Opposed to this infringement on children's rights

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I strongly oppose this "Guidance Document" because it will actively harm transgender and nonbinary students by

1) Requiring teachers and school staff to forcibly "out" students to their parents against the will of the student.  Stigma, lack of knowledge and fear of rejection by family and peers often keep transgender people from coming out as children or teens, and this policy exacerbates that stigma and lack of understanding.

2) Making students less likely to seek gender related counseling and even allowing school systems and parents to deny students this essential service.

3) It prohibits teachers and staff from supporting transgender and nonbinary students in small (but LIFE SAVING) ways like using their preferred pronouns.  Having at least one accepting adult can reduce the risk of a suicide attempt among LGBTQ young people by 40 percent.

4) It outright prevents the use of gender neutral pronouns like they/them which is RIDICULOUS as they/them pronouns are a perfectly legitimate and long standing part of the English language.

5) Creating bathroom and sports policies designed to hurt and ostracize trans and nonbinary students.

Being trans or non-binary is NOT just a phase and is NOT something that parents or the government should attempt to change. It is a part of a person's identity and deserves respect and understanding.  Trying to dismiss  and/or deny someone's identity is harmful especially during childhood and adolescence when students are vulnerable and most in need of support and validation.

Couching this as a "parental rights" issue negates the rights of STUDENTS.  The parents'-rights gambit is rhetorical sleight-of-hand meant to distract people from what's really going on, which is adults depriving vulnerable children of the resources they need to grow into healthy adults.

Not only is this policy bigoted, it infringes directly on students' 14th amendment rights regarding the equal protection clause.    It also violates state law.  Moreover it  demonstrates a worrying obsession with the genitalia of minors by the people pushing it (perhaps some soul searching is in order there, Glennie and his MAGA friends?).

Children are NOT the property of their parents and all deserve to be treated with dignity and respect as human beings and citizens, at school and everywhere.


Strongly Support!

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<p>I strongly support this policy. Schools need to go back to teaching basics and stay out of ideology. </p>


Oppose

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<p>I strong oppose this guidance. All students should be empowered to explore their identities as individuals. Trans and non-binary students must be protected and not discriminated against, especially at school. </p>


Oppose


Strongly Oppose

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Children deserve to feel safe and protected, not used a political pawns. To further remove the agency from schools will deeply damage the already deeply tarnished trust between students and their teachers, which has proven impacts on student success, health and wellness.


Strongly Oppose - Children Are NOT Property. Bodily Autonomy for All.

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This policy is nothing short of vile. In an attempt to preserve “parents’ rights” — which is really just exercising control over the bodies of minors as though they are objects and not individuals capable of reason and self-determination — Gov. Youngkin’s policy will drive more children to depression, self harm, and suicide. For many students, especially those with abusive parents, school is the only place they can truly be themselves. Robbing them of that is cruel and subjects them to discriminatory treatment each and every day. It costs nothing to respect the autonomy of young people; if they change their minds later, they will know that they were supported and had the ability to determine their own future. It opens channels of communication and allows for true honesty. Yet, it costs everything to deny them this right to self-exploration. Worst of all, these policies are based on vast amounts of blatant misinformation. Supporters of this bill are nothing more than pawns in the far right’s culture war game, eating up lies like candy to justify their unfounded hatred of anyone different from them.

I would choose having a trans child over having a dead child any day. If you wouldn’t, you have no business being a parent. Do not vote for this bill.


Do Not Pass This Bill

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<p>This bill doesn’t support all students. Do not pass this bill. </p>


Common Sense

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I strongly support the Governor !!


STRONGLY OPPOSE

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I strongly appose Younkin's proposed policies regarding transgender and non-binary students. Requiring teachers to "out" these students, target these students, and exclude these students is not only DISRESPECTFUL but fully DISCRIMINATORY.

School is about educating our students and supporting them to be the best humans they can be in the world. These proposed policies do not support education at all. Additionally, teachers are already overworked in their classes and dealing with the mental health of their students. This would add another burden to their plates.

These polices are UNNECCESARY.


Strongly Oppose

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As a teacher in this state, I can tell you firsthand that this policy will endanger trans students.  This is a huge mistake.  Stop the nonsense.


Oppose! This is rediculous!

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Can’t believe this is what our taxes are going towards. This is a non issue - why is it even being debated. Oppose the ignorance!


Support

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<p>I support this proposed legislation. </p>


STRONGLY OPPOSE

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This will be very, very harmful to transgender students across the state, and will set a precedent for other states to start proposing the same guidelines — Suicide rates across the entire country will skyrocket!


Oppose/embarrass an innocent child by changing which bathroom they HAVE to use

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Portable Bathrooms are unisex and are used in public places, outside by all ages for years. Children are bullied enough for wanting to express themselves by what they wear and how they style their hair, when a child feels they are born with the opposite sexes brain in their head and have to live with that because society makes them believe it is wrong to be who they feel they REALLY ARE, that is bullying too! My daughter has been a staple in our community and done great things, she is well respected and appreciated and supported by her classmates, teachers and coaches. For her to have to use the MENS restroom in highschool after using the women’s for 3 years, is not acceptable!!!!!!! Her school has made it known that they WILL accommodate her by letting her use the nurses office bathroom, but that is still embarrassing enough. WHEN WILL WE ALL JUST LOVE ONE ANOTHER FOR WHO WE ARE!!!!!!!!!!!!!


parents

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Essential to have parents engaged and involved at the start, subversive if not giving parents vital information.


Supporting Trans and Non-binary youth saves lives

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Governor Youngkin:

Please care for all people in your state and eschew legislation that harms youth. No kid chooses to be outside of what is considered “acceptable:”  if they need to express themselves differently from what is expected, it’s because their life depends on it. PLEASE CARE FOR THE PEOPLE IN YOUR STATE!


Insufficient Protections - I oppose

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The proposed policies do not do enough to protect transgender kids, in particular those who do not have supportive parents. While the policy defines trans kids as those who have has a parent request appropriate treatment in schools, it does not acknowledge the possibility of trans kids whose parents are attempting to suppress their identity in favor of something the parents have decided for them. Without those protections, a significant portion of the children this policy purports to cover will suffer at the hands of those who are meant to protect them.


I came to America for freedom

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My parents sent me to America from Communist Cuba as a child, so I would live in freedom- freedom to make choices about our lives. Governor Youngkin in trying to restrict the freedom of those making gender choices (since they are contrary to his own beliefs), is acting un-democratic and unbelievably cruel.

Freedom loving people should not allow this to happen!


I strongly support this guidance

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This guidance is sensitive, science-based, and appropriately defers to parents as the primary educators of and decision makers for their children. I applaud Governor Youngkin and his team for what they have done here.  It took smarts and courage.  Bravo.


Strongly Oppose

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I strongly oppose the proposed restriction of transgender and non-binary students' rights that were set out in § 2.2-3900, the Virginia Human Rights Act. The 2022 model will harm students, not help them.


Governor's/Va DoE Trans student model polies

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I strongly support this policy, and the rights of parents to know about their minor children's trans decisions.


Oppose!!!!!Trans and LGBTQ+ Equality Save Lives!

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Public Schools should welcome and protect ALL!!

Another political stunt! So tired of politicians using marginalized people as propaganda!

Your children are in private schools- Do you actually have any idea what happens at a public school and how parents actually are involved or scream at administrators when their child is in the wrong?  if they want to- PTA has been around for years!

These protections were put in place because of years of bullying and research proved that Protecting students saves lives!

Child suicide, hate crimes - Remember Mathew Shepard!

Schools are seeing a rise in hate speech, Racist bullying and now LGBTQ+ discrimination.

What is the difference between a nickname & a preferred name?

Are you going to require Mikey to be called Michael? or a child who prefers to use their middle name  to obtain court documents or parental permission? If not than that is clearly discrimination and harassment of specific students!

Stop the Hate- LGBTQ+ people and their families & friends Vote too!!


STRONGLY OPPOSE


Strongly Oppose

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Ask anyone qualified, this is a bad policy.


Unequivocally Opposed

Lauren Cooper @ GreenstarfFarm and Apothecary

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This policy guidance change flies in the face of the practical concerns of teachers, students, and families as they work to create safe, welcoming, and equal educational opportunities for all community members. I am sick of the Virginia governor's office creating an environment of fear and self-censorship around LGBT issues. Trans youth have a Constitutional right to a safe education, and efforts to deny them these rights is an egregious overreach by the Youngkin administration. I do not want to live or work in a state where a radical religious minority sets state policy around trans issues and uses thin constitutional language to cover for thier bigotry and hate for trans youth.


Strongly opposed

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<p>Your god and your Jesus said love thy neighbor. God didn’t make any exceptions. Insecure phobic (white) men did that. Be more like your non-white pal Jesus and your god and stop trying to control people, especially KIDS, out of your brainwashed, irrational fear. </p>


Oppose new regs on treatment of transgender and nonbinary students

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At it's core, public schools provide students with the chance to explore ideas about themselves and the world around them, learn from others, and share their experiences and views. It works best when students feel safe. The proposed policy changes could have a chilling effect on students as they explore who they are and how they fit into the world around them. The policies could limit students - and research suggests that this could have deleterious effects on a student's mental health. At present the research suggest trans teens are more likely to committee suicide than others - and particularly in this moment, it defies logic to push policies that could do harm to students. As a parent of students in two Northern Virginia school districts, I am grateful that leaders have indicated a commitment to previously passed guidelines that center students and their well-being. I am hopeful the current guidelines can remain in place, rather than the proposed guidelines.


This is bad public policy.

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This is bad public policy.  Using the most vulnerable children as pawns in political gamesmanship is offensive.   Suicides amongst LGBTQ+ youth is much higher than the general population, and highest in an unsupported and un-accepting environment. The blood of the kids who commit suicide as a consequence of Youngkin’s proposed policy will be in his hands, and the hands of those who advocate for it.

Governor Youngkin should represent the interests of all he Governs not just those he considers “likely voters who might support him”, and protect the most vulnerable.  History shall not remember him fondly.


Oppose

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<p>The proposed policy would alienate a group of kids who already face so many challenges. I strongly oppose this policy in the interest of trans kids and their families. </p>


Strongly Oppose

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<p>This would put so many students and teacher in harms way. The Trevor Project has done studies that show having a person use correct pronouns, names, and bathrooms decreases their risk for suicide or self harm related behaviors. Having people in their corner is extremely important and part of basic human rights that all people deserve. This legislation would only harm its citizens, not protect them. Stop the war on trans students and recognize that all people deserve respect. </p>


Transgender Issues

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<p>Please stop projecting your bigoted views on the children. Let them be happy and free. I strongly oppose this. Youngkin does not speak to the best interests of our children. </p>


opposed to anti-transgender policy

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<p>Please look at the evidence and the great risk that your proposed policies create for our LGBT+ youth.    Please protect their dignity, and their lives.  As a mental health clinician, I see firsthand the struggles caused by discrimination and request that the VDOE reject these policies.  The fear behind these proposed policies is simply unfounded.  </p>


Stop Being Hateful

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<p>Stop endangering people becayse you're hateful, it literally doesn't affect you. This will only give transphobic and homophobic students more power. Everyone deserves to feel safe and welcome at school. You cannot help who you love. </p>


STRONG OPPOSE!!!  Stop the cruelty.

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<p>Political stunt that will hurt kids.  Its cruel.  I am disgusted by Youngkin and the GOP who want to create chaos and hurt people.  We have so many issues to be worked out and making kids targets is not one of them!!! </p>


Thank you!!

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<p>Thank you Governor Youngkin for supporting the rights of parents to parent their children. Schools should not be allowed or encouraged to keep vital information from parents. Children should NOT be encouraged to keep secrets from their parents. This is a major red flag.  Schools need to concentrate on teaching academics and preparing our children to be ready for college or entering the workforce.   </p>


Oppose

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<p>Strongly oppose.  </p>


state transgender bill opposition

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As a professional educator with over 30 years of experience in schools in the field of special education, I oppose laws that are discriminatory toward students who are vulnerable. This includes students who are transgender. The proposed law is an attack on students who already suffer enough emotional trauma as they work to be included in and accepted by society. It is wrong to treat them as predators with criminal checks when it is more likely that they are or will be the victims of predators. It is a simple solution to just have bathrooms with stalls and doors that do not denote gender, as are found in many public spaces, including most of the restaurants I visit. It is difficult enough to grow up in a society with so many issues affecting students (e.g., gun violence, bans on exemplary literature, archaic abortion laws, prevalence of drugs). This is one issue that calls for compassion and understanding rather than scorn. The schools have the opportunity to set an example of acceptance, offer a safe haven for students with differences, and teach all students that they are more alike than different.


Strongly Oppose

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This policy is disturbing and completely unnecessary. It is a violation of privacy and human decency. Children especially should not have to tolerate such cruel regulation as they already face enough pressures in life. This is really about control and not about choice for what's best, more comfortable, or more safe for oneself. Trans people AND children exist and will continue to exist and need all of the support they can get. Stop making things more difficult!


STRONGLY OPPOSE

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The republican party is supposed to be the party of limited government involvement, something bragged about RELENTLESSLY when fighting mask bans. Apply the same principle to everything - the government cannot and SHOULD NOT EVER tell you to wear a mask, SHOULD NOT EVER force you to have a child, SHOULD NOT EVER force heternormative and gender identities onto a person. The one thing all of these have in common is that they take away OUR INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS. Let kids be kids - their gender identity doesn't harm anyone, and forcing a CHILD to conform to an identity that is not their own will lead to severe psychological distress. If this plan proceeds, the state is directly responsible for the harm caused to these children.


OPPOSE!

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This policy will endanger the lives of transgender students, who are already marginilized. OPPOSE!


Opposition to Student Transgender Policy

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<p>I strongly oppose the proposed model policies.  I also feel you are taking away my choice as a parent to have support provided in schools to transgender students in ways that have been shown to decrease depression and suicidal rates.  It has been documented that having one support person can sometimes save a child’s life.  Not all parents are supportive.  </p>


Srongly OPPOSE Treatment of Transgender Students proposal

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I support trans and non-binary kids, who struggle to be themselves in a world where right-wing politicians make them pawns in electoral power plays. Rather than threatening their civil rights and shredding their right to privacy, which this proposal does, we need to be listening to our children and supporting their efforts to mature into adulthood. I strongly opposed this proposal, which will endanger the health and safety of our trans and non-binary kids and teach their peers to devalue them.


Strongly oppose

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<p>I strongly oppose the proposed restriction of transgender and non-binary students' rights that were set out in § 2.2-3900, the Virginia Human Rights Act. The 2022 model will harm students, not help them. Keeps schools safe for all students. Be an ally. Help protect these kids. </p>


Strongly Oppose

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It’s unfair to call someone anything they are uncomfortable with. You wouldn’t call someone named Robert something like Will. They don’t go by Will. You cannot tell people how to feel or dress or exist, no matter their age. Let people be comfortable as who they are and/or need to be.


I strongly oppose

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<p>This is extremely transphobic and will ultimately be harmful to all students. I strongly oppose. </p>


Strongly Oppose

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This policy guidance change flies in the face of the practical concerns of teachers, students, and families as they work to create safe, welcoming, and equal educational opportunities for all community members. As a teacher, I am sick of the Virginia governor's office creating an environment of fear and self-censorship around LGBT issues. Trans youth have a Constitutional right to a safe education, and efforts to deny them these rights is an egregious overreach by the Youngkin administration. I do not want to live or work in a state where a radical religious minority sets state policy around trans issues and uses thin constitutional language to cover for thier bigotry and hate for trans youth.


Strongly oppose

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I strongly oppose this. This guidance will create a hostile environment for trans kids, who already face many challenges. Stop using trans kids as political pawns.


Strongly oppose

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All students deserve to be treated with dignity and respect. Schools should be safe environments where kids can be themselves. The well being of students should come first.


Protecting trans kids is not an ideology, it's an obligation.  OPPOSE.

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These policies will hurt and likely kill trans kids, who are already subject to bullying and discrimination.  Show me where in any holy text it says you can't choose how you identify or what your name and pronouns are. Literally no child has ever been hurt by using someone's preferred pronoun or respecting their identity.  Schools are obligated to protect children, and this policy does the exact opposite.  It's shameful to politicize protecting vulnerable children.


Strongly oppose!

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Please do not send the message to our children that adults around them know who they are  better than they themselves do. Please do not make children feel unsupported, unprotected, and unsafe in their own schools. Children cannot learn and grow when they are afraid.


Disappointed in administration

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<p>This state has been my home for many years. This policy serves only to make this state the home of trans youth no longer, to make life more difficult for those with unaccepting homes, and unaccepting families. Moreover this doesn't just hurt trans kids, it will hurt any child experimenting with their identity, with nicknames, with how they act, and so forth. This policy is anti child and anti youth. </p>


Lifelong Democratic parent begs you to support the bill

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Please approve this bill. I am a lifelong Democrat and parent of a teen who believes she is non binary. She wants to have her breasts removed. This came out of nowhere when she began to struggle with her changing body. Her middle school hid the fact that she had changed her name and pronouns from me while we were trying to get her counseling for suicidal ideation, anxiety and depression. Imagine the frustration and confusion in a child when the school treats her one way and the family in another. I felt helpless and hopeless. I celebrated when gay marriage was passed. But to have schools ASSUME parents won’t be accepting or supportive and usurp decisions that are the parents to make is a bridge too far.   With the number of kids changing their identity from NB to trans to straight and back again, sometimes the safest and most supportive thing is to watch and wait, not rush to affirm the idea of a child with a developing brain. Parents need to have the ability to make these decisions without the school pre-empting that with curriculum or affirmation especially considering over 80% of kids with dysphoria end up resisting by adulthood.

additionally, I am concerned about the ability for girls to compete in their sport of choice, change in locker rooms, or be in the bathroom without the fear of a self identifying biological boy being in there with them. We have womens sports and segregated bathrooms for good reasons. The physical advantages male puberty confers upon boys combined with the exponentially increasing number of kids identifying as trans will make it impossible to ensure girls have safe spaces.
to be sure, I want all kids to have a chance to play sports and feel comfortable, but the rights of girls should not be sacrificed for the rights of other groups.

It seems kind and fair to just let the schools roll with this, but the consequences are staggering. I fully support this bill.


I approve, this is a step in the right direction.

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Thank You Governor Youngkin for taking a step in the right direction and placing parental rights where it is due, with the parents.  Let’s refocus our efforts in academia again, and not push a political agenda on our most vulnerable population.  Any parent that cannot see that pushing sexual identities on our babies is not only inappropriate but dangerous, and fails to see the detriment this has on our society has been utterly misled. Leave innocence in tact as long as possible and create a classroom experience focused on learning.


OPPOSE, Trans Kids deserve our support now more than ever

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<p>As a NICU nurse in a hospital and a school nurse. I refuse to be silent as I watch kids who were just like me when I was their age get their rights stripped from them. I am a 25 year old non-binary nurse and I struggle every day with people getting my pronouns right and feeling accepted at work. These CHILDREN should not be made to feel like that. They deserve to be loved and support for who they are no matter what their identity is. We are here and we aren’t going anywhere. We won’t stop fighting for these kids and I won’t stop advocating for them. It is my favorite part of being a nurse. Advocating. We don’t want to turn cis kids trans. We want the trans and non-binary students to survive and feel loved and accepted.  This is a gross discrimination of these students and I will fight to the ends of the earth for them. </p>


I oppose this new guidance

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<p>As a former Virginia public school student I oppose this proposed change in policy.  High school is hard enough without introducing new ways to ostracize kids.  Who uses what bathroom or locker room should be the least of the state's worries. Focus on improving test scores, improving math and reading skills, graduation rates, skill building in necessary trades, protecting kids from mass shootings anything but this. </p>


I strongly oppose


Equality for All

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Dear Governor,  Have you ever talked to a transgender child in school to find out what their life is like?  If you haven't, then you should before you pass this outrageous change in policy.  I work with a person who is transgender and he said he never thought he would live this long (he's in his 20's) because of all the discrimination he faced while in public school.  He  considered suicide on multiple occasions but fortunately did not follow through.  I thought Virginia was finally moving forward and recognizing that we are not all alike and that all of us should be treated fairly and without discrimination.  While I recognize  parents should be involved in their children's education, not all parents are so understanding.  What about the rights of those that fear recrimination if their personal identity is outed to those who are less understanding?  Do not move our great State back to the days of discrimination, be it racial, gender, sex or any other kind but move this State forward as an example of what it like to treat all human beings as equal with all the protections afforded to them.


Strongly oppose

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This policy puts chikdren’s lives and mental well-being at risk.


Leave the kids alone.

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No government official has the right to  infringe or inquire about a child’s gender identity.  Why are old white conservative politicians so interested in the  private parts of children?  This policy is only self serving for ty insecure old people who are afraid of children, gay people,and securing the rights and freedoms that everyone deserves.  This is a ty policy created by ty people and will only hurt the most vulnerable individuals in our society, children.  Children who are trying to figure out who they are and deserve love and acceptance.  Outing these children to their families and peers will cause nothing but harm.  You’re throwing kids into the meat grinder before they even know who they are.  Are you going to call Tom girls transgender boys and make a big deal out of it and call their parent?  What if a boy wears a kilt or skirt to school?  You have no idea what you are dealing with, how to handle it, or what the consequences of your actions are.

You’re going to our children to their parents who many be homophobic and abusive.  You’re going to humiliate children by stealing a special and important rite of passage of coming out on their terms when they feel safe and comfortable that many gay and transgender people plan for a long time.

glenn youngkin doesn’t have the right to do that.  He doesn’t have the right to hurt children for the sake of a couple of loud insecure parents.  He won his election on the back of two teenage girls being raped.  How about he goes hard on men who rape women?  Why not prosecute actual child predators?  No, instead he wants to torment transgender children.  Glenn youngkin doesn’t care about children, he only cares about pandering to scared insecure white parents.


Strongly support

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<p>Schools should not be keeping secrets from parents and should definitely not be encouraging students to keep secrets from their parents. Doing so is a major red flag.  Schools are for teaching academics.  </p>


State-sponsored bullying of marginalized children

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This new Youngkin policy has been enacted to discriminate against vulnerable children in order to cater to a minority of parents’ religious beliefs. Public schools are for ALL children. Transgender children only make up a very small population of Virginia schools. To require schools and teachers  to withdraw support from these children, who are already at high risk of suicide, is equivalent to state-sponsored bullying. Youngkin and anyone who supports this policy should be ashamed of themselves.


Youngkin's horrible trans policy

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Strongly oppose Youngkin's bigoted trans policy.


No Discrimination against Children

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<p>Get out of student’s and family’s personal lives. This is a dangerous and regressive policy that will hurt Virginia kids. All children deserve a safe and affirming place to learn. </p>


Strongly oppose

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<p>This is a cruel and needless policy to wage an unpopular culture war against already marginalized individuals. Stop exploiting the rights of Virginians for your own personal political gain you selfish coward. </p>


Strongly opposed

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Gender dysphoria  is real and it makes children want to die. Medical and psychological treatment has been approved and used for generations and can’t be suddenly considered child abuse by uncomfortable adults in power. Stop it.


oppose! this will harm trans kids!!

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I can't even believe this is something there is debate about. Let queer children be themselves!! Schools should protect kids and we are failing them everyday. Do better


STRONGLY OPPOSE

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<p>Transgender children (and all members of the LGBTQ community) deserve the right to exist safely in schools. This is an outrageous proposal, and frankly I’m ashamed to live in a country that would even think to pass something like this. Get over yourselves and let people live peacefully. </p>


Oppose Governor’s Archaic Policy

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<p>I’m a retired educator, worked in Virginia schools 30 years. In the 1940s, my mother was a psychiatric nurse at BU Hospital. Despite homosexuality being present in society for thousands of years, gay men were hospitalized or criminalized for being who they were, how God made them. The standard approach was for the doctors to ask the nurses to have dances and come on to the gentlemen. Obvious nonsense. As is the fear that a trans woman is a danger to other women in the restroom. Nonsense. In fact it is quite the opposite, a trans woman is IN danger in the boys restroom. Let science and compassion lead, not hate and ignorance. Trans students are not dangers, they are at risk of harm and self-harm especially when policies are allowed that are fear and hate driven rather than student safety and civil rights driven. Many school systems have successfully and quietly added and retrofitted single bathrooms into “any gender” restrooms which serves, for now, as a reasonable compromise. Let teachers teach and stop this over-regulation creating more division in our schools. I clearly oppose biological sex bathrooms only. In order to do this accurately, everyone would need a deep dive genetic workup as scientists know, gender is literally on a spectrum, not a disorder. No division oriented governmental overreach please. </p>


I strongly oppose this hate filled policy.  Our kids aren’t your political pawns.

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<p>This horrible policy will do nothing but harm our kids.  Our public schools shouldn’t be about scoring political points off the most vulnerable- they should be there to nurture and protect ALL kids.   </p>


I strongly oppose

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<p>I strongly oppose this proposed legislation. Students who cannnot use the bathroom will not drink water become dehydrated and suffer physically </p>


Schools have a duty to protect children from harm.

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Our schools have an obligation to protect our kids first, and educate them second.  Kids who are not physically safe and mentally well cannot keep up with their studies.

LGBTQ+ kids are much more likely to self-harm or ponder suicide. We have a duty to keep them safe - from harmful home environments or bullies on campus or a multitude of other issues they may be facing.

the governor’s new policy doesn’t align with Virginia voters’ values or the recent litigation out of the courts stemming from Gavin Grimm’s lawsuit. The governor’s new policy is designed solely to be cruel and harmful to CHILDREN.

Please protect trans kids and do not institute this horrendous and damaging policy. Schools have an obligation to protect kids - not to protect their parents from facts, or other kids.


Return to founding Christian truths and principals and trans confusion will end

Christ is King and since we kicked him out of our schools / government and businesses  we’ve been knowingly and unknowingly teaching lies / fairytales. We live in time’s that we profess  equal rights are really equal, that murder is health care, that telling the truth is hate speech. We ignore the facts and science behind agenda’s and push forward  theories while placing coexist bumper stickers and no hate here signs in our yards. Hatred for God and his holy law is the root cause for all our troubles. If we wanted to truly support and love one another we would stop focusing/ arguing/ fighting  over symptoms ( inequality, racism, transgender , sexual immorality, corruption  etc.) these are only byproducts of our sins. We should push forward in God’s truth while supporting , encouraging our brothers to do the same.God bless us and the Virgin protect us

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Christ is King and since we kicked him out of our schools / government and businesses  we’ve been knowingly and unknowingly teaching lies / fairytales. We live in time’s that we profess  equal rights are really equal, that murder is health care, that telling the truth is hate speech.
We ignore the facts and science behind agenda’s and push forward  theories while placing coexist bumper stickers and no hate here signs in our yards. Hatred for God and his holy law is the root cause for all our troubles. If we wanted to truly support and love one another we would stop focusing/ arguing/ fighting  over symptoms ( inequality, racism, transgender , sexual immorality, corruption  etc.) these are only byproducts of our sins. We should push forward in God’s truth while supporting , encouraging our brothers to do the same.
God bless us and the Virgin protect us


Strongly oppose

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I strongly oppose this proposed bill. It’s ridiculous and harmful. Trans kids are kids and need  to be able to be true to themselves without others dictating their life’s path. Stop this hate!


Strongly Support DUH

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Strongly Support! Get back to learning and stop with the cultural nonsense! Protect Girls Sports and Privacy! Protect parents right to raise their children how they see fit.

Back off w the crazy agendas!


STRONGLY OPPOSED

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<p>time to progress forward, not backwards. </p>


VEHEMENTLY OPPOSE

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OPPOSE!!!!!  Hands off our kids!!!


Oppose

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Let kids be who they are.


Good Policy Shows Virginia Fairness

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I strongly support this policy that reverses the previous guidance which was crafted specifically to elevate certain people's rights over those of others. Dictating radical social conformity should not be what the education system is focused on.


Let kids be kids! Protect their innocence, involve their parents.

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Parents matter most in a child’s life. Of course they should have primacy in their child’s education! This has been recognized in Virginia and US law. Children can not give informed consent to psychological or sexual interventions and surgery which can cause irreversible damage. Schools should not be medically experimenting on kids. And given major learning loss, schools should focus on instilling skills.


Protect Our Children From Groomers

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<p>Very sick entities are taking runs at our children to groom them into perverted, deviant lifestyles. We need to keep these woke, sick predators away from our children at all costs. If you </p>


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OPPOSED. LET KIDS BE WHO THEY WANT TO BE. THIS IS WHO THEY ARE. IT IS IMPORANT FOR KIDS TO BE SUPPORTED NO MATTER WHAT THEY IDENTIFY AS.


Strongly oppose

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As a medical student and pediatric researcher, I recognize the need to protect trans youth from the potential mental and physical trauma associated with premature outing. This policy puts chikdren’s lives and mental well-being at risk.


STRONGLY OPPOSE


I strongly oppose this

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This policy change will only serve to harm vulnerable trans children, without any benefits to them or anyone else. It serves only to humiliate and target trans students, which should never be the basis of educational policy.


Strongly oppose

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I strongly oppose this guidance.


Support for Youngkin’s policy

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Policies for transgender students implemented in states and school districts across the United States have sought to exclude parents from vital conversations about their child’s education and wellbeing.

Former Governor Ralph Northam’s administration chipped away at the rights of Virginia parents with its 2021 model policies for transgender students. Those policies explicitly stated that school officials were not always required to tell parents about their child’s decision to use a new name and pronouns at school.

I’m writing in support of the Youngkin administration’s new model policies, “On the Privacy, Dignity, and Respect for All Students and Parents In Virginia’s Public Schools,” which enshrine the rights of parents to direct the upbringing of their child while respecting all students across the Commonwealth.

Thank you for your commitment to parents’ rights in education. I urge you to implement the policies as written and restore the right and responsibility of parents to make the best decisions for their child.


Dehumanizing Anti-Trans Disgustingness

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<p>Youngkin and his supporters will go down in history in shame as anti-trans, dehumanizing, deplorable human beings. To feel such a false sense of superiority and to be so threatened by someone else's sexuality and gender identity that you feel like you should be able to impose your personal beliefs on others in this manner is pure theocratic drivel. </p>


OPPOSE!


Oppose!

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This is wrong and cruel. I agree that sports are somewhat unfair to let a trans girl compete against girls, but stopping them from being able to identify themselves is just wrong. A trans girl can still compete in sports, just with biological boys to make it fair. Many parents do not support trans people and this would force people out to their parents. That could cause children to be disowned. Forcing trans people to stay in the locker room of their biological sex may seem right, but it could cause severe bullying and discrimination! No one would be creeping in the locker room. I understand that some will not like having trans people in their locker room, but people should not be ashamed or afraid of trans people. They are just like any other kid. They feel right as a girl, then let them do what they feel comfortable doing as a girl.


Oppose. It's foul, hateful, and harmful. Transgender people have always existed.

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Banning, restricting,  limiting access to knowledge about people and for people is wrong.  Treating people as "other", marginalizing and actively causing fear, harm, and unnecessary shame is wrong.

Why is this what GOP leadership is focusing on?

Let the kids be who they want and need to be, and recognize that white and cis male isn't the only identity out there.


In Support

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<p>Thank you for including parents/guardians in issues regarding their children’s mental health.  People don’t send their kids to school in order to secretly transition to another gender or engage in other dramatic psychological (and/or physical) changes while purposely leaving parents in the dark.   The purpose is to provide a top notch education in core subjects and become critical thinkers.  Any type of secretive behavior conducted by supposedly trusted adults at school should be very worrisome for parents/caregivers.  Obviously every child should be treated with dignity and respect and if there are any cases of bullying or abuse, that should be handled on a case by case basis as any instance of abuse should be handled (regardless of cause).   But a blanket policy encouraging children to make significant changes to their psychological/physical state, at times justifiable, but also very much amplified by a known trend occurring and reinforced in current pop culture, should not be happening at school.   </p>


SUPPORT

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With over 25 years of special education experience in one of the largest counties in Virginia, I strongly support parents being part of a child's school team.  We would never make special education decisions without parent input and consent.  Why would we consider keeping parents out of important conversations about a student's identity?  Parents are not the enemy, they have a right to participate in their child's education, and that right should be respected.  If we are truly in support of inclusion, we would not even consider excluding parents from important conversations like this one.


Parental rights before the State Always. Tune out the troll noise.

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In what should be common sense, I wholeheartedly support these new guidelines. A closer inspection of the "Strongly Oppose" comments will find them to be anonymous "copy and paste" trolls or out-of-staters. True Virginians made our voices heard when we elected Governor Youngkin, Lt. Governor Sears, Attorney General Miyares, and flipped the House of Delegates. Honor the will of ACTUAL Virginians and enact this policy. And tune out the hysterical troll noise.


Support! Please ignore the bots

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<p>I support the new policy - which simply corrects the previous administration’s gross overreach. Also, I hope you are ignoring the bot comments that strongly oppose in the strongest ‘manor.’ </p>


Strongly Oppose

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As a non binary student who went to both Fairfax County Public Schools and Loudoun County Public Schools I strongly oppose the guidance as trans kids deserve to get our education in a safe and welcoming environment. Majority of people agree with this so I urge you to vote against this.


Vehemently oppose - Youngkin and his administration should be ashamed

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This draft policy goes directly against the actions we SHOULD be taking across the Commonwealth - to protect the rights of all students. In just 2020, the General Assembly passed legislation that required VDOE to have model policies for transgender students in place using evidence-based, best practices. Youngkin's ridiculous attempt to capitalize on political divisions in our schools does exactly the opposite. He, his administration, and his supporters should be ashamed that they are using students as pawns in a political stunt.


BOE


Strongly oppose

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This is a vulnerable group of people. Compassion, education, patience and tolerance are needed and necessary—not just for students/kids but for family and friends.


Transgender Issue

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I fully support the Governor's plan. He is doing exactly what he promised to do and I am in agreement with him.


Strongly oppose

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I oppose this because it is poorly written and not well thought out. I oppose the language that allows the state to dictate what a child is called at school, especially the language stating that they can only be called a nickname commonly associated with their legal name. What does that even mean? This will not only affect the trans children that the governor has decided to target, it will also affect any other child who uses a different nickname. What if a child’s name is Robert but they go by Mike? Mike is not common nickname for a person named Robert. It is obvious that the governor has decided to use our kids as his means of appropriating culture wars to further his presidential ambitions, but this language needs to be removed. And quite frankly, this entire exercise in harassing trans kids under the guise of supporting parental rights is disgusting. I strongly support ensuring parents have a voice and say in the education of their children, I have two kids in Virginia Public schools, but this guidance in no way makes me feel as though the state is trying to foster and support my parental rights. Instead, its a piece of poorly written legal writing designed at harassing trans kids in schools, with obvious flaws that will also end up harassing every other kid.


Strongly Oppose

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Don’t Tread On Trans Kids, as the flag says — LGBTQ+ children and adults are entitled to all the same freedoms, rights, and privileges under the law as anyone and everyone else. Their freedom is your freedom!


OPPOSE

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"Students learn better when they can be themselves and have trust in the adults around them. This legislation will eliminate that trust and destroy students' ability to feel safe in their learning environment. It will also make it more difficult for teachers to effectively do their jobs.

This is a discriminatory distraction from the work of public education."


I STRONGLY OPPOSE the guidance.

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This is terrible. “I strongly OPPOSE the guidance.”


Strongly Support

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I strongly agree with Governor Youngkin.  The current policy puts all children in danger and confusion.  Trangenderism is not proven to do anything but allow leftist adults to take advantage of confused young people.


Yta This policy is convoluted, manipulative and harmful

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Shameful for Sneaking in the abusive bathroom component under the umbrella of "parent choice." It's 2022 we should be past this bigotry nonsense.

People that think parents have a right to control their kids about gender, don't actually know what the studies say about children's well-being and mental health revolving around gender identity.


Oppose

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Children know better than the governor what their environment at home is like. They know if they are comfortable being out with their parents. They know if their security would be threatened by telling their parents. This is THEIR choice, not the school's, not the governor's. Do not put these kids in danger.


I OBJECT.

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This policy is garbage.


Strong Support for this Policy

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It is not the role of government schools to hide information about children from their own parents.  Parents must be empowered by our state-run schools to have an active and influential role in their own children's academic & emotional development.

Children will have their parents & families for the rest of their lives.  The activist Public School employees advocating for secret-keeping will be just a fleeting, if destructive, influence in Virginia children's lives.  Our schools must not be used for ideological indoctrination.

Thank you Governor Youngkin


Strongly oppose this - all kids deserve protection

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All children deserve to be loved, respected, and valued for who they are - at all times and places.  There should be love and respect and open, honest communication in the homes, but unfortunately, we know that this isn't the case for all kids.  Many kids find schools environments to be one of the places they first feel comfortable expressing their true feelings; and find teachers/ school staff to be the most supportive adults in their lives - not because they don't love and respect their parents, but because they know they can be their authentic selves.

When trans kids feel respected and able to be their authentic selves, their rate of attempted suicide drops in half.  This new policy will ensure that many more trans kids will remain in the closet and will increase the rate of suicide attempts.  Instead of keeping kids safe, this policy will do the exact opposite of that.

Many kids go by nicknames in schools - you are now going to require all teachers to have explicit parental permission in writing for "Robert" to be called "Rob" or "Bob"?  This is putting increased stress on teachers at a time when we need to be doing everything to take stress away from their lives.  What happens when teachers make a mistake?  Will they be punished for this?  You are pitting teachers against the best interests of children.

You say that you want "parental rights above all else", but what about the rights of loving, accepting parents of trans children?  If a teacher doesn't "feel comfortable" calling them their new, legally documented name, the teacher's rights then trump the parents rights?  You've got to pick a lane and stay in it - this is hypocrisy at its finest.

This is a horrible policy, meant to pander to the religious zealots of your base.  This does NOTHING to protect kids or parents, but will cause more teachers to leave the profession and more kids to attempt suicide and stay closeted.....but again, this might be your aim in the end?


I strongly oppose this! Discrimination is WRONG!!!

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<p>Making discrimination legal is still discrimination! Let the children know you support THEM not the Christian wackadoodles! </p>


Strongly oppose

I strongly oppose the new policies proposed by Governor Youngkin against transgender and non-binary children in school.
These proposed policies will deny dignity and humanity to transgender and non-binary children in school and exacerbate the problems they already struggle with. These kids are already victims of bullying, shunning, and discrimination, and they have inordinately high rates of anxiety, depression, and suicide. Forty to 50% of transgender youth have attempted suicide.
The proposed policies include:Transgender children will not be allowed to use the bathroom of their gender identityTeachers/staff may not call a child by the child's preferred name and pronoun unless there are legal documents providedEven then the staff/teachers do not have to comply if it is against their religionIf a transgender or non-binary child confides in a teacher, the teacher is required to report this to the parents, even if this creates an unsafe environment at home.
I strongly oppose these policies.

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I strongly oppose the new policies proposed by Governor Youngkin against transgender and non-binary children in school.

These proposed policies will deny dignity and humanity to transgender and non-binary children in school and exacerbate the problems they already struggle with. These kids are already victims of bullying, shunning, and discrimination, and they have inordinately high rates of anxiety, depression, and suicide. Forty to 50% of transgender youth have attempted suicide.

The proposed policies include:
Transgender children will not be allowed to use the bathroom of their gender identity
Teachers/staff may not call a child by the child's preferred name and pronoun unless there are legal documents provided
Even then the staff/teachers do not have to comply if it is against their religion
If a transgender or non-binary child confides in a teacher, the teacher is required to report this to the parents, even if this creates an unsafe environment at home.

I strongly oppose these policies.


Oppose and condemn

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<p>I’m writing to express my strong opposition to this bigoted and uninformed guidance regarding the treatment of transgender students in Virginia schools. This population is already vulnerable, and these provisions would further marginalize these students and force them to reveal personal and private aspects of themselves to a wide range of teachers and administrators which seems aimed at punishment/humiliation, rather than the wellbeing of each child. As such, I call for these guidelines to be significantly revised with a child first approach, and/or I hope that local school boards will have the wisdom to reject such guidelines in which our state officials have so shamefully attacked the youth of Virginia. </p>


Attack on transgender kids

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REMOVE YOUNGKIN FROM OFFICE. He has ALREADY done great harm to children!!!


Strongly oppose


Treatment of transgender students

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As a parent, aunt, sister, I strongly and most vehemently oppose this proposed policy.  It is dangerous and presumes that the child has no rights in their well-being.  Not all parents are accepting of their children, they need a place to feel safe, not negated.  This seems to be a political stunt that does not take into account any of the affected persons’ feelings but is geared toward appealing to your political base.  Stop and think with your heart and brain for a moment.  Put yourself in that child’s shoes.


Strongly oppose

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<p>This is not supportive of the health and well being for all children. </p>


Strongly Support


Cruel and Unnecessary

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Governor,

Your proposal is a cruel and unnecessary step. It puts transgender and non-binary children at even greater risk and imposes unnecessary additional pressures on already overworked and underpaid teachers. It should be withdrawn.


Strongly Oppose

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This policy is immoral and unethical.

Not only would it increase suicide rates of vulnerable populations of children, the evidence shows that this does nothing other than cater to the most hateful of populations. This bill targets small, single-digit numbers of children, and tells them that the state wants them not to exist, because of a religion. This is a violation of the First Amendment.

Transgender people are not a danger to anyone; to use an example, 0 transgender people have ever been convicted of indecency in a public bathroom, while 4 republican congressmen have been convicted. By the data, there is no evidence to support Virginia taking this action.

There is no justification for this proposal other than to intentionally harm vulnerable youth. Is that what Governor Youngkin supports? As our state motto goes, Sic semper tyrannis.


These Guidelines are Terrible

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Please consider what you are doing to these kids.  People come first.

This is NOT your job.


Policy


Oppose

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Unconscionable to not support ALL Virginians!  Stop mandating a value system that opposes equal for all!


Strongly oppose this transphobia

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<p>Ashamed that the Commonwealth would even consider something so hateful and transphobic. </p>


Transgender issue

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<p>I fully support support The Governor’s  plan. </p>


Strongly oppose new transgender policies

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I believe this violates federal law based on the Gavin Grimm decision. Moreover, it is simply wrong to force educators into betraying the students they teach. There are parents who will abuse children when they find out their child is transgender, there are others who will throw them out on the streets, and there are children who will attempt to kill themselves or succeed in doing so. Are you willing to have that blood on your hands simply for political gain? Let educators work with these young people without this kind of governmental overreach. This independent, ex-GOP voter is disgusted with the blatant attempts to play into a base that believes in outrageous pedo conspiracy theories--and in the process is willing to truly do harm to children/young people with policies like this. For shame!


Strongly Oppose

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Students learn better when they can be themselves and have trust in the adults around them. This legislation will eliminate that trust and destroy students' ability to feel safe in their learning environment. It will also make it more difficult for teachers to effectively do their jobs.

This is a discriminatory distraction from the work of public education.


Strongly Oppose

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This new policy would tie the hands of teachers in their own classrooms, and force them to choose between their job and empathy for their students. Empathy is severely lacking in the process, approach, and final product in this case - empathy for the child, empathy for the teacher, empathy for the school as a whole, empathy for the parents. Yes, parents should be a part of the conversation around gender transitions, but teachers, counselors and administrators should NOT be forced to support a political policy in DIRECT CONFRONTATION with the perceptions, identities, and aspirations of their students. As with many "culture war" issues, the Republican party has decided to take society backward rather than forward with this policy, in contrast with ALL of modern American history, which has seen a march of expanded civil liberties and increased agency for historically disadvantaged peoples.


Oppose


Transgender is not an "ideological belief"

Stop making life harder for the vulnerable

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I strongly oppose this guidance. It dismisses a person's core identity as an "ideological belief" and make life harder for an entire group of people who are already vulnerable. This protects no one.


STRONGLY OPPOSE

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These new policies create a hostile and harmful learning environment in our Virginia schools. Virginia is supposed to be for lovers, but instead, you're proposing policies that perpetuate hate and WILL negatively impact Virginia's youth. LGBTQ+ students already have high bullying and suicide rates, why would you want to contribute to that??  Encouraging deadnaming?? Prohibiting students from using a bathroom?? Not requiring our Virginian mental health professionals to have the PROPER training and resources needed to create a positive learning environment for our youth?? We should want to create a positive learning environment for our kids. Students should be excited to go to school and be able to build meaningful relationships with their teachers and peers!! These new policies do the EXACT opposite by encouraging and fostering BULLYING. We do not want to look back in a couple of years at the colossal damage these new policies WILL cause with regrets when we can prevent this NOW!


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

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<p>Strongly oppose the proposed changes. </p>


Oppose

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<p>As a school counselor , I see first hand how something small can be impactful on mental health. Students have it hard enough as it is. Don't make it harder. </p>


Fully SUPPORT the changes by the Governor.

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<p>The trans issue is a mental health issue and needs to be treated as such. Schools needs to call children by their biological sex! We can’t normalize insanity! </p>


Vehemently Oppose

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I am a resident of the state of Virginia, in Henrico County. I have one child in Henrico County Public Schools, and will have two starting next year.

I stand strongly in opposition to these proposed changes in 2022 Model Policies on the Privacy, Dignity, and Respect for All Students and Parents in Virginia’s Public Schools.

It is my belief that people should treat others with kindness. Furthermore, if person has a preference in how they’d like to be called, we should respect that. Not all “Stephen”s want to be called “Steve”. Some “Elizabeth”s wish to be “Liz”. Not only is a kindness to refer to someone they way they themselves wish to be spoken to, but it’s just the right thing to do. Moreover, it costs nothing to refer to someone by their preferred nomenclature. This is just as applicable to pronouns as it is to nicknames.

Further still, to cite religious freedom as a justification for these abhorrent policies is offensive to me.

Let me quote a small subsection of the proposed document:

Policies such as compelling others to use preferred pronouns is premised on the ideological belief that gender is a matter of personal choice or subjective experience, not sex. Many Virginians reject this belief.

I do not reject this belief. I stand for it.

Please do not move forward with these policy changes.

Casey Liss

Henrico County, VA


Strongly Opposed Student

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The rights of parents should not come before a kids right to safety. This would no doubt bring harm to the many trans and non-binary students in the school system. All students deserve a safe learning environment.


Strongly oppose

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This policy proposal does not support the worth and identity of all people. In this world of so much pain and hate, this does nothing to improve the lives of kids who are trying to learn who they are. I support trans and non-binary kids. I vote, speak out and today my kids are walking out (middle and high school) to oppose this negative and wrong policy.


Protect Children: Support this Law

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Policies for transgender students implemented in states and school districts across the United States have sought to exclude parents from vital conversations about their child’s education and wellbeing.

Former Governor Ralph Northam’s administration chipped away at the rights of Virginia parents with its 2021 model policies for transgender students. Those policies explicitly stated that school officials were not always required to tell parents about their child’s decision to use a new name and pronouns at school.

I’m writing in support of the Youngkin administration’s new model policies, “On the Privacy, Dignity, and Respect for All Students and Parents In Virginia’s Public Schools,” which enshrine the rights of parents to direct the upbringing of their child while respecting all students across the Commonwealth.

Thank you for your commitment to parents’ rights in education. I urge you to implement the policies as written and restore the right and responsibility of parents to make the best decisions for their child.


Youngkin will be the poster boy of trans suicide rates

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<p>This is an egregious step back from the progress made by the government of Virginia and it's progressive education policies. Children deserve to be nurtured and taken care of, not made to be political pawns to gain voters or momentum for future elections. This policy will only increase the stress, anxiety, and self-contempt of transgender students. The way we improve our society is to embrace all children as they are and create a world filled with people of numerous backgrounds and stories. This proposed policy is the opposite of education, it's a failure to our children. Parents are not professional educators. Parents are fallible. By forcing the school systems to involve parents at every level, you are opening the doors for more abuse, less acceptance, and higher suicide rates of transgender teenagers. I hope this does not pass, but given the state of the current administration, I fear my hopes will be dashed and it will depend on our MASSIVELY UNDERPAID teachers to yet again save the day and protect their students. </p>


Strongly Oppose, dehumanizing and dangerous.

Joanna, teacher, mother, born in Virginia

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Stop singling people out and start supporting them.


Strongly oppose

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<p>Strongly oppose </p>


Strongly support Youngkin's common sense policy

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<p>This law protects both parental rights and the lives of children. It takes maturity and life-experience to make a decision which would irrevocably alter one's life, and a child by definition cannot possess this capacity. Isn't this obvious? Don't we have age restrictions on drinking, driving, etc? Ultimately children are the responsibility of parents, not schools, or government, or any other community group. </p>


Strongly Oppose


Very strongly support

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Parents are first and foremost responsible for their children!


Do not change the policy!!

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<p>Please understand that a change in the policy will result in the death of some very vulnerable kids.  A number of studies are clear on this. Education policy must stick to education issues and stay out of whar is, essentially, students private business. </p>


Fully support/ stop confusing children

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Please protect our children from this lunatic minority.


Oppose: Gender affirmation for trans kids is the gold standard for treatment

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I object to this guidance because, despite claiming to support trans children, it actually potentially exposes them to a hostile school environment and familial abuse.

First, the hostile school environment. Teachers do not have a First Amendment right to address and refer to students however they (the teachers) want to without consequence; they have a professional duty to treat students' gender identities with respect, and if they don't, they should be fired. This would be obvious if we were talking about cisgender children. Suppose a teacher mistakenly thought a cisgender boy was a girl and insisted on calling him a girl's name and referring to him as she—that would be as traumatic for a cis child as for a trans one. Suppose a cisgender child had an embarrassing given name and wanted to use an unrelated nickname at school, but a teacher insisted on the student's "real" (legal) name, as is mandated in these guidelines. These are textbook cases of mistreatment, and if we don't tolerate such treatment of cisgender children, we shouldn't tolerate it with transgender ones either.

Second, familial abuse. This guidance insists that teachers and other staff report information on children's gender identities to their parents. This is a monstrous, wrong-headed directive. A child has a right to explore or assert their gender identity even if, and especially if, their parents are bigots who would abuse them if they found out. (They also have the right to come out to their parents on their own schedule as they choose.) Schools should be safe places for such children. I want to state this unequivocally: Parents do not have the right to know absolutely everything about their children.

In considering this guidance, remember that trans children have an alarmingly high rate of suicide. Gender-affirming care—for example, calling a child by their chosen name and correct pronouns—is a proven and accepted way to decrease trans children's distress and suffering, and to help them thrive. This guidance, if implemented, will not only cause unnecessary suffering, but will kill children. Please don't get blood on Virginia's hands.


Strongly Support this Guidance

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Thank you, Governor Youngkin, for putting into place a common sense guidance for schools in Virginia. This will protect children and leave critical decisions where they belong, with parents.


Strongly oppose this!!!

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Strongly oppose this. Leave LGBQT kids alone!!!


Amputating minor girls' breasts is wrong

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It should be obvious that treating minors with powerful puberty blockers (actually a chemical castration drug, Lupron) and amputating healthy breasts and penises, and sometimes testicles, is wrong in almost all cases, and at the very least is a life-altering decision that requires parental involvement. Yet there are many in the Arlington Public School system who express no concerns about these practices, and instead cheerlead them. There are many in APS who would seek to conceal from parents not only a child's own behavior, but also the advice and actions of adults who seek to influence that child to transition to a different gender. It is one thing to be compassionate to a child who is struggling, and quite another to conceal the actions of adults who are influencing that child. Parents can be trusted to get this issue right. Protect parents' right to know and right to control the life-altering medical decisions of their minor children.


I totally support parental rights

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I totally support parental rights


Oppose

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“All students have the right to attend school in an environment free from discrimination, harassment, or bullying.”

This is discrimination by proxy.

We should be supporting and accepting. This is wrong.


Strongly oppose!!!

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Strongly oppose to the governor’s transgender policy!!


Oppose the proposed changes

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Research shows that children whose gender and sexuality identities are acknowledged and respected have lower rates of depression and suicide than those who are forced to conform. Keeping children alive should be a higher priority than their parents' "values" or beliefs. Additionally, as someone who grew up in an abusive household, school can be a refuge away from home life. Giving parents that much power over their children's education could be detrimental, and students could experience even more anxiety/depression from knowing there is no safe harbor, as well as wind up lacking knowledge in crucial areas.


What is Gender, anyway?

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<p>What exactly is gender anyway? It's a term coined by a pedophile named Dr. John Money who cruelly experimented on children, most especially David Reimer. (Google him). Gender is nothing but stereotypes. There is no reason why men can't wear dresses and makeup or women can't be forklift operators and wear combat boots. Our society imposes stupid restrictions on how people should dress and act and when someone doesn't dress or act in the way society expects them to, we try to label them as transgender or non-binary or gay or lesbian or whatever. Let's just stop putting people into divisive categories. Gender is just an ideology, a concept, a feeling...much like religion. Believe in it or don't, but don't impose those beliefs on other people. Sex is real. Sex is observable. Male/Female or Man/Woman denote sex, while words like feminine/masculine describe gender. Feminine/masculine are descriptive words applied to what society thinks people should look like, act like, etc. Just stop the nonsense. Abolish the very concept of gender and let everyone wear what they like, love who they love and just be who they are. Let kids know it's okay to be lesbian or gay or bisexual (at an appropriate age.) There should be absolutley no discussion of gender in elementary schools. Teach little kids about their bodies...about their physical sex...and let them be comfortable with their bodies and alert to changes in their bodies that occur naturally or might be a sign of something serious. If an adult, after careful consideration with doctors and psychologists, wants to surgically change their body, fine, but do NOT encourage kids to sign up for a lifetime of infertility, pain and cross sex hormones that are NOT reversible and have serious side effects. </p>


My School Will Fall Apart

Anonymous, Appomattox Regional Governor's School

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<p>As a lowball estimate, nearly half of my school's population is some kind of LGBTQ+. We are an art school, so honestly it's to be expected. If this policy was put in place, it would wreak havoc on the structure of our school. Several of the most prominent students of our school have stated that with these policies they would be at risk of being kicked out, disowned, or physically harmed by their families. This policy is not safe and it does NOT protect children. </p>


Read the actual document. You’ll agree.

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<p>This legislation is what education should be. It outlines an approach to education that removes the ideological indoctrination that has become commonplace in education. As a former teacher I applaud bringing parents back into the role of raising their children.  Those that oppose this initiative have not read the actual document and have, instead, allowed their views to be shaped by partisan outlets that have mischaracterized the language and intent.  Shame on Virginians that rely on curated third-party sources for the truth. </p>


WHY should the MAJORITY need to bend to a MINORITY?

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Are not the "Trans" minor students a MINORITY?

Therefore, THEY should follow what the MAJORITY pass as a law.

Just b/c a few folks are "OH-fend-did

WHY DO I HAVE TO CHANGE MY THOUGHs & ACTIONS?


Protect ALL children's rights to be who THEY are. OPPOSE!

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<p>Moving this policy forward directly hurts non binary and trans youth. Please, please don’t support a policy that directly negatively impacts these children. Let them be themselves, and let them be SAFE. </p>


I oppose transphobic policies

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<p>These proposed policies are contrary to state law and will be extremely harmful to transgender and nonbinary kids. Also: keep religion out of schools! These policies are only supported by bigoted, radical, religious nuts who want to push their idealogy onto others. </p>


STRONGLY OPPOSE!

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I strongly oppose these proposed restrictions! Transgender students deserve our respect and support! As a parent, I WANT my child to feel safe and supported at school.


Strongly oppose

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<p>This bigotry has no place in Virginia. Our children deserve better. </p>


Opposition to the culture war

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Every kid in our schools deserves to feel that they are supported and loved. These attacks on LGBTQ students are nothing more than culture war fodder for the Christian fundamentalist crowd. This state needs to focus on properly staffing our schools instead of worrying about the kids attending them that are doing nothing wrong.

With contempt,

Matthew Patterson

Orange County


Opposed to this terrible policy!

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This is hateful and discriminatory.  Why don't parents just let kids be who they want to be?  Teachers are there to help the students talk through their thoughts, especially when the parents are extremely close-minded and full of hate towards things they don't understand.


Strongly Oppose

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This is cruel and you are scapegoating children to your political advantage. Respect trans' kids identities and let them be who they are.


I do not support the proposed changes

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

I do not think a change is needed and I think the proposed change would be harmful to LGBTQ+ students. Parents already have the ability to track their student’s performance by calling the school and scheduling an appointment with teacher or counselor. Parents will be informed if educators and other school staff have reason to believe a child may harm themselves or need additional assistance with schoolwork/classes.

This proposed change only benefits conservative parents who want their child to identify with their assigned gender. Children need a space without this level of supervision to mitigate anxiety and develop their own sense of independence.


Strongly Oppose

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I strongly oppose this proposed policy change!


Strongly oppose the guidance document

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<p>I strongly oppose the proposed policies and believe they will be permanently detrimental to the state of Virginia and its children. We want a state where all people want to raise children who feel safe and supported in all that they do. </p>


Such optimism. Oppose because I'm a realist.

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This policy starts from the principle that all parents have their children's best interests at heart. While I agree with that in principle, I think that the overflowing foster care system and the number of abused children that exist tell us pretty plainly that this is NOT the case.

LGBTQIA+ kids make up a huge percentage of runaways in this country. I'd like to think that having safe adults who respect their identities makes them less likely to just disappear onto the streets. Requiring teachers to make themselves less safe for students by forbidding them to respect their identities seems counterproductive to the goal of respecting students and helping them grow into happy, healthy adults.

Forcing trans kids to stay in the closet longer isn't going to make them any less trans, it's just going to perpetuate the cycle of abuse and harm that we've seen for so long. Allowing trans kids to be who they are isn't going to endanger cis students, or make them any more likely to be trans.

There is no reasonable justification for forcing teachers to perpetuate home-life abuse in schools, which is what the end result of the logic behind this proposal is.

I strongly oppose this policy, and any other that forces teachers to actively disrespect and endanger their students.


In favor, with qualification.

As I read this policy, the major change it makes is to require schools to notify parents if their child wants to use a different name and pronouns at school. That is eminently reasonable. Schools should not be allowing/encouraging kids to keep secrets from their parents based on a fringe belief that all parents are some kind of anti-trans mob. Schools owe a duty to parents and students, not to political activists.That being said, the policy needs to live up to its statements of support for all students including trans students. I do not support requiring trans students to use the bathroom that goes with their biological sex--though again, I did not see such a requirement in the policy.

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As I read this policy, the major change it makes is to require schools to notify parents if their child wants to use a different name and pronouns at school. That is eminently reasonable. Schools should not be allowing/encouraging kids to keep secrets from their parents based on a fringe belief that all parents are some kind of anti-trans mob. Schools owe a duty to parents and students, not to political activists.

That being said, the policy needs to live up to its statements of support for all students including trans students. I do not support requiring trans students to use the bathroom that goes with their biological sex--though again, I did not see such a requirement in the policy.


Strongly oppose, this will endanger children

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


2022 School policy

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I totally support parental rights


Strongly Oppose

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<p>I strongly oppose this cruel policy that targets trans and non-gender conforming students. These young people are already extremely vulnerable to violence and mental health crises. We should be supporting young people, not punishing them because you don’t understand. This is not a phase, this is an important identity shift that should be treated with respect and care. </p>


Strongly Oppose

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<p>As an educator of trans youth, I can tell you that this proposed policy will do severe harm. Allowing trans youth to be their authentic selves does not take any rights away from other students. It actually strengthens the community. Trans youth are a critical population and taking their protections away will absolutely lead to a higher suicide rate. How would you like it if someone used your identity against you? We’re supposed to be protecting youth right? Then why would we take away their protections? </p>


This is Dangerous

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This will endanger the lives of LGBTQ youth. My child changed their name a few years ago and uses they/them pronouns. While we were certainly accepting of it, we never needed to give permission to their teachers. Their teachers respected my child, a high honor student and athlete, enough to know that they knew who they were. This gave my child such confidence, and they are now a well-rounded high school student, with many friends and activities. However, they have friends who also changed pronouns and names who knew they would not not accepted at home. Some even feared what their parents would do if they knew their children were part of the lgbtq community. School is the place that they went where they could be who they were. Teachers and friends calling them their actual name and pronouns allow them to be themselves. Requiring a teenager to have permission from their parents to be called the name they go by is ludicrous. Alerting a parent of this is also dangerous. Outing an LGBTQ youth can put them in emotional and even physical danger, depending on their parents. Additionally, studies such the 2018 study in the Journal of Adolescent Health found that transgender youth who could use accurate names and pronouns experienced 71% fewer symptoms of severe depression, a 34% drop in reported suicidal thoughts and a 65% decrease in suicide attempts. I do not believe Virginians want to institute a policy that could harm its youth. This needs to be stopped


Strongly opposed

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<p>I'm strongly opposed to this, and any other discriminatory legislation. The Governor should be ashamed. Also, I know all of you "support" people like to pretend all of us "oppose" folks are bots or "paid protestors", but we're not. I'm a real, live parent of school aged children in VA who supports equality, not discrimination. </p>


Strongly Support

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I strongly support Governir Youngkin's proposed policy. Children must be guided by their parents!


OPPOSE, Letting kids figure things out about themselves hurts NO ONE

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The idea that it should be up to the parents, school, or anyone but the actual STUDENT is abhorrent. Let kids be called what they want, let them use whatever bathroom they're most comfortable with, and let them experiment. The idea that gender experimentation, or even being transgender hurts anyone, let alone the parent?? Absolutely pathetic.

These policies are going to KILL trans kids. Say what you want, deny it all you want, that is what intrusive policies like these do to kids. It will make them feel more isolated, more shunned, and enable more bullying of them. If you think you're helping these "confused" kids, you're not.

You're killing them.


Strongly Oppose

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<p>This policy will cause harm to an already at risk population of students. This is hateful theatrics. </p>


STRONGLY OPPOSE

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<p>This is a disgusting, cruel and dangerous policy.  Its a political stunt that uses children and hopes to cause them pain and suffering.  Its sick.  </p>
<p>  </p>


Lots of Bot and Out-of-State Comments

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Totally support Gov Younkin.  This crazy woke crap has got to stop.  What the left is doing is child abuse/sexual abuse and they need to be charged and arrested.  Stop this crap now.


Oppose

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<p>This is an inhumane and disgusting way to treat trans youth. Gov. Youngkin should be ashamed of himself for this un-Christian proposal. </p>


Retired senior vehemently opposed

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Parental choice includes the parents who want their children to be recognized as belonging to the gender with which they identify. I believe out is wrong to prevent students from expressing their gender as they choose. This policy is wrongheaded and dangerous to the mental health of children. I oppose out, and I vote, and I campaign, and I speak out.


100% support Parental rights

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<p>I stand behind parental rights. Parents and teachers should help children together and we should promote this effort in everything we do. </p>


Oppose this evil policy

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<p>I strongly oppose this policy, which is being proposed by a craven politician seeking national attention. He does not care that it will hurt kids who are in the process of figuring out who they are. He wants them to suffer unnecessary pain. As a former Virginia public school teacher, i could not be silent. Glenn Youngkin should be ashamed of himself, if he had the capacity for shame. </p>


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Fully support Youngkin and protecting our parental rights!!!


Strongly oppose.


Common sense policy, fully support

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This is a step in the right direction to protect our children and reverse some of the egregious over-reaches of previous Adkins.

Policies for transgender students implemented in states and school districts across the United States have sought to exclude parents from vital conversations about their child’s education and wellbeing.

Former Governor Ralph Northam’s administration chipped away at the rights of Virginia parents with its 2021 model policies for transgender students. Those policies explicitly stated that school officials were not always required to tell parents about their child’s decision to use a new name and pronouns at school.

I’m writing in support of the Youngkin administration’s new model policies, “On the Privacy, Dignity, and Respect for All Students and Parents In Virginia’s Public Schools,” which enshrine the rights of parents to direct the upbringing of their child while respecting all students across the Commonwealth.

Thank you for your commitment to parents’ rights in education. I urge you to implement the policies as written and restore the right and responsibility of parents to make the best decisions for their child.


Oppose

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I oppose this legislation. Youngkin claims to aim to protect all children yet this would single out transgender youth, creating a hostile environment for students who have a right to be their authentic selves.


Strongly oppose

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<p>When I was a teenager, I was one of just a few to be publicly out. I was able to be open with my identity because I had parents who supported me. I had many more friends, however, who did not have that support at home, and so school was one of the few places where they felt safe enough to be themselves. That is, they felt safe right up until one of my friends was outed to her parents by a teacher who felt they "had a right to know." What that teacher didn't take into account was that her parents were abusive fundamentalists who proceeded to beat her, lock her in her room, and refuse her access to phone calls or the internet. Calls to CPS did nothing, appeals to the school did nothing, and so she had to endure the abuse, lie about her identity to appease her parents, and learn that adults were not to be trusted. Surprising absolutely no one, and after surviving multiple suicide attempts, she left the state as soon as she graduated, cut off all contact with her parents, and was no less gay than she would have been if they'd just accepted her. Requiring schools and teachers to deny kids' identities, to out them to their parents, will only result in more of this kind of abuse, isolation, and death among LGBTQ youth. </p>


I strongly oppose the guidance document.

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<p>I strongly oppose the guidance. Stop bullying at risk kids. </p>


Strongly opposed

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<p>Strongly oppose!!! This is shameful and will cause more harm to our vulnerable children! </p>


Support students

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Please support our young people by allowing them to express and live in the manner they must for their well-being.  Teaching respect for all and honoring the power of diversity will bring about a better community, nation, and world for all. Do NOT implement these guidelines!


this bill is terrible

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<p>I very much oppose to this and it will hurt so many people </p>


Strongly opposed

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<p>Strongly opposed and disapprove of this legislation! Trans rights are human rights!!! </p>


Support - schools should not come between parents and their kids

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<p>Schools have no business coming between children and their parents. By not informing parents, schools encourage children to live double lives and it sends the message that they cannot trust that their parents love and care for them. Schools/teachers who see a child for a few hours a day do not know a child like their parents do and do not know what is best for a child mentally or medically. </p>


SUPPORT

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It's refreshing to see level headed governance in this knee jerk world. Children in school are there to learn, they don't need distractions like trying to figure out why the boy in the next seat must be called she and trying to reconcile seeing girls in the boys restroom (or vice versa). People from all walks of life deserve respect, ALL walks of life. That means respecting true and scientific anatomical and grammatical constructs. It's not for schools to guide kids through confusing periods of life, that responsibility belongs to parents. And it's not for some parents to force other parent's kids to be subject to their whims. The policy at hand seems to provide for transgender students to be referred to as they wish as long as they file the appropriate formal paperwork with proper legal authority (parents, 18 years of age, or emancipated minors) thus preventing whimsical flights of students making bigger decisions than they are prepared for. It also ensures proper separation of sexes (bathrooms, locker rooms, athletics, etc), based on anatomy, as is appropriate (deciding one identifies as a girl does not suddenly replace their body, with all the physical attributes of a boy, with those of a girl).

This policy properly accounts for Transgender perspectives without impacting conventional students. We should not be trying to mold the world around a small group of people at the expense of the greater good.


Governors policy proposal on transgender

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Strongly oppose. This is discrimination and horrific.  If we are concerned about our students and citizens, and their mental health, this is one way to keep our suicide rates up.

Stop this policy initiative now


Strongly opposed.

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Support trans-kids and the LGBTQ+ community.

You know who else tried to erase the trans community? The Nazis when they attacked and burned an institute dedicated to the study of the subject in May 1933. Don't be like the Nazis.

Oh, the model is also illegal based on state law.


OPPOSE!

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Targeting children who are already struggling is wrong!  Help them! Off support!

Don’t put teachers in the position of having to tell parents!

stop playing politics with our children!


Strongly oppose

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<p>I strongly oppose because this will harm the targeted students. These young people have a difficult time and are prone to suicide. They need support , not rules that make their lives more difficult. </p>


VA Judge Finds Transgender Teen Guilty of Sexual Assault in Loudoun County High School Girl's Bathro

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Protect our children. One sexual assault is too much. Northam's trans policy is a danger to 99% of kids. Repeal it.


Oppose, treat ALL kids with respect

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Teenagers and tweens deserve some modicum of autonomy from their parents. Being excessively controlling is damaging to this natural period of testing limits, exploring who a kid is independent of their parents. Unless you want kids living with their parents forever and never growing up, you are going to have to accept this natural period of self-exploration and identity formation independent of parents. Just treat these kids with some respect, call them what they ask to be called, this is basic humanity 101. Bullies call kids names they don’t consent to, names they ask not to be called, this policy is bullying and ugly, please grow up and get over whatever moral panic you are having. Maybe get back to the basics, you want kids to treat you with respect? Try showing them some.


completly agree

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I completely support putting parents back in charge of their children. The only rights School boards and teachers have are to educate our children in reading, writing and arithmetic that's what we pay them to do.


Approve of new policy.  Take grooming politics out of classroom and focus on academics!

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<p>This policy is a step in the right direction.  Take grooming politics out of the class room, a focus needs to be refocused on academia. I appreciate Glenn Youngkin in his attempt to fix the wrongs that have occurred throughout our Nation.  </p>


Approve

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Yes to letting parents be the guiding light in THEIR childrens life.
Not random strangers from a government run organization.


Strongly support

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The social contagion and peer pressure around trans issues is intense in Arlington. Teachers and administrators are in two camps: (1) cheerleading transitions by minors (a minority but vocal faction); (2) concerned but terrified of losing their jobs and of being shunned if they share their concerns (the majority but silent).  Female athletes are similarly concerned and are terrified of being shunned and physically attacked (yes, that's happened) by the vocal minority that is aggressively pushing transitions. Female athletes do not believe that male (trans woman) participation in their sports is fair or, often, even safe; if you doubt this, do a truly anonymous poll of the biologically female athletes. At a minimum, it is imperative that parents be informed if their child is being encouraged to transition. Arlington's parents can be trusted to be compassionate and well-informed on the science. We don't ask that the schools be anti-trans; instead, we ask only that they not be anti-parent. Schools should be neutral on these issues and let parents, and the medical providers selected by parents, have the final say on this important issue of child physical and mental health.


STRONGLY OPPOSE - PROTECT OUR KIDS

Raya Rzeszut, Charlottesville mother of a teen

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<p>"Empowering parents" shouldn't come at the expense of the rights of their children to be safe - physically and emotionally.  Transgender children are more likely to be bullied, more likely to become homeless, and more likely to commit suicide. They need the support of their schools, and they deserve to feel welcome and safe there to be exactly who they are, and to identify as the name and gender that they know suits them best. </p>


Strongly, vehemently oppose

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Protect our children. ALL of them!


STRONGLY OPPOSE


OPPOSE

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<p>I strongly oppose this and ANY attempt to discriminate against transgender students. Christofascism is not welcome in this commonwealth or nation. </p>


Oppose

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Don’t tread on trans kids!


Strongly Oppose

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<p>Trans children will be harmed by these new changes. There is no issue right now that is hurting children or disruptive to learning when trans children are addressed using their preferred pronouns or name. There is no harm when children use the bathroom of their choosing. However these policies will create harm when adults are forced to treat trans kids with less dignity than their peers. That is harmful and disruptive. </p>


Anti-trans model policies fly in the face of state law

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The state legislature passed a bill aimed at protecting LGBTQ youth and complying with federal law (as per court precedence) and the state's Virginia Values Act.

This proposal essentially tries to completely reverse the protections and promote discrimination, all under the guise of being model regulations to protect kids.

Please do not do this. It is illegal, it is shameful, and it will put LGBTQ kids at risk.


Public school students

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Our current governor should stop using misinformation to fan the flames of a ridiculous debate. The way to support and protect our young people is to do so without regard to their sexual or gender identity. If you are truly concerned about our young people, institute gun control and devote more resources to mental health services for students. As a recently retired educator, I can also attest to the strain on teachers. What qualified applicants will there be to teach the next generation of children, when teachers are berated, policed, and under compensated? Shame on you, Mr. Youngkin.


Thank you Governor Youngkin!


Strongly oppose

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<p>I strongly oppose any legislation that discriminates against LGBTQIA children . Respect the gender identity of transgender youth, allow them the dignity of being referred to as their chosen name and pronouns, and generally treat all children equally and with dignity in our schools. </p>


STRONGLY OPPOSE

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<p>Trans kids will die. They will harm themselves. They will be traumatized. Please seek out advice from actual medical professionals and therapists instead of making policies which harm our children. I am the mother of a trans teen. I pulled them out of Virginia public schools because of harmful policies. Yet I continue to pay taxes to support the schools. Public schools should be for ALL the kids. </p>


In favor of Governor Youngkin

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I agree with the governor's policy! A parent's job is to guide their children and they know what's best for their children. School administration doesn't get to decide what's best for my child. If trans kids want to play sports, then they need their own team.  They have an unfair advantage for playing on regular sports teams and trans anything needs to be left out of school discussions. Let parents discuss that at home with their children.  Trans kids need to use the bathroom according to their biological gender or use a bathroom only for trans people. Kids are very easily influenced by what they hear and see and I believe there can't possibly be that many kids born the wrong gender. They are letting society influence them when they feel like they don't fit in. Everyone goes thru an awkward phase growing up.