STRONGLY OPPOSE

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The 2021 Model Policies allowed school staff to “consider the health and safety of the student in situations where students may not want their parents to know about their gender identity,” a protection that the 2022 Proposed Model Policies remove. While schools are indeed required to comply with FERPA, and parents do have a recognized right to their children’s educational information, those rights are not absolute when they endanger those children’s wellbeing. Further, the 2021 Model Policies permitted disclosure of a student’s gender identity only to other school personnel when there was a legitimate educational interest. The 2022 Model Policies require outing trans students to their parents along with school staff with a legitimate educational interest.

As the 2021 Model Policies acknowledged, disclosing a transgender student's gender identity to an unsupportive family “can pose imminent safety risks, such as losing family support or housing.” A recent study by the Trevor Project reported that 38% of transgender girls, 39% of transgender boys, and 35% of nonbinary youth surveyed had experienced homelessness and housing instability at some point in their lives. ( Homelessness and Housing Instability Among LGBTQ Youth, The Trevor Project, https://www.thetrevorproject.org/research-briefs/homelessness-and-housing-instability-among-lgbtq-youth-feb-2022/.) These rates are disproportionately greater for non-white LGBTQ+ youth. Id. 16% of LGBTQ+ youth reported running away because of fears of abuse, 14% reported that they were kicked out or abandoned by parents or caregivers. Id.

The United States Supreme Court has found that “a State's interest in safeguarding the physical and psychological well-being of a minor is compelling,” and as a result has “sustained legislation aimed at protecting the physical and emotional well-being of youth even when the laws have operated in the sensitive area of constitutionally protected rights.” New York v. Ferber, 458 U.S. 747, 756 (1982).

The new policy could be read to force disclosure of a student’s gender identity even when that disclosure endangers the student.

As a queer person growing up in Fluvanna County I can personally attest to the importance of protecting the identity of trans and LGBTQ+ people in Virginia. Many individuals in our community have family situations that are far from safe. If there was a disclosure requirement to share mine or my friends sexual and gender identity with our parents when I was a student it would have posed serious safety concerns to us. These conditions persist for not only the students of Fluvanna but those across the state.

Our commonwealth’s motto, “Virginia is for lovers” embodies a spirit of community that is clearly degraded with the 2022 Model penal policies. Trans folks are part of this community and deserve their rights to be protected: whether through their access to privacy, ability to express themselves, or use of the appropriate bathrooms that comply with their true identities. If we truly want to live up to our state’s creed we can not isolate any of our community members.

After 8 years living out of state I have returned because I truly love Virginia. These policies are the type that cause folks born and raised here to leave and choose to raise families in different states. I would love to be a lifelong resident of this state, but these kinds of discriminatory policies make me rethink that position. Reading these I am ashamed of our state.

Parents certainly play an important role in the upbringing of their children, but we must find a better balance for the protection of all!

For these reasons, I ask you to repeal the 2022 Model Policies and reinstate the 2021 Model Policies.


Approve proposed policies

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We need common sense policies to protect parental rights. Children do not belong to the school or the state, they are their parents' responsibility.

Stop pushing the sick transgender agenda!


I strongly OPPOSE this 2022 policy

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<p>This is a new ridiculous policy that further creates division in politics, and punishes all children, who should not end up as pawns in this nonsense.  This policy is just wrong. Public schools should be inclusive and a safe haven for our children and grandchildren. </p>


Strongly Oppose

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The 2022 Model Policies are going to significantly harm trans students. The 2022 Model Policies define being a trans student as “a public school student whose parent has requested in writing, due to their child’s persistent and sincere belief that his or her gender differs from his or her sex, that their child be identified while at school.” It takes the power away from trans, nonbinary, and gender-nonconforming students from realizing their identity in their own right and instead defines it in terms of parents’ views. It also refers to gender identity as a “belief” instead of a deeply held knowledge and realization of one’s identity. This promotes a false narrative based on a lack of scientifically-based research. It also erases the identity of nonbinary and intersex people by operating on a male/female binary. Furthermore, it impinges on the right to self-identification and hurts the development of young children by implicitly sending them the message that their autonomy is not important.

The 2022 Model Policies also remove sexual orientation and gender identity as explicitly protected classes for bullying, harassment, and discrimination. At the same time, it eliminates specific school personnel professional development for the health and well-being of LGBTQ+ students.

Outside of this, the 2022 Model Policies dangerously require misgendering and deadnaming trans students when the student’s preferred name and pronouns are not accurately reflected on student records. Some studies have shown that use of a trans student’s preferred name not only assists with social transition, but also reduces mental health risks such as depression, and suicidal ideation and attempts. https://www.jahonline.org/article/S1054-139X(18)30085-5/fulltext.

Trans students are also placed in danger of being outed. The 2021 Model Policies allowed disclosure, with a legitimate educational interest, only to other school personnel. The 2022 Model Policies permit disclosure, with a legitimate educational interest or when required by law, to other school personnel and the student’s parents. Many times, students feel safer coming out to school staff instead of their own parents. I believe the choice should rest with the trans student on who they would like to come out to.

Outing can be dangerous. “28% of LGBTQ youth reported experiencing homelessness or housing instability.” https://www.thetrevorproject.org/research-briefs/homelessness-and-housing-instability-among-lgbtq-youth-feb-2022/. These rates are disproportionately greater for non-white LGBTQ+ youth. Id. Further, “[h]omelessness and housing instability were reported at higher rates among transgender and nonbinary youth, including 38% of transgender girls/women, 39% of transgender boys/men, and 35% of nonbinary youth, compared to 23% of cisgender LGBQ youth.” Id. 16% of LGBTQ+ youth report running away because of fears of abuse, 14% report they were kicked out or abandoned, and 40% of those report being kicked out or abandoned because of their LGBTQ+ identity. Id. Despite making up 5-10% of the United States’ population, LGBTQ+ individuals make up 20-40% of the homeless population. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6695950/. LGBTQ+ youth, especially trans youth, are also overrepsented in the foster care system compared to their heterosexual and cisgender peers. https://www.childrensrights.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/2019.02.12-LGBTQ-Youth-in-Unstable-Housing-and-Foster-Care.pdf.

Trans youth face higher rates of suicidal ideation and attempts compared with their cisgender peers. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0886260520915554. This is not because of the fact that they are trans. Countless false narratives are circulating the media and the public comment section for the 2022 Model Policies that being trans or part of the LGBTQ+ community itself leads to worse mental health outcomes. Instead, many of the contributing factors to this phenomenon are attributable to the societal treatment of trans individuals such as “microaggressions, internalized self-stigma, and adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), and protective factors: school belonging, family support, and peer support . . . ” Id. In fact, major professional organizations such as the American Academy of Pediatrics are in consensus that being trans itself is not a mental illness, but conditions caused by the societal treatment of trans individuals–such as depression, anxiety, and gender dysphoria–are preventable. See, e.g., Brief of Am. Acad. of Pediatrics et al. at 8-9, Parents for Privacy v. Barr, 949 F.3d 1210 (9th Cir. 2020) (No. 18-35708), 2019 WL 1261905. VDOE can and should do more to address the societal discrimination of trans students instead of contributing to it.

The 2022 Model Policies also require sex segregation of facilities such as bathrooms and locker rooms based on “biological sex.” While the 2022 Model Policies permit school districts to modify the policies “to the extent required by federal law,” the baseline is already in conflict with federal law. First of all, these requirements conflict with federal law. See Grimm v. Gloucester Cty. Sch. Bd., 972 F.3d 586, 613-15, 616-19 (4th Cir. 2020) (the court reasoning that trans discrimination for bathroom access based on biological sex failed both the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Federal Constitution as well as Title IX); see also https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/t9nprm-factsheet.pdf. Second of all, lack of trans students’ access to facilities corresponding with their gender identity can result in urinary tract infections, alienation, humiliation, suicidal ideation, and hospitalization. See, e.g., Grimm v. Gloucester Cty. Sch. Bd., 972 F.3d 586, 600 (4th Cir. 2020).

Sadly, the damage from VDOE has already been done. Anti-trans legislation and policies exacerbate trans peoples’ feeling of hopelessness and contribute to lower levels of feeling like they belong. https://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/releases/sgd-sgd0000481.pdf. VDOE is actively disparately impacting trans students and adults simply by the introduction of these transphobic policies. On the other hand, studies have shown that stronger LGBTQ+ protections in the law are associated with lower levels of bullying. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S037687162100154X. More LGBTQ+-inclusive state policies and legislation are also tied to better results in trans students’ physical health. https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/full/10.1089/trgh.2018.0031.

Further, respecting trans students’ preferred names, as opposed to deadnaming, improves their mental health and lowers suicidal ideation and attempts. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1054139X18300855. Trans students are nearly twice as likely to be threatened or harmed compared to other students. https://www.veanea.org/support-transgender-youth/. Outing to trans students’ parents and other school personnel will only exacerbate this.

I appreciate that VDOE has provided resources on school connectedness as some studies show that school-connectedness is associated with better mental health outcomes for trans students. https://www.veanea.org/support-transgender-youth/. However, removing explicit protections for bullying, harassment, and discrimination for LGBTQ+ students, LGBTQ+ specific annual training for school personnel, and the over sixty resources from the 2021 Model Policies undermines this principle.

Scientific evidence shows that VDOE has already harmed trans peoples’ mental health, trans students in particular. Scientific evidence also shows that the 2022 Model Policies will only worsen that trend. Many trans students are going to not just suffer worse mental health outcomes but die because of the 2022 Model Policies. I ask VDOE and the Virginia state government to think critically about if that is the right price to pay for “parental rights.”

This is wrong because trans, non-binary and gender diverse children should have the right to self-identify, feel safe and have their identities affirmed. They should not have to go through their schooling experience with the additional burden of having to out themselves to family who may not support them in order to have a learning environment that affirms their identity.

This affects my friend’s family because they have children in their family who identify as transgender. This also affects my extended family who live in Virginia and have a young daughter. I would hope that should they identify as transgender or gender diverse, they feel affirmed and safe in their learning environment. Should they not identify as transgender or gender diverse, I would hope that they are in a learning environment that teaches them to respect all people.

For these reasons, I ask you to repeal the 2022 Model Policies and reinstate the 2021 Model Policies.


Oppose

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I oppose the model policies to restrict the rights of transgender individuals that they only so recently have acquired. These students have finally had a taste of respect and dignity and now it is being threatened. This fear-mongering is based out of confusion and hatred for transgender and homosexual people, its not about protecting children. This will only allow a wave of bullying against non-cis and homosexual children.

Lastly, this whole thing is a waste of taxpayer money. I was in high school less than 6 years ago, there has never been a problem with transgender individuals invading anyone's space.  There is no such thing as leftist indoctrination in our public schools. This is just another Republican pet political project to agitate their base. I do wonder how much it cost to put this model policy together... too much, I am sure.


This policy is what we need as a nation

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This policy follows Virginia Law in addition to the Supreme Court of the United States. This policy will protect children, parents, and staff alike. It's time we stop allowing schools to dictate what access parents have to their own child. It's time we affirm the family structure. It's time we eradicate Marxism from our educational system and return to reading, writing, and arithmetic. Living a lie, a double life, will add to confusion and pain of a child. Parents ought to be engaged! It is imperative in the child's development. There are present laws that protect children from unfit parents, and our schools need to work within confines of those laws. Virginia needs to focus more on preventing victims than trying to cater to a liberal agenda. I support this policy!


Strongly oppose!

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<p>I will oppose any policy that will harm, discriminate, oppress, and disregard transgender and non-binary students. That includes opposing the governors 2022 model policies on the privacy, dignity, and respect for all student and parents in Virginia’s public schools. You’re not protecting “all students and teachers” if you’re purposely writing policies that discriminate certain students and teachers that identify outside the “norm”. It costs nothing to be considerate of how others feel and how they identify, do better Glen Youngkin. </p>


Strongly oppose these changes

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These policy proposals actively discriminate against and marginalize transgender and non-binary students.  It takes control away from families who are supportive of their trans kids and has the potential to out kids to families who are not supportive.  No one wins in either situation.

It also seems based on the premise that gender identity is a choice.  It is not.

Please do not enact policies that will further marginalize and harm trans and non binary students.  Allowing them to live authentically at school hurts absolutely no one.  No one.  But forcing them to out themselves or to conform to be someone they're not is incredibly hurtful.


Repeal the 2022 Model Policies, Reinstate the 2021 Model Policies

Lauren McNerney, University of Virginia School of Law

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The 2021 Model Policies allowed school staff to “consider the health and safety of the student in situations where students may not want their parents to know about their gender identity,” a protection that the 2022 Proposed Model Policies remove. While schools are indeed required to comply with FERPA, and parents do have a recognized right to their children’s educational information, those rights are not absolute when they endanger those children’s well-being. Further, the 2021 Model Policies permitted disclosure of a student’s gender identity only to other school personnel when there was a legitimate educational interest. The 2022 Model Policies require outing trans students to their parents along with school staff with a legitimate educational interest.

As the 2021 Model Policies acknowledged, disclosing a transgender student's gender identity to an unsupportive family “can pose imminent safety risks, such as losing family support or housing.” A recent study by the Trevor Project reported that 38% of transgender girls, 39% of transgender boys, and 35% of nonbinary youth surveyed had experienced homelessness and housing instability at some point in their lives. ( Homelessness and Housing Instability Among LGBTQ Youth, The Trevor Project, https://www.thetrevorproject.org/research-briefs/homelessness-and-housing-instability-among-lgbtq-youth-feb-2022/.) These rates are disproportionately greater for non-white LGBTQ+ youth. Id. 16% of LGBTQ+ youth reported running away because of fears of abuse, 14% reported that they were kicked out or abandoned by parents or caregivers. Id.

The United States Supreme Court has found that “a State's interest in safeguarding the physical and psychological well-being of a minor is compelling,” and as a result has “sustained legislation aimed at protecting the physical and emotional well-being of youth even when the laws have operated in the sensitive area of constitutionally protected rights.” New York v. Ferber, 458 U.S. 747, 756 (1982).

The new policy could be read to force disclosure of a student’s gender identity even when that disclosure endangers the student.

This is especially egregious in light of the higher rates of suicidal thoughts and suicide of transgender youth due to interpersonal and environmental microaggressions, internalized self-stigma, and adverse childhood experiences (see, e.g., Austin, Ashley et al., Suicidality Among Transgender Youth: Elucidating the Role of Interpersonal Risk Factors, 37 Journal of Interpersonal Violence 5 (2020)).

School staff should have the discretion to consider the health and safety of student situations in the determination of whether to disclose a student's gender identity to their parents. This important caveat does not limit parents' right to their children’s educational information in other contexts.

For these reasons, I ask you to repeal the 2022 Model Policies and reinstate the 2021 Model Policies.


YES I support the policy

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Thank you Gov Youngkin for supporting parents' rights.  I totally support this policy.  Parents should know everything regarding their child.  Schools do not coparent!!!


Gender Policies

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Almighty God set the Standard of Behavior for us, taught by His Son Jesus, Incarnate God. God created them Male and Female only. He does not make mistakes. Gender confusion is from Hell.


Strongly Opposed to 2022 Model Policies

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Hello. I am a nine-year Virginia teaching veteran who has recently left the classroom to pursue other interests. The safety of students, however, is of still of paramount importance to me.

The 2021 Model Policies allowed school staff to “consider the health and safety of the student in situations where students may not want their parents to know about their gender identity,” a protection that the 2022 Proposed Model Policies remove. While schools are indeed required to comply with FERPA, and parents do have a recognized right to their children’s educational information, those rights are not absolute when they endanger those children’s wellbeing. Further, the 2021 Model Policies permitted disclosure of a student’s gender identity only to other school personnel when there was a legitimate educational interest. The 2022 Model Policies require outing trans students to their parents along with school staff with a legitimate educational interest.

As the 2021 Model Policies acknowledged, disclosing a transgender student's gender identity to an unsupportive family “can pose imminent safety risks, such as losing family support or housing.” A recent study by the Trevor Project reported that 38% of transgender girls, 39% of transgender boys, and 35% of nonbinary youth surveyed had experienced homelessness and housing instability at some point in their lives. ( Homelessness and Housing Instability Among LGBTQ Youth, The Trevor Project, https://www.thetrevorproject.org/research-briefs/homelessness-and-housing-instability-among-lgbtq-youth-feb-2022/.) These rates are disproportionately greater for non-white LGBTQ+ youth. Id. 16% of LGBTQ+ youth reported running away because of fears of abuse, 14% reported that they were kicked out or abandoned by parents or caregivers. Id.

The United States Supreme Court has found that “a State's interest in safeguarding the physical and psychological well-being of a minor is compelling,” and as a result has “sustained legislation aimed at protecting the physical and emotional well-being of youth even when the laws have operated in the sensitive area of constitutionally protected rights.” New York v. Ferber, 458 U.S. 747, 756 (1982).

The new policy could be read to force disclosure of a student’s gender identity even when that disclosure endangers the student.

This is wrong because students spend most of their waking time during the week at school. For many, this time is extended beyond school hours through extracurricular activities. With busy family work and activity schedules, it is not uncommon for students to spend more time with their teachers than with their families. This in no way is no way intended to denigrate the importance of family life; it is merely a reflection of modern reality. More than anything else, a home should be a place where children are safe to be themselves without their identities being a cause for harm or punishment.

At least, this is the ideal of what we think a home ought to be. As a teacher I have seen firsthand that for many students, this is not their lived reality. Many students are unfortunately not safe in their own homes for a variety of reasons that are well known, the majority of which are outside the scope of this comment.

What is vital to recognize, however, is that in the absence of support and safety at home, children often turn to schools for solace. This is true when students are abused by parents for any reason; two common reasons are because parents disapprove of their child’s sexual orientation and gender identity. By taking away the safety and support currently offered by schools and putting the power entirely in parents’ hands, this model policy imperils the lives of students that it claims to protect. It will increase the discrimination faced by students at school, and indeed sets forth a policy that explicitly permits school officials and classmates to intentionally discriminate against students who are affirming their identities with the full knowledge and support of their families.

Along with the other potential policies that could be enacted by school boards based on this model policy, any reading of this policy that amounts to a blanket requirement that teachers or other school officials disclose the status of their trans students to parents is a tacit endorsement of trans self-harm. This policy is not only a denial of the existence of trans children, but a guide to ensure that many of their lives come to a tragically early end.

For many years, I was one of only a few teachers in my schools who was quite vocal about protecting and providing a safe place for trans students. Luckily, many of my former colleagues have taken steps in this direction as well. This model policy would set this progress back years. I have seen firsthand the difference that a supportive teacher can make in the life of any student. It is especially important for trans students, who are in such danger of harming themselves, to have all the support that they need; when they do not have support at home, the support they receive at school becomes all the more important. Empowering parents to endanger the lives of children ought to be the furthest goal from any education policy, and yet the 2022 Model Policies will have exactly that result.

For these reasons, I ask you to repeal the 2022 Model Policies and reinstate the 2021 Model Policies.


OPPOSE!

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?As an educator and the parent of a mental health therapist whose gender-affirming practice includes trans youth and adults, I know how negatively the proposed reversal of the Model Policies for the Treatment of Transgender Students in Public Elementary and Secondary Schools will affect all youth, not just those who identify as trans and non-binary. Young people--and we adults--need the freedom and the right to explore our identity without shame, fear, bullying, and discrimination. As a white woman in her 70s, I witnessed the pain of the lone Black youth who desegregated my large Alabama high school in 1963. The principal and vice principal looked on smiling as the football team pranced behind the student from class to class for months, mocking the student's effeminate walk. I oppose this cruel policy, which could lead to a rollback of hard-won progress against all kinds of discrimination.


Strongly OPPOSE

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The 2021 Model Policies contained over sixty resources for the treatment of trans students in Virginia’s K-12 public schools. The resources provided considered the needs of school divisions, professional development, students, parents, and advocacy organizations. The sources provided were up-to-date and many centered on trans students’ needs in particular, drawing from LGBTQ+ organizations such as GLSEN, the Human Rights Campaign, the Trevor Project, the National Center for Transgender Equality, and PFLAG. The resources provided in the 2021 Model Policies also drew from professional associations and government agencies such as the American Psychological Association, the Virginia School Boards Association, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the U.S. Department of Education.

This is wrong because it strips the agency from students and forces them to make compromises to their safety and mental health.

This affects me as a future Virginia parent and current resident. As a teenager growing up in a community of mixed acceptance of my queer sexuality, the LGBTQ+ resources provided by my schools such as GLSEN, the Human Rights Campaign, the Trevor Project, the National Center for Transgender Equality, and PFLAG were crucial to my understanding of myself and notions of physical and mental safety. Like many LGBTQ+ youth, I was scared by these unknown feelings and nervous about coming out to my parents. The aforementioned resources helped me to understand that my sexual preferences weren't morally wrong or equally important, unusual. Furthermore, by consulting these resources, I was able to come out to my community and accept myself. Without these resources, I’m unsure I would have ever been able to feel comfortable myself.

The implementation of these cruel Model Policies makes me ashamed to be a Virginia Resident.

For these reasons, I ask you to repeal the 2022 Model Policies and reinstate the 2021 Model Policies.


OPPOSE the legislation

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I strongly oppose this move to dehumanize the LBGTQ youth of FCPS!!


Transgender student policy

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This is not in keeping with the laws passed and it is not "keeping parents" in the loop. Too many parents are causing these children great depression and if you read the facts, you would know how high the suicide rates are for these kids.

I strongly object to this change. Start over again with the facts!


Strongly oppose--policies are illegal and immoral

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Hello, my name is Nathaniel and I am a newly registered Virginia voter. I am voicing my unequivocable opposition to the 2022 Model Policies due to their harmful and unlawful overreach on school authority to prevent discrimination, as well as the adverse effects they will have on all students.

I had the privilege of attending a diverse and welcoming high school and was better for it. I saw the positive impact that allowing students to express their gender identifies can have not just on those students, but on all students. In my senior year, in 2014, our homecoming queen was a trans girl. She received the full support of our school’s faculty and the vast majority of the student body. This type of life-affirming and norm-challenging experience would not be possible under the flawed rules imposed by 2022 Model Policies.

These rules are a step backward when it comes to allowing trans or non-binary participation in school activities. The 2021 Model Policies required that “[s]chools shall eliminate the practice of segregating students by gender to the extent possible.” These policies also required that when event participation was sex-segregated, school districts had to “allow students to participate in a manner consistent with their gender identity.”

The 2022 Model Policies, however, remove the provision requiring schools to eliminate sex-segregation as much as possible. Now, these policies require that sex-segregation be based on biological sex as opposed to gender identity. While the 2022 Model Policies state, “[School Division] shall provide reasonable modifications to this policy only to the extent required by federal law,” they require districts to break federal law while trying to save face and tell them to follow it within the very same paragraphs.

This is wrong not just because of the Orwellian doublespeak, but also because of the reality that will ensue for school activities. It will make school activities a source of stress rather than affirmation. It will close off opportunity, close minds, and close crucial routes for connection that are especially important for at-risk students—a group that trans students are more likely to be a part of.

For these reasons, I ask you to repeal the 2022 Model Policies and reinstate the 2021 Model Policies.


Support


Strongly Oppose Model Policies for the Treatment of Transgender Students in Virginia’s Public School

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I strongly oppose Gov. Youngkin's proposed Model Policies for the Treatment of Transgender Students in Virginia’s Public Schools.

Recent data states that 82% of transgender individuals consider suicide, and at least 40% will make attempt in their life. We need to embrace these facts and consider how antiquated ideas of gender affect our society.

Biologically, 6 factors determine sex: gonads, chromosomes, genes, hormones, internal reproductive organs, and external genitalia. Remember not to only focus on one, as a narrow-minded, anti-science person would do.

Many comments here are saying "parents are not the bad guys," and that is true. But everyone, especially kids, deserves space and agency on how to present, and when to come out.

This legislation is hate obfuscated as "parent's rights," and because Virginia parents are passionate about education, many are falling for it. I encourage everyone to listen to trans folk, youths, peers, and elders, on their experiences. I ask that we do not support this legislation- and the fact it was ever proposed is an embarrassment to Virginia.


Strong Opposition to 2022 Model Policies

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The 2021 Model Policies prohibited “any and all discrimination, harassment, and bullying based on an individual’s actual or perceived . . . sexual orientation, gender identity, or any other characteristic protected by law.” The 2021 Model Policies also required that “[a]ny incident or complaint of discrimination, harassment, or bullying shall be given prompt attention” and that “[c]omplaints alleging discrimination, harassment, or bullying based on a student’s actual or perceived gender identity shall be handled in the same manner as other discrimination or harassment complaints.” Finally, the 2021 Model Policies required the establishment of a school contact for both students and parents should the complaint be “not resolved at the school level.”

The 2022 Model Policies make disappointing and harmful changes to bullying, harassment, and discrimination policies. First, it removes the explicit protections for sexual orientation and gender identity. Instead, the only gender identity term it protects explicitly is “sex” which is defined by the 2022 Model Policies as “biological sex.” While the bullying, harassment, and discrimination prohibitions also protect “any other characteristic protected by law,” the removal of sexual orientation and gender identity as explicit categories sends a clear message: VDOE does not care about LGBTQ+ youth being bullied, harassed, or discriminated against.

Second, the 2022 Model Policies require that “[s]chool personnel shall be trained annually on health and mental wellness support to, and safety of, all students.” This is a drastic change from the 2021 Model Policies which required “[a]ll school mental health professionals shall be trained annually on topics relating to LGBTQ+ students, including safety and support for LGBTQ+ students.” The 2022 Model Policies therefore explicitly erase required training for staff on LGBTQ+ health and mental well-being.

Thankfully, the 2022 Model Policies keep the language of the 2021 Model Policies that “[a]ny incident or complaint of discrimination, harassment, or bullying shall be given prompt attention, including investigating the incident and taking appropriate corrective and/or disciplinary action, by the school administrator.” It also keeps the language that “[t]he [School Division’s Designated Contact] shall be available to hear concerns from students and parents when complaints are not resolved at the school level.” It also adds additional language that “[b]ullying of any student by another student, for any reason, cannot be tolerated in our schools. Intervening immediately to stop bullying on the spot can help ensure a safer school environment for all students.”

Stopping bullying for any student is an important goal for Virginia’s K-12 public schools. My concern is that gender identity and sexual orientation are no longer explicitly protected classes under the 2022 Model Policies and that school personnel are no longer required to obtain LGBTQ+ specific health and mental wellness professional development. In fact, it feels like VDOE is bullying the very trans kids they are claiming to protect by removing resources and policies aimed at supporting and protecting them.

This is wrong because this legislation attacks previously established protections for vulnerable LGBTQ+ populations, especially the trans community in academic spaces.

This affects friends of mine who will no longer have institutional guarantees for protection from discrimination in academic spaces. Already, our school systems are heavily skewed to the narratives of straight, cis ideologies. This legislation worsens this situation by eliminating the sense of security that the 2021 Model Policies provided for this historically vulnerable community. This is an unacceptable piece of legislation that actively seeks to reinstate inequity and discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation.

For these reasons, I ask you to repeal the 2022 Model Policies and reinstate the 2021 Model Policies.


I Strongly OPPOSE

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The 2021 Model Policies prohibited “any and all discrimination, harassment, and bullying based on an individual’s actual or perceived . . . sexual orientation, gender identity, or any other characteristic protected by law.” The 2021 Model Policies also required that “[a]ny incident or complaint of discrimination, harassment, or bullying shall be given prompt attention” and that “[c]omplaints alleging discrimination, harassment, or bullying based on a student’s actual or perceived gender identity shall be handled in the same manner as other discrimination or harassment complaints.” Finally, the 2021 Model Policies required the establishment of a school contact for both students and parents should the complaint be “not resolved at the school level.”

This is wrong because bullying any student for any reason is morally wrong. Students of all backgrounds deserve to attend school in a safe and welcoming environment. These students deserve to have the same resources and support availed to them as any other student!

This affects my family member, R.E., and my loved one, a student at UVA, both of who identify as transgender and nonbinary. VDOE is targeting their existence and making their life harder just for existing. Fundamentally cruel, unfair, and harmful, I strongly oppose the 2022 Model Policies and want Virginia’s state government to reject them.

The 2022 Model Policies make disappointing and harmful changes to bullying, harassment, and discrimination policies. First, it removes the explicit protections for sexual orientation and gender identity. Instead, the only gender identity term it protects explicitly is “sex” which is defined by the 2022 Model Policies as “biological sex.” While the bullying, harassment, and discrimination prohibitions also protect “any other characteristic protected by law,” the removal of sexual orientation and gender identity as explicit categories sends a clear message: VDOE does not care about LGBTQ+ youth being bullied, harassed, or discriminated against.

Second, the 2022 Model Policies require that “[s]chool personnel shall be trained annually on health and mental wellness support to, and safety of, all students.” This is a drastic change from the 2021 Model Policies which required “[a]ll school mental health professionals shall be trained annually on topics relating to LGBTQ+ students, including safety and support for LGBTQ+ students.” The 2022 Model Policies therefore explicitly erase required training for staff on LGBTQ+ health and mental well-being.

Thankfully, the 2022 Model Policies keep the language of the 2021 Model Policies that “[a]ny incident or complaint of discrimination, harassment, or bullying shall be given prompt attention, including investigating the incident and taking appropriate corrective and/or disciplinary action, by the school administrator.” It also keeps the language that “[t]he [School Division’s Designated Contact] shall be available to hear concerns from students and parents when complaints are not resolved at the school level.” It also adds additional language that “[b]ullying of any student by another student, for any reason, cannot be tolerated in our schools. Intervening immediately to stop bullying on the spot can help ensure a safer school environment for all students.”

Stopping bullying against any student is an important goal for Virginia’s K-12 public schools. My concern is that gender identity and sexual orientation are no longer explicitly protected classes under the 2022 Model Policies and that school personnel are no longer required to obtain LGBTQ+ specific health and mental wellness professional development. In fact, it feels like VDOE is bullying the very trans kids they are claiming to protect by removing resources and policies aimed at supporting and protecting them.

Once again, I oppose the 2022 Model Policies and want Virginia’s state government to reject them.


New Trans Policy

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<p>I am outraged at these new policies. It is political pandering. You are not listening to the students. Not to the parents of these students. It is a false political narrative </p>


Support

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I support the guidelines put forth by Governor Youngkin.


Strong Opposition

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I am in strong opposition to the Guidance Document (Model Policies for the Treatment of Transgender Students in Virginia’s Public Schools) which is a violation of a child's first amendment rights, and if passed will surely be challenged in the courts, but will not stop parents and teachers who feel empowered to judge and regulate how children who identify as transgender will be treated.


parents do not have "rights" to impose harm

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Regarding Youngkin's new Transgender Students Policy, I believe:

-human beings have a right to be received by society in the most nurturing way possible, including being accepted for the gender they are, even if it differs from their sex assigned at birth

-parents’ rights do not include harming their kids through rejection of who they are, and the state has an obligation to protect these kids from rejecting parents

-the state does not have a right, even in the name of some religious parents, to oppress non-conforming kids of other non-religious parents

-this measure is oppressive and constitutes harm toward non-conforming kids by invalidating their dignity and personhood and thereby condoning and likely encouraging violence against them

-invalidating non-conforming gender identity has been PROVEN to bring kids greater risk for suicide, depression, and homelessness.

-the so called Christian basis for the way of thinking behind these types of measures is theologically and Biblically unsound and misguided.

Thank you,

Atieno Bird


STRONGLY OPPOSE

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<p>THEY ARE PEOPLE. treat them as such. </p>


Strongly Opposed

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This legislation is terribly unjust.  We should not be politicizing young people that are just trying to be themselves. Legislation like this is based on fear and discrimination, not facts and kindness. Virginia needs to be better than this!


Thank you Governor Youngkin

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<p>Shame on schools trying to keep secrets from parents!  Who wouldn't want to know if their own child was having problems?  </p>


I support the Governor

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parents need to be informed and involved otherwise they are just breeders with visitation.


Strongly Oppose

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As a future parent of a Virginia child, I strongly oppose this policy and believe it will cause harm to students; if this policy and ones like it are adopted and perpetuated, I will strongly consider relocating to a state that values its children over political issues.  I do not believe that this policy at all further empowers parents, who have always had the unfortunate ability to make their children miserable on account of their identification.  VDOE need not exacerbate this issue by creating fear in students.  Perhaps parents who desire to "protect their rights" would be better served if their children felt protected and heard.  This policy will mean parents are kept in the dark more often because LGBTQ+ students will feel they are targeted and starting from a place of disadvantage.  The governor and VDOE may try to drag its unfortunate constituents backwards, but doing so at the expense of already marginalized students is especially insidious and makes me ashamed to be a Virginia resident.  Will these types of policy persist for 5 or 10 or 20 years?  Thankfully they won't, so not only are the 2022 Model Policies malicious, but they are spitting in the wind.  Hopefully the state reconsiders before they get splattered.

To expand on some points above, the 2022 Model Policies are going to significantly harm trans students. The 2022 Model Policies define being a trans student as “a public school student whose parent has requested in writing, due to their child’s persistent and sincere belief that his or her gender differs from his or her sex, that their child be identified while at school.” It takes the power away from trans, nonbinary, and gender-nonconforming students from realizing their identity in their own right and instead defines it in terms of parents’ views. It also refers to gender identity as a “belief” instead of a deeply held knowledge and realization of one’s identity. This promotes a false narrative based on a lack of scientifically-based research. It also erases the identity of nonbinary and intersex people by operating on a male/female binary.

PS what would Jesus do?  As a Christian, these malicious policies would surely not fit the bill.


Strongly Support New Policy

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<p>I strongly support Gov Youngkin's new policy.  Until they reach adulthood, children must present in their birth gender and use the appropriate restroom.  The notion that children can live one live at home but turn into a completely different person/gender at school is ridiculous.  Children can't legally buy alcohol or cigarettes until they reach a certain age and for good reasons.  The same reasons should apply to transgenderism.  If they want to live a transgender lifestyle once they become adults and truly understand the implications and challenges, more power to them but there is no place for this transgender movement amongst Elementary, Middle or High School students particularly if and/or when parents are completely excluded from knowledge of the process.  </p>


Outraged by the model policy

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<p>As a Virginia public school teacher, I am disgusted by this new policy and heartbroken for the students that will suffer because of it. Outing kids before they're ready, humiliating them in front of peers and family, and treating them lesser than others simply because of a bigoted law hardly seems like the right thing for students. The propaganda being spouted that this is to give parents more say in the education of their kids is an outright lie and a phony cover for the blatant transphobia coming from the Governor's mansion. </p>


Virginia Human Rights Act

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These proposed policies are inhumane and probably illegal. Virginia will likely lose teachers who are unwilling to be part of the potential damage to kid's lives if they are part of carrying them out. If these policies are put in place kids are not going to engage teachers on the subject of gender counseling, knowing how negative the outcome may be, so that means teachers will only be able to evaluate a child's gender status by very subjective criteria such as dress, peer interaction, etc. Any one who outs a kid on their own opinion of the child's status would be biased and looking to make trouble in other people's lives.

And that doesn't deal with the possible negative effects of outing a child to problematic parents with already troubled family life. This could result in physical and emotional abuse and the possibility of the child being kicked out on the street. These kids are already at risk for suicide and these policies would only make that worse since they also limit the child's access to counseling. Our kids need to be able to live as who they are without shame. Let's let them.


Strongly oppose

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I strongly oppose the proposed education policy. As a parent of two children and citizen of Virginia, I want to protect kids at school. Trans kids are particularly at risk and this policy will harm them. We must not put kids at risk by "outing" them to potentially unsupportive and abusive parents. Medical experts are in agreement that this is not what trans kids need. We should create a more welcoming environment for trans and nonbinary kids, not an actively hurtful one. Who cares what bathroom a student uses or what name or pronouns they go by? We are raising these kids to become adults. Every person should have agency over what they are called and all basic human needs must be met. All kids deserve a supportive, caring environment, especially at school. All kids deserve a quality education.


Strongly Support Parental Rights

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<p>Schools should be working with parents, not against parents.  Parents are not the enemy.  Get back to teaching students the basics so they can be successful in life.  Students are more confused than ever, anxiety is climbing and text scores are plummeting. This is a step in the right direction. </p>


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The 2022 Model Policies define far fewer terms regarding gender identity than the 2021 Model Policies. The 2021 Model Policies defined eleven scientifically-backed and LGBTQ+-inclusive terms surrounding gender identity. The 2022 Model Policies define only two terms regarding gender identity: “sex” and “transgender student.”

Neither of these definitions meet the evidence-based best practices as is required in Va. Code § 22.1-23.3(A). Sex is defined as “biological sex” in the 2022 Model Policies. The 2022 Model Policies also define “transgender student” as “a public school student whose parent has requested in writing, due to their child’s persistent and sincere belief that his or her gender differs with his or her sex, that their child be so identified while at school.” Both these definitions use outdated and scientifically incorrect terminology in defining the trans identity. The 2022 Model Policies’ definitions and terminology cannot meet the evidence-based best practices requirement.

Notably, the 2022 Model Policies define being trans as depending on parents’ recognition instead of the student’s self-identification. They further call being trans the student’s “belief” which reinforces the false narrative that being trans is a choice as opposed to a deeply held knowledge and realization of one’s identity. It further operates on a male/female binary by using the term “his or her” that is demonstrably and scientifically false as it erases the existence of intersex and nonbinary people. This shift in definitions completely strips trans children of the self-determination of their identity in Virginia’s public schools.

This is wrong not only because these definitions have no basis in science, but also because they irreparably harm trans children. The students who face discrimination and abuse for their gender identities at home are exactly the students whom these policies should be most protective of at school. The definition of "transgender student" proposed by these policies does exactly the opposite of protecting students in these situations and subjects students who cannot get a request in writing from a parent to further emotional and physical harm at school. This is especially egregious in light of the higher rates of suicide of transgender youth due to interpersonal and environmental microaggressions, internalized self-stigma, and adverse childhood experiences (see , e.g., Austin, Ashley et al., Suicidality Among Transgender Youth: Elucidating the Role of Interpersonal Risk Factors, 37 Journal of Interpersonal Violence 5 (2020)).

The 2022 policies thus deny to queer and trans children the basic forms of respect and human dignity afforded to heteronormative children at school––that is, the ability to be known by the name and pronouns that they identify with. It also affects adult queer and transgender people, who will see reflected in their state’s policies a definition of transgender and sex that is an affront to their basic human dignity and plainly inaccurate. Reinstating the 2021 Model Policies impose no great burden on Virginia Schools––rather, it simply requires educational staff to give transgender and queer students the same respect and appropriate treatment afforded to heteronormative students.

For these reasons, I ask you to repeal the 2022 Model Policies and reinstate the 2021 Model Policies.


Why are cisgender sports more important than basic human dignity and autonomy for all?

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I ask you to repeal the 2022 Model Policies and reinstate the 2021 Model Policies.

This policy change is wrong for so many reasons, but particularly because it places all responsibility for how a student may identify and access resources under their parents’ control, regardless of whether they feel safe at home and whether their parents support and respect the experience they are going through. School is one of the few places where kids are able to explore and learn about their own identities outside of any restrictions and gain support and care outside of barriers they may face at home. They should not be restricted from those resources and the chance to talk to someone, especially if they face a difficult situation at home.

The 2022 proposed Model Policies present contradictory standards regarding the identification of students. While III(D)(1) states that “Every effort should be made to ensure that a transgender student wishing to change his or her means of address is treated with respect, compassion, and dignity in the classroom and school environment,” the guidelines which follow require school staff to misgender (use the wrong pronouns for) and deadname (use the wrong name for) transgender students unless their parents specifically request otherwise in writing. For a student with an unsupportive family, that requirement presents an impossible hurdle.


Oppose 2022 Model Policies

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<p>I oppose the 2022 Model policies because it will make discrimination of many students, who are learning who they are as a whole person (sex, gender, sexual orientation), more acceptable.  </p>


Strongly Oppose the 2022 Model Policy

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I am a parent and former public school teacher and I strongly oppose the proposed 2022 Model Policy. This policy is rooted in transphobia and will promote and codify bullying the most at risk students. I have seen first hand how this sort of hatred can play out in the classroom. Both of my elementary students are cis gendered, but my 4th grade son has long hair and was a constant target of bully and sexual harassment due to his slight deviation from gender norms.

We are lucky to live in a school district that promotes inclusivity and gender affirmation, the bullying student’s behavior was not tolerated and my son’s safety and right to exist as he is was affirmed. Every student deserves this.

The idea that trans and nonbinary students are threatening the safety of other students is an absurd, bad faith argument. This policy will put vulnerable students at great risk of harm. Do not adopt.


Governor's Policy

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Our Governor's policy is a good one.  Agree that parents have rights in supervising their children.


Strongly Oppose

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Transgender youth deserve to be respected and supported in the classroom.


OPPOSED


Oppose

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I strongly oppose the proposal. This would only hurt students and make schools more unsafe environment for those who need the support the most.


Strongly oppose

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<p>Shame on you for promoting a cultural divide for political gain at the expense of some of Virginia’s most vulnerable students. </p>


DONT PASS ANY ANTI-TRANS BILL!!! ITS 2022

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Don't pass any bills harming our trans youth. They deserve every right to be treated with the exact same respect we give cis people every and all day. People who are young need to not feel like they are being separated from the rest of the world just because their gender is different from everyone else. DONT PASS ANY ANTI-TRANS BILL!!!!!!


Strongly Oppose

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<p>Please support trans kids and allow our teachers to educate all children with respect.  Do not pass this harmful and hateful policy. </p>


Model policies


Do not adopt the 2022 Model Policies - Keep our LGBTQ+ youth safe

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The 2021 Model Policies prohibited “any and all discrimination, harassment, and bullying based on an individual’s actual or perceived . . . sexual orientation, gender identity, or any other characteristic protected by law.” The 2021 Model Policies also required that “[a]ny incident or complaint of discrimination, harassment, or bullying shall be given prompt attention” and that “[c]omplaints alleging discrimination, harassment, or bullying based on a student’s actual or perceived gender identity shall be handled in the same manner as other discrimination or harassment complaints.” Finally, the 2021 Model Policies required the establishment of a school contact for both students and parents should the complaint be “not resolved at the school level.”

The 2022 Model Policies make disappointing and harmful changes to bullying, harassment, and discrimination policies. First, it removes the explicit protections for sexual orientation and gender identity. Instead, the only gender identity term it protects explicitly is “sex” which is defined by the 2022 Model Policies as “biological sex.” While the bullying, harassment, and discrimination prohibitions also protect “any other characteristic protected by law,” the removal of sexual orientation and gender identity as explicit categories sends a clear message: VDOE does not care about LGBTQ+ youth being bullied, harassed, or discriminated against.

Second, the 2022 Model Policies require that “[s]chool personnel shall be trained annually on health and mental wellness support to, and safety of, all students.” This is a drastic change from the 2021 Model Policies which required “[a]ll school mental health professionals shall be trained annually on topics relating to LGBTQ+ students, including safety and support for LGBTQ+ students.” The 2022 Model Policies therefore explicitly erase required training for staff on LGBTQ+ health and mental well-being.

Thankfully, the 2022 Model Policies keep the language of the 2021 Model Policies that “[a]ny incident or complaint of discrimination, harassment, or bullying shall be given prompt attention, including investigating the incident and taking appropriate corrective and/or disciplinary action, by the school administrator.” It also keeps the language that “[t]he [School Division’s Designated Contact] shall be available to hear concerns from students and parents when complaints are not resolved at the school level.” It also adds additional language that “[b]ullying of any student by another student, for any reason, cannot be tolerated in our schools. Intervening immediately to stop bullying on the spot can help ensure a safer school environment for all students.”

Stopping bullying for any student is an important goal for Virginia’s K-12 public schools. My concern is that gender identity and sexual orientation are no longer explicitly protected classes under the 2022 Model Policies and that school personnel are no longer required to obtain LGBTQ+ specific health and mental wellness professional development. In fact, it feels like VDOE is bullying the very trans kids they are claiming to protect by removing resources and policies aimed at supporting and protecting them.

This is wrong because LGBTQ+ students are one of the student populations who face the highest rates of bullying, harassment, and discrimination. Leaving them unprotected in the 2022 Model Policies is unethical, immoral, and antithetical to the expressed goals of this section of the Model Policies: combating bullying & harassment in Virginia’s schools.

This affects my friends directly, and me indirectly. Growing up, I had several friends in middle school and high school who were bullied for their gender identity & sexual orientation – I witnessed their struggle firsthand, and I recognized how important it was for them to have systemic, institutional resources available to rely on as support. I was also bullied growing up (for other reasons), and having school administrators & staff that I could go to when I needed help was essential in me getting through those trying times in my youth. By leaving LGBTQ+ students without institutional protection, students will be without crucial support during some of the most difficult moments of their adolescence, with potentially tragic consequences.

For these reasons, I ask you to repeal the 2022 Model Policies and reinstate the 2021 Model Policies.


Strongly oppose this guidance document

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I strongly oppose this guidance document.  Outing students to their families could provoke violence and homelessness among a population that already experiences too much of both.


I strongly oppose this legislation

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<p>The statistics are clear. Gender affirming care and protection is life saving for trans kids who face a higher risk of suicide than their peers. Shouldn't we care more about making sure these kids make it to adulthood than what pronouns they use? </p>


VDOE Model Transgender Policy

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<p>I strongly oppose Gov Youngins transgender policy. There are many children that are not out to parents or guardians at home for fear.  School might be the only place that a child feels safe in doing so. Sometimes a child will feel more comfortable talking with a teacher or school counselor. If a child asks his/her teacher to use a particular name or pronoun why must it need to come in writing from the parent? By doing so it could potentially create a dangerous situation for that student at home. Granting the child's request at school harms no one and has the potential to help a child otherwise contemplating self harm or having suicidal ideation. Often times children  will feel more at ease first speaking with a teacher or other school official.  I strongly urge this proposal not be adopted for the safety of our students. </p>


Strongly Oppose! School should be a safe place for ALL students

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"A recent study published in the Journal of Adolescent Health demonstrates the power of affirming transgender youth’s identities: For each additional context (i.e., at home, school, work, or with friends) in which a transgender youth’s chosen name is used, their risk of suicidal behavior is reduced by more than half. Another study, published in the journal Pediatrics, finds that transgender youth who have fully socially transitioned to their identified gender, and have been supported in doing so, do not have elevated depressive symptoms compared to the broader population. And in an era in which overall youth suicide rates have significantly increased over the last decade, it is critical to take steps to reduce risk for suicide.”

https://www.childtrends.org/blog/research-shows-the-risk-of-misgendering-transgender-youth?fbclid=IwAR2yC6zPpquL3HhB_FKmb1eK55eTkNgFFTQXtCvsr_qbAET-GxaWZwRyp0o


Oppose

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These proposed policies harm young people who already feel vulnerable. They should feel safe to be themselves at school. Do not adopt these policies in our VA schools.


Oppose - Not based on Evidence

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The model polices are required to be based on the latest evidence-based practices. Singling out students and discriminating them is not based on any evidence or science. It's just a stunt leading into the mid-term elections. And it's disgusting that you are ready to kill some trans kids just to get a few votes.

My kid is trans. They will be less safe if you enact these policies. It's a stupid idea rooted in hatred and bigotry. No sane person would ever implement this, unless they wanted to kill some kids.


Strongly Oppose

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            The 2021 Model Policies contained over sixty resources for the treatment of trans students in Virginia’s K-12 public schools. The resources provided considered the needs of school divisions, professional development, students, parents, and advocacy organizations. The sources provided were up-to-date and many centered on trans students’ needs in particular, drawing from LGBTQ+ organizations such as GLSEN, the Human Rights Campaign, the Trevor Project, the National Center for Transgender Equality, and PFLAG. The resources provided in the 2021 Model Policies also drew from professional associations and government agencies such as the American Psychological Association, the Virginia School Boards Association, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the U.S. Department of Education.

However, the 2022 Model Policies removed essentially all the above resources. Instead, they replaced the other resources with nine resources focused almost entirely on the parental roles in bullying prevention. Eight of these resources come from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, largely from the Centers for Disease Control in particular. The other resource comes from the U.S. Department of Justice. The 2022 Model Policies do not contain a single resource from LGBTQ+ advocacy groups, and none are tailored specifically toward trans students.

Preventing the bullying of all students, especially trans students, is an incredibly important goal for Virginia’s public schools. However, it is not the only issue that trans students face. By removing all resources from LGBTQ+ advocacy groups in the 2022 Model Policies, VDOE sends its message loud and clear: it cares more about the parent’s role in bullying prevention, and not at all about the resources it can provide trans and other LGBTQ+ students in navigating bullying, harassment, and discrimination.

This is wrong because many students rely on the resources provided by schools in the absence of supportive home environments, families, and peers. These resources are critical in protecting trans kids in school and they provide a safe place for LGBTQ+ students to seek support. It is imperative not only that these resources exist but also that they are created by people who have personally experienced the issues facing LGBTQ+ youth and are tailored to trans youth.

I have many trans friends who relied on the resources provided by schools to prevent bullying, harassment, and discrimination. The safe spaces schools have provided have been of critical importance to them. Removing these resources actively endangers trans children.

For these reasons, I ask you to repeal the 2022 Model Policies and reinstate the 2021 Model Policies.


Opposed

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For human and humane reasons, I support trans rights.


Product of Virginia Public Schools

Isaac Buckley, NLG at University of Virginia School of Law

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My name is Isaac Buckley and I am a student at the University of Virginia School of Law. Growing up, I went to public schools in Richmond that made me the person I am today. I had the privilege of being taught by teachers who supported and nurtured my curiosity and creativity. My experiences going to diverse schools led me to become a teacher in a Title I school before going to law school to become a public defender. The 2022 Model Policies cut against everything that is good about public education in Virginia. Rather than encourage students to become the fullest versions of themselves, they silence and punish students for bringing their whole selves to the academic environment. This hurts individuals directly affected, their peers, and the school system as a whole. Gay, transgender, non-binary, and gender non-conforming students should be celebrated and nurtured just as I was. The kids in our schools today will be the adults participating in our democracy tomorrow and I want to live in a state where those children are cared for, celebrated, and encouraged to be their best, fullest selves.


Oppose

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People that are trans/ in the trans community. They need a voice and they need to be heard, we are done sitting aside and letting people be treated less than what they are. Spread love!


Do not adopt the 2022 model policies

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The 2021 Model Policies prohibited “any and all discrimination, harassment, and bullying based on an individual’s actual or perceived . . . sexual orientation, gender identity, or any other characteristic protected by law.” The 2021 Model Policies also required that “[a]ny incident or complaint of discrimination, harassment, or bullying shall be given prompt attention” and that “[c]omplaints alleging discrimination, harassment, or bullying based on a student’s actual or perceived gender identity shall be handled in the same manner as other discrimination or harassment complaints.” Finally, the 2021 Model Policies required the establishment of a school contact for both students and parents should the complaint be “not resolved at the school level.”

The 2022 Model Policies make disappointing and harmful changes to bullying, harassment, and discrimination policies. First, it removes the explicit protections for sexual orientation and gender identity. Instead, the only gender identity term it protects explicitly is “sex” which is defined by the 2022 Model Policies as “biological sex.” While the bullying, harassment, and discrimination prohibitions also protect “any other characteristic protected by law,” the removal of sexual orientation and gender identity as explicit categories sends a clear message: VDOE does not care about LGBTQ+ youth being bullied, harassed, or discriminated against.

Second, the 2022 Model Policies require that “[s]chool personnel shall be trained annually on health and mental wellness support to, and safety of, all students.” This is a drastic change from the 2021 Model Policies which required “[a]ll school mental health professionals shall be trained annually on topics relating to LGBTQ+ students, including safety and support for LGBTQ+ students.” The 2022 Model Policies therefore explicitly erase required training for staff on LGBTQ+ health and mental well-being.

Thankfully, the 2022 Model Policies keep the language of the 2021 Model Policies that “[a]ny incident or complaint of discrimination, harassment, or bullying shall be given prompt attention, including investigating the incident and taking appropriate corrective and/or disciplinary action, by the school administrator.” It also keeps the language that “[t]he [School Division’s Designated Contact] shall be available to hear concerns from students and parents when complaints are not resolved at the school level.” It also adds additional language that “[b]ullying of any student by another student, for any reason, cannot be tolerated in our schools. Intervening immediately to stop bullying on the spot can help ensure a safer school environment for all students.”

Stopping bullying for any student is an important goal for Virginia’s K-12 public schools. My concern is that gender identity and sexual orientation are no longer explicitly protected classes under the 2022 Model Policies and that school personnel are no longer required to obtain LGBTQ+ specific health and mental wellness professional development. In fact, it feels like VDOE is bullying the very trans kids they are claiming to protect by removing resources and policies aimed at supporting and protecting them.

This is wrong because LGBTQ+ and trans youth deserve equal resources and to be understood in the very environment that is supposed to foster safety and learning at a vulnerable age. Trans children should not have to bear the costs in terms of their comfort in public schools and access to mental health resources for topics that affect their lives.

For this reason, I ask that you not adopt the 2022 Model Policies.


Strongly oppose

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<p>I strongly oppose. These kids are people with human rights to be free to be themselves. Promoting an environment that takes away their rights to be themselves is not only illegal, it is dangerous to their wellbeing. Promoting an environment that is divisive and non tolerant is disgusting and as adults you should be ashamed of yourselves. </p>


Oppose - Protect Virginia's Youth

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The 2022 Model Policies are going to significantly harm trans students. The 2022 Model Policies define being a trans student as “a public school student whose parent has requested in writing, due to their child’s persistent and sincere belief that his or her gender differs from his or her sex, that their child be identified while at school.” It takes the power away from trans, nonbinary, and gender-nonconforming students from realizing their identity in their own right and instead defines it in terms of parents’ views. It also refers to gender identity as a “belief” instead of a deeply held knowledge and realization of one’s identity. This promotes a false narrative based on a lack of scientifically-based research. It also erases the identity of nonbinary and intersex people by operating on a male/female binary.

The 2022 Model Policies also remove sexual orientation and gender identity as explicitly protected classes for bullying, harassment, and discrimination. At the same time, it eliminates specific school personnel professional development for the health and well-being of LGBTQ+ students.

Outside of this, the 2022 Model Policies dangerously require misgendering and deadnaming trans students when the student’s preferred name and pronouns are not accurately reflected on student records. Some studies have shown that use of a trans student’s preferred name not only assists with social transition, but also reduces mental health risks such as depression, and suicidal ideation and attempts. https://www.jahonline.org/article/S1054-139X(18)30085-5/fulltext.

Trans students are also placed in danger of being outed. The 2021 Model Policies allowed disclosure, with a legitimate educational interest, only to other school personnel. The 2022 Model Policies permit disclosure, with a legitimate educational interest or when required by law, to other school personnel and the student’s parents. Many times, students feel safer coming out to school staff instead of their own parents. I believe the choice should rest with the trans student on who they would like to come out to.

Outing can be dangerous. “28% of LGBTQ youth reported experiencing homelessness or housing instability.” https://www.thetrevorproject.org/research-briefs/homelessness-and-housing-instability-among-lgbtq-youth-feb-2022/. These rates are disproportionately greater for non-white LGBTQ+ youth. Id. Further, “[h]omelessness and housing instability were reported at higher rates among transgender and nonbinary youth, including 38% of transgender girls/women, 39% of transgender boys/men, and 35% of nonbinary youth, compared to 23% of cisgender LGBQ youth.” Id. 16% of LGBTQ+ youth report running away because of fears of abuse, 14% report they were kicked out or abandoned, and 40% of those report being kicked out or abandoned because of their LGBTQ+ identity. Id. Despite making up 5-10% of the United States’ population, LGBTQ+ individuals make up 20-40% of the homeless population. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6695950/. LGBTQ+ youth, especially trans youth, are also overrepresented in the foster care system compared to their heterosexual and cisgender peers. https://www.childrensrights.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/2019.02.12-LGBTQ-Youth-in-Unstable-Housing-and-Foster-Care.pdf.

Trans youth face higher rates of suicidal ideation and attempts compared with their cisgender peers. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0886260520915554. This is not because of the fact that they are trans. Countless false narratives are circulating the media and the public comment section for the 2022 Model Policies that being trans or part of the LGBTQ+ community itself leads to worse mental health outcomes. Instead, many of the contributing factors to this phenomenon are attributable to the societal treatment of trans individuals such as “microaggressions, internalized self-stigma, and adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), and protective factors: school belonging, family support, and peer support . . . ” Id. In fact, major professional organizations such as the American Academy of Pediatrics are in consensus that being trans itself is not a mental illness, but conditions caused by the societal treatment of trans individuals–such as depression, anxiety, and gender dysphoria–are preventable. See, e.g., Brief of Am. Acad. of Pediatrics et al. at 8-9, Parents for Privacy v. Barr, 949 F.3d 1210 (9th Cir. 2020) (No. 18-35708), 2019 WL 1261905. VDOE can and should do more to address the societal discrimination of trans students instead of contributing to it.

The 2022 Model Policies also require sex segregation of facilities such as bathrooms and locker rooms based on “biological sex.” While the 2022 Model Policies permit school districts to modify the policies “to the extent required by federal law,” the baseline is already in conflict with federal law. First of all, these requirements conflict with federal law. See Grimm v. Gloucester Cty. Sch. Bd., 972 F.3d 586, 613-15, 616-19 (4th Cir. 2020) (the court reasoning that trans discrimination for bathroom access based on biological sex failed both the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Federal Constitution as well as Title IX); see also https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/t9nprm-factsheet.pdf. Second of all, lack of trans students’ access to facilities corresponding with their gender identity can result in urinary tract infections, alienation, humiliation, suicidal ideation, and hospitalization. See, e.g., Grimm v. Gloucester Cty. Sch. Bd., 972 F.3d 586, 600 (4th Cir. 2020).

Sadly, the damage from VDOE has already been done. Anti-trans legislation and policies exacerbate trans peoples’ feeling of hopelessness and contribute to lower levels of feeling like they belong. https://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/releases/sgd-sgd0000481.pdf. VDOE is actively disparately impacting trans students and adults simply by the introduction of these transphobic policies. On the other hand, studies have shown that stronger LGBTQ+ protections in the law are associated with lower levels of bullying. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S037687162100154X. More LGBTQ+-inclusive state policies and legislation are also tied to better results in trans students’ physical health. https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/full/10.1089/trgh.2018.0031.

Further, respecting trans students’ preferred names, as opposed to deadnaming, improves their mental health and lowers suicidal ideation and attempts. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1054139X18300855. Trans students are nearly twice as likely to be threatened or harmed compared to other students. https://www.veanea.org/support-transgender-youth/. Outing to trans students’ parents and other school personnel will only exacerbate this.

I appreciate that VDOE has provided resources on school connectedness as some studies show that school-connectedness is associated with better mental health outcomes for trans students. https://www.veanea.org/support-transgender-youth/. However, removing explicit protections for bullying, harassment, and discrimination for LGBTQ+ students, LGBTQ+ specific annual training for school personnel, and the over sixty resources from the 2021 Model Policies undermines this principle.

Scientific evidence shows that VDOE has already harmed trans peoples’ mental health, trans students in particular. Scientific evidence also shows that the 2022 Model Policies will only worsen that trend. Many trans students are going to not just suffer worse mental health outcomes but die because of the 2022 Model Policies. I ask VDOE and the Virginia state government to think critically about if that is the right price to pay for “parental rights.”

This is wrong because VDOE has decided to exploit an already at-risk population for political gain. Virginia’s trans students have already gone through more than any child should ever have to. For a government body to further target them knowing full-well the real consequences this has already had and will have moving forward is deeply disturbing. To consider anything other than the safety of their students first and foremost is an embarrassment. I hope that this response among a sea of others will demonstrate how clearly a mistake these model policies are.

I was born and raised in Virginia. I was in Virginia public schools from kindergarten through senior year of high school. I am now in my fifth year of secondary/post-secondary education at the University of Virginia. I have seen firsthand the bullying and discrimination targeted at LGBTQ+ students at every level and the dire consequences that can have. I am so inspired by the students across the commonwealth who have stood in support of their LGBTQ+ peers. I am so disappointed that this message has had to come in rejection of their government and these model policies.

It is a sign of how far we’ve come that students now are leading the way against the violence they and their peers face. It is a sign of how far we have to go that that violence is still delivered by their own supposed leaders and protectors. Know that these policies are not without real, direct consequences. Virginia has already lost too many trans youth who have felt cast out by the world around them. These policies will cost us more.

For these reasons, I ask you to repeal the 2022 Model Policies and reinstate the 2021 Model Policies.


Oppose

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These restrictions in know way take into account the unique character of each person.


Absolutely Oppose!


Support

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<p>I support Governor Youngkin's model guidelines </p>


Oppose

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<p>I strongly oppose these measures. </p>


Keep Kids Safe

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This policy is so disturbing. Kids should make their own decision wether they are ready to come out. They know best when its safe or not in their household.

Lets keep kids safe and let them be ready in their own journey!


Do Not Adopt the 2022 Model Policies

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I am a student at UVA Law and I opposed the 2022 Model Policies.

The 2021 Model Policies provided students an absolute right to dress in a way consistent with their gender identity or expression. However, the 2022 Model Policies impose a caveat to that right– and that caveat is concerningly vague. Namely, the 2022 Model Policies permit students to dress in any manner but requires that such manner must be “consistent with maintaining a respectful, distraction-free environment which supports a focus on learning for all students.”

Such vagueness may be a means to a discriminatory end. The 2022 Model Policies may allow schools to impose dress code limitations based on gender expectations because going against that expectation may be deemed a “distraction.” This vagueness gives schools and individual teachers too much power and discretion at the expense of targeting trans, non-binary, and gender-nonconforming students’ attire.

The vagueness in the 2022 Model Policies may also violate the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the federal Constitution. Since the new policy does not provide any guidance to students as to what constitutes a “respectful, distraction-free environment,” an ordinary student will not understand what that phrase means regarding attire.

This is wrong because clothing is an integral part of self-expression and self-exploration throughout adolescence and beyond. Restricting students' freedom of expression by limiting their dress to the confines of traditional gender norms is incredibly harmful and cruel. Dress codes have always been used as a tool to control oppressed groups, whether sexualizing young girls by prohibiting them from wearing tank tops at school or enforcing racist restrictions on hair styles and clothing. To continue this trend of oppression by restricting trans and non-binary students from dressing in a way that allows them full expression of their gender identity would be a devastating step backward.

For these reasons, I ask you to repeal the 2022 Model Policies and reinstate the 2021 Model Policies.


Oppose

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I oppose this policy.  It needs more work.  You cannot erase these kids and keep them in jeopardy.


Oppose

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<p>I have always grown up in a vert safe environment for self expression and identity but we all have to acknowledge this is not the case for everyone. Schools supposed to be a safe haven for everyone, we need to do what we can to make the true. </p>


Strongly Oppose

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<p>Please do not pass these policies. They will negatively affect so many students who are already struggling with the pressures of a world that rarely supports them to begin with. The rules proposed trample on teens basic human right to express themselves. Not to mention the right to be recognized as a legitimate human being. Transgender people exist, and forcing them to suppress that is inhumane and wont make them go away. It will simply create a more harmful environment for countless students across the state. </p>


Oppose- too many dead kids

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I'm from Utah, I've seen where these policies lead. Our children are more important than any choices they make around gender, and this policy endangers them.


Parents are not evil enemies--I give my support

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<p>Schools need to let parents know if something important to a child is happening.  Wanting to change genders is a big deal so let parents know.  Worst case scenario is that a child has to wait until 18 to transition and studies show the most successful transitions happen when done as adults and not as children so it isn't even a worst case scenario.  Several countries are banning puberty blockers because of side effects (not for religious reasons).  </p>


Do Not Adopt the Model 2022 Policies

Laura Lowry, University of Virginia School of Law

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The 2021 Model Policies prohibited “any and all discrimination, harassment, and bullying based on an individual’s actual or perceived . . . sexual orientation, gender identity, or any other characteristic protected by law.” The 2021 Model Policies also required that “[a]ny incident or complaint of discrimination, harassment, or bullying shall be given prompt attention” and that “[c]omplaints alleging discrimination, harassment, or bullying based on a student’s actual or perceived gender identity shall be handled in the same manner as other discrimination or harassment complaints.” Finally, the 2021 Model Policies required the establishment of a school contact for both students and parents should the complaint be “not resolved at the school level.”

The 2022 Model Policies make disappointing and harmful changes to bullying, harassment, and discrimination policies. First, it removes the explicit protections for sexual orientation and gender identity. Instead, the only gender identity term it protects explicitly is “sex” which is defined by the 2022 Model Policies as “biological sex.” While the bullying, harassment, and discrimination prohibitions also protect “any other characteristic protected by law,” the removal of sexual orientation and gender identity as explicit categories sends a clear message: VDOE does not care about LGBTQ+ youth being bullied, harassed, or discriminated against.

Second, the 2022 Model Policies require that “[s]chool personnel shall be trained annually on health and mental wellness support to, and safety of, all students.” This is a drastic change from the 2021 Model Policies which required “[a]ll school mental health professionals shall be trained annually on topics relating to LGBTQ+ students, including safety and support for LGBTQ+ students.” The 2022 Model Policies therefore explicitly erase required training for staff on LGBTQ+ health and mental well-being.

Thankfully, the 2022 Model Policies keep the language of the 2021 Model Policies that “[a]ny incident or complaint of discrimination, harassment, or bullying shall be given prompt attention, including investigating the incident and taking appropriate corrective and/or disciplinary action, by the school administrator.” It also keeps the language that “[t]he [School Division’s Designated Contact] shall be available to hear concerns from students and parents when complaints are not resolved at the school level.” It also adds additional language that “[b]ullying of any student by another student, for any reason, cannot be tolerated in our schools. Intervening immediately to stop bullying on the spot can help ensure a safer school environment for all students.”

Stopping bullying for any student is an important goal for Virginia’s K-12 public schools. My concern is that gender identity and sexual orientation are no longer explicitly protected classes under the 2022 Model Policies and that school personnel are no longer required to obtain LGBTQ+ specific health and mental wellness professional development. In fact, it feels like VDOE is bullying the very trans kids they are claiming to protect by removing resources and policies aimed at supporting and protecting them.

This is wrong because every child deserves to be able to feel safe and supported in school. As someone who experienced bullying, I know first-hand the impact that has not only on a child’s mental health but also their ability to focus and learn. School quickly became a placed I dreaded go and as a result, my grades and learning suffered.

Virginia schools need to be a place where students feel welcomed, supported, and a place where they can feel safe to be their true selves. Otherwise, our schools will not be able to effectively educate young Virginians. If Virginia schools are not that place for every student, there will be detrimental effects not only for those students and their immediate family, but for the entire Commonwealth.

For these reasons, I ask you to repeal the 2022 Model Policies and reinstate the 2021 Model Policies.


As a Republican Donor, I oppose this policy.

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As an older Republican of a bygone era, I urge more protections for our beautiful Trans Children. Protecting our kids’ rights to be who they are isn’t political. It’s just the right thing to do. When I was being raised, we called this kindness “being Christian.” Where are the other old white straight men that believe WE ARE ALL GOD’S CHILDREN?


Disgusting

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<p>It is completely disgusting that this is even happening, but I am so happy to share my opposition to those guidelines. Trans rights are human rights are BASIC rights. We need to protect everyone no matter what. </p>


Transgender students need to be treated with dignity not punished!

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As an educator, mother, grandmother and Past President of the National Association for College Admission Counselors, I am very opposed to Governor Youngkin's direct violation of the Virginia Human Rights Act by changing the Model Policies for the Treatment of Transgender Students.  His rewrite of the policy does NOT safeguard transgender students against discrimination due to gender identity.  In fact, it incites more violence against such students as well as violating four sections of Virginia Code 22.1-23.3.  Those include requiring the protection of transgender students in a variety of important ways.  It will also jeopardize schools by  putting them in violation of Title IX and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.  In addition, Virginia's Policy for the Treatment of Transgender Students should align with those of significant professional organizations such as the American Psychology Association, American Medical Association, American School Counselor Association and Department of Education.

This policy needs to support the needs of transgender students such as bathroom access, safety, acceptance, equality in education and protection against bullying, harassment and discrimination by peers, teachers, school staff and administrators.  Before the Governor rewrote the policy, it effectively guaranteed equal treatment for transgender students and kept Virginia aligned with human rights policies!

We must defeat Governor Youngkin's rewrite of the Policy for the Treatment of Transgender Students!!


Support parent consent

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<p>I support parent consent!!! </p>


Unjust

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<p>It is not right to invalidate people's feelings, no matter their age, gender, or sexuality. It is honestly so harmful and it is in a way terrifying to see those that are against our movements to justify their hatred. </p>


Strongly Support Governor Youngkin’s “Model Policies on the Privacy, Dignity, and Res

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Governor Younkin's proposed policy to allow more parental input into the educational process of their children and grandchildren in general is overdue. There can be no reason not to allow such input in any of our educational systems.


Strongly Oppose

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I am strongly opposed to changing the Model Policy on Trans Students from it's current iteration. The new Model Policy, is a horrible step backward in that it greatly waters down trans students rights in favor of parental rights and the "rights" of certain school personnel to not be "offended".  It imposes right wing "Christian" conservative values and could very potentially cause harm to trans students. The current policy is well thought out and reasoned and actually acknowledges the rights and concerns of trans students. Importantly it recognizes that there may be conflict between the student and their parents and provides guidence on how to handle that. This proposed Model Policy recognizes no grey areas.

It is dangerous and should be rejected.


Story

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<p>I have been struggling with mental illness since the start of puberty, grappling with suicidal thoughts and a year of serious self harm. Much of my feelings were centered on feeling alone and ignored. I cannot imagine how much worse that feeling would be for trans student whose very existence is being questioned. I absolutely oppose Youngkin's policy and I worry about trans health and the safety of students. </p>


These policies are discriminatory and unamerican

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<p>As a historian who specializes in the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, I am appalled to see these discriminatory policies being proposed in the state which birthed so much of our government. Additionally, these policies are not based in evidence. They would reflect terribly on our state and demonstrate a lack of care about what really matters - learning. </p>


Model Policies for the Treatment of Transgender Students in Virginia’s Public Schools

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Strongly support Gov Youngkin's policy.  Parents need to be in the loop.  Schools do not need to be in the role of keeping parents out of the loop.


Our rights are not for sale...thank you VDOE for standing up to these unions!


UNJUST

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<p>Glenn Youngkin is unjustly targeting minority youth with this policy. It is cruel and we need to do EVERYTHING in our power to protect trans youth. </p>


I support the 2022 Model and Parents rights

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Parents are entitled to teach their children based on their conviction and protect them period. I support parents' rights.


GO


Support--Let parents parent

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<p>I support this Guidance Document.  The vast majority of parents will support their child.  It may take some time for parents to come around, but they know and care about their child more than anyone else.  </p>


Support Women’s Sports

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I am an advocate for the gay community but also an advocate for women’s rights. Let’s support this bill and protect women’s sports.


STOP

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<p>This policy needs to be stopped. Why are you saying "Love thy neighbor" when you only mean someone just like you? This is something that shouldn't be done. I have many trans friends and they are the most lovable people. They have feelings and are people just like you. Put yourself in their shoes! I wonder if you would like to feel sorry they do. </p>


STRONGLY OPPOSE

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<p>This will harm these children.  </p>


Oppose Youngkin attack on LGBTQ youth- Rescind proposed policy!

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I strongly oppose the governors attack on LGBTQ youth by proposing this ludicrous change to  the “model behavior” policy. I urge the Governor and the Department of Education to rescind this proposed policy. Virginia does not need to go backward, we need to respect the rights of our students first and not cower to the far right conservative radicals.


I support this! Thank you!

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This is how you protect children!!


New Policy needs work

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2022 Model Section II - Accomodation should be made for a situation where the child lives all Non-home time as a gender but fear of harm prevents them from living as their gender at home - There should be an exception for Section II.A.2 for a board/judge/other parent type of ruling to allow a student to declare their own name/gender without parental permission.   I'm fine with a more restrictive rule then the 2021 Modle (Student decloration) but do want to make sure there is a outlet for the exception.

Reguarding Appendix 1 Section III.D.2. ["School Division] personnel shall refer to each student using only (i) the name that appears in the student’s official record, or (ii) if the student prefers, using any nickname commonly associated with the name that appears in the student’s official record. " and  D.4 (Parental written request for name/pronouns)"

I am concerned with this strict implementation as school personnel often use a nickname that is not a common derative of the name such as a coach calling a left-handed player "Lefty", or a student that goes by their Middle name, or a student adopting a Spanish derivitave name in Spanish class, or a Debate coach assigning nicknames to his team.

I am concerned by Appendix 1.Section III.G and H - If a student is living full time as female but has not gone thru steps requried to change legal gender I would feel uncomfortable having a female living student required to participate in male swim team wearing male swim team swimsuit and changing with / rooming with male students.  Or on overnight debate team events having a student living as a female to room with a male student.   I could see an accomodation for partents to say "I don't want my female child to room with any student not having a legal designation of female" but I do not feel that placing that female living student in a room with a male student would be appropriate for either student.


Strongly support Governor Youngkin’s policy

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<p>I strongly support Governor Youngkin’s policy. It is absolutely paramount that parents remain fully informed in regards to their minor children. </p>


Strongly support

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This is a step in the right direction!


THANK YOU! This is the will of the people!

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I support this policy - *fit* parents have the ultimate right to their children!


Horrible!

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<p>As a Christian, I’m appalled by this. Shame on all of you. </p>


HARMFUL

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This policy is VERY harmful and should never make its way into schools. Protect trans youth!


Oppose

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This proposal is hiding behind 'parent rights' and does nothing but marginalize students. School is a safe place for students to navigate the world, don't make it a trap.


Oppose

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<p>I oppose this! It’s bad for kids and families. This policy would unnecessarily put trans kids at risk. </p>


Strongly support the new policies.

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Parents involvement is essential in the life of children and the safety of all students matters.