered through the 750 member Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington (UUCA) to speak as congregants to matters impacting LGBTQIA people relative to our faith, including this proposed policy. We strongly oppose this proposed policy. This proposed policy is plainly contrary to the first principle of our Unitarian Universalist faith affirming the inherent worth and dignity of all people. In addition, our fifth principle affirms the right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large, which we also believe to be violated by the irregular process by which this proposed policy has been brought.

UUCA is a member congregation of the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) composed of about 1,000 congregations across the United States, including several others in Virginia. With foundations in 16th century eastern Europe, our faith tradition was active in the United States by the time of our nation’s founding and includes among its adherents, presidents and other political and thought leaders throughout U.S. history. The seven principles of our faith are shared by all member congregations of the UUA.

In our faith, transgender students even under the age of legal majority, are natural persons with individual agency and privacy rights. The proposed policy deprives these students of that inalienable dignity and improperly vests their inherent worth in the control of others, rather than under the compassionate guidance and counsel of informed and trusted adults. Each of these transgender person’s worth is inherent to their person, not residing in the mind of, or by force of, another person, even a parent. The proposed policy is contrary to the evidence of the science of human development. The proposed policy ignores the evidence-based harm it would likely cause transgender students. Some provisions of the proposed policy are already plainly federally unconstitutional under Grimm v. Gloucester.

The fact is that no Virginian has been harmed by the existing policy for the respectful treatment of transgender students, whereas this proposed policy is very likely, according to evidence, to cause elevated suicides among transgender youth, family dysfunction, displacement of transgender youth from their homes, and social alienation by transgender youth. All LGBTQIA students, their supportive families, and their allies are paying attention to this proposed policy and understand punitive action against transgender students makes punitive action against any one of them possible, if not expected. That is very real harm that will live for a very long time with a significant proportion of Virginians.

Unitarian Universalists will continue our progress on the side of love in defense of the inherent worth and dignity of all people and in firm opposition to this proposed policy.


Trans student policies and parental input

<!DOCTYPE html>

<p>All children have the right to feel safe at school. I oppose the limiting or taking of children's rights to information and access in public institutions. Parents have choices and responsibilities regarding their children's education and values which should be instilled at home while supporting and encouraging intellectual exploration at school, including differing views, being offered by professionals, trained to engage students in learning. </p>


Teachers.... or BOTS? (Either way... they can't spell)

<!DOCTYPE html>

So far every comment I've clicked on that was supposedly written by a "teacher" has been rife with misspellings and typos.  That's either an indicator of bots... or that we have a serious problem with the quality of teachers we're hiring.  Gov. Youngkin:  Please ignore the bots and continue listening to the tax-paying parents who want common sense back in our schools and hyper-sexualization OUT.