Policy will increase suicide, runaways, and CPS oversight requirements

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There will be so much blood on your hands if you do this. You know how horrific so many parents are in their attempt to "stop" their child from accepting that they're trans. They are beaten. They are thrown out underage. They are raped because the rapist wants to "fix" them. They commit suicide from the horrific abuse they face when their parents believe in this kind of ignorance. You have heard the stories and you KNOW that these things will happen if you report kids who identify as trans to their parents like they committed some crime. You have some audacity trying to frame this as about children's safety when it's clearly about your hatred and nothing else.

This policy will contribute to the youth mental health crisis.

According to NAMI "Transgender youth face further disparities as they are twice as likely to experience depressive symptoms, seriously consider suicide, and attempt suicide compared to cisgender lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer and questioning youth.

Too many parents attempt to "stop" their child from accepting that they're trans. They are beaten. They are thrown out underage. They are raped because the rapist wants to "fix" them. They commit suicide from the horrific abuse they face when their parents believe in this kind of ignorance. You have heard the stories and you KNOW that these things will happen if you report kids who identify as trans to their parents like they committed some crime. You have some audacity trying to frame this as about children's safety when it's clearly about your hatred and nothing else. You know that parents CANNOT be trusted due to the over-worked Child Protective Services department and the youth who run away.

Virginia's behavioral healthcare system is failing all youth.

Moving forward with this policy doesn't make sense.

Some people seem to be of the belief that not respecting students’ stated gender identity will magically make them cisgender. The willingness of transgender people to come out in the face of danger implies that a certain percentage of people will always be trans. These students are already going through hardship because their identity does not match their assigned gender, in addition to the existing struggles of school and any other issues in their lives. The adults who run a school environment have an incredibly significant degree of influence over a child’s wellbeing, and should not participate in actively worsening it.

Since the restroom point is frequently used for scaremongering, I would like to point out that even in non-academic environments, such as stores or restaurants, people pretending to be trans just to go into women’s restrooms is not the widespread issue it’s often made out to be. With the exception of an infinitesimally small percentage of people with serious mental disorders, people do not uproot their entire life and risk societal rejection from their peers just to go into the “wrong” restroom. Furthermore, there are not armed guards outside of bathrooms checking the genitalia of students before they enter restrooms, so this policy isn’t even enforceable, which implies it’s just there to be discriminatory. If a boy—and in this case I mean actually a boy, who identifies as such—wanted to go into the restroom with girls, there’s generally nothing stopping them doing so, other than the fact that children have the capacity to understand when their behavior is right or wrong. Women’s restrooms also have stalls. You’re not looking at anyone, and you would have to crawl under the doors if you wanted to actually see the genitalia of the other people in the restroom. I could have gone to the bathroom with trans girls every day of my school career and I never would have known. The only way this policy would actually be 100% enforceable would be if children were either forced to carry documentation stating their assigned gender that would be checked before entering restrooms, or would have to undergo a physical examination, and both options seem horrifying to me personally. This is not a policy that can be enforced in ways stricter than societal convention already enforces it, so its implementation only serves to point out that the policymakers view trans children as inherently a threat and something that needs to be further alienated.

With two children growing up in the FCPS school system, I am proud that our schools created an environment where we had several out transgender and gender non-conforming students, and I would never wish to see that supportive environment taken away from them. They include one of my children, well liked by teachers and students alike and a valued contributor to the academic discussions and school creative life. Every student should have the right to a safe learning environment, and that cannot exclude students who do not identify with their birth sex. The existence of trans students is not a threat to the safety of other students. A transgender student is still a 5-18 year old who simply wants to complete their education, have friends, and have a future, and they are not some abstract concept of the Other. I’m afraid that many of the people making this decision have never spoken to a trans person, let alone a trans student, because there seems to a lot of fear that only comes from not understanding that a person different from you is just a person trying to live their life.

To put it bluntly, this policy could kill transgender students. Gender diverse children already have a significantly higher rate of mental illness than cisgender children (one study among many: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5914494/), and a suicide rate that is drastically higher when they are in an unaccepting environment versus one with societal support (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32345113/, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30065001/). I would not want to create a less supportive school environment than one that already has these issues. This will negatively impact transgender children, and it will negatively impact the other students who care about their friends and classmates, because there is more empathy among the student body than people may expect, and having .

I urge anyone who cares about the well-being of the students that a school system is meant to nurture and to mold into capable adults to vote against this discriminatory policy. Transgender students simply want to live, receive their government provided and required education, and be in a social environment that is not hostile to them, the same way cisgender students want those things. Every student should be treated with respect, and those who do not believe this shouldn’t be in charge of children’s futures. This policy will end up on the wrong side of history like other discriminatory schooling laws if implemented, and I urge you to push back against it. Give your CPS and Virginia children a break!


These Policies Will Destroy Students' Trust in Teachers

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It has been well established, by now, that students are most able to learn when they can trust that their teachers are able / willing to support them (see: Eccles and Roeser, "Schools as Developmental Contexts During Adolescence," 2011). Students' learning can be actively impaired if they do not have faith in their instructors.

My question, then, is exactly what longitudinal outcome the Department foresees for LGBTQ-identifying students who will no longer be able to trust that their teachers will not forcibly out them to their parents within possibly dangerous home environments. Where should teachers be expected to draw the line when they are required to "...keep parents fully informed about all matters that may be reasonably expected to be important to a parent, including, and without limitation, matters related to their child’s health, and social and psychological development"? Will teachers be asked to report if they witness a student wearing a rainbow pin? Or speaking in support of LGBTQ causes? To what extent will students be required to hide themselves to avoid exposure and risk at home?

The Department claims to be pursuing "....a positive, safe, and nurturing learning environment for all students," but is ignoring the voices of adults who actually were LGBTQ-identifying at one point or another in Virginia's public schools. So many of us have tried to tell the Department that these policies risk the fundamental physical / emotional safety of LGBTQ students within the state of Virginia. Why are our lived experiences of danger and fear deemed less important than this ideological warfare?

The Department claims, also, that a partial justification for these model policies is the principle that, "The First Amendment forbids government actors to require individuals to adhere to or adopt any particular ideological beliefs. Practices 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." However, I ask how the 2022 Model Policies are not, then, themselves requiring individuals to adhere to and adopt particular ideological beliefs--particularly, the ideological belief that gender is a matter of biological sex, as opposed to subjective experience, and that preferred pronouns should therefore be largely ignored.

It seems evident that these policies were not truly drafted with child safety or well-being in mind; Gender-Affirming Care has long served as the recommended course of action for providing for the needs of transgender-identifying youth, but public perception of what this care entails has been endlessly twisted by those with alarmist agendas (AAMC, "What is gender-affirming care? Your questions answered," 2022). As a result of social stigma, "LGBTQ youth are more than four times as likely to attempt suicide than their peers," and Transgender youth are more likely to do so than any other group (The Trevor Project). The Department's policies will only serve to increase this risk as transgender students are forcibly outed to their guardians, and, by proxy, their peers.

I beg you all to reconsider.


The lives of children are more important than your religious beliefs

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For a document so seemingly concerned with making sure children aren't bullied, it sure doesn't seem to care about the abuse that transgender children will get not only from their peers but from their parents if this goes into effect. If you're so blinded by your own religious ideology that you're incapable of respecting literal children, you shouldn't get to make policies because you clearly don't understand the importance of separating church and state. This kind of blatant disrespect and hatred towards queer youth is why they're more susceptible to anxiety, depression, and suicide. Policies like this are killing children, and for what? So adults don't have to be burdened with using a different name or pronouns for a child, or so they can arbitrarily assign children to a bathroom they believe is more fitting for that child to use?

Children are not the playthings of their parents. They are their own people. Yes, they need guidance in life and they need time and experience to figure out who they are and who they want to be. But this is the child's decision. A parent does not get to decide what their child will forever be called and how they will be referred to. Parents claiming that this will benefit "normal" children (which I can only assume means cisgender children or children they believe are cisgender) don't care about children. They care about controlling children. Students who use school as a way to truly express themselves in a way that their abusive parents don't allow are going to suffer because of this policy. The price of this model is the blood of children.

Transgender children don't deserve to suffer because of the contempt from people who are supposed to be helping them. They don't deserve to be abused because grown adults are unwilling to give them the slightest accommodations. They are people and they deserve to be treated with love and respect. Because of that, I firmly oppose this policy.


Strongly Oppose

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These policies will kill children and their blood will be on your hands. Do you think God will forgive you for hurting His most vulnerable children in this way?


Please do not pass this bill

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<p>This is harmful to kids. The suicide rates are going to spike. Parental abuse is going to spike. </p>


Get mental health help if suicidal- but get the hell out of my daughter's locker room.

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Get mental health care if suicidal; but get the hell out of my daughter's locker room.


Please protect trans kids

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Youngkin's new policies are a clear attempt to disrupt and deny the lives of transgender students. Please don't let them happen. Trans kids already face so much scrutiny, they don't need any more hate from their government. If these new policies are put into effect, they will be hurting CHILDREN. Citizens of this state and country. It would be so much easier to simply respect them.


I support this policy to restore right's to women

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Women's rights are human rights


I prefer alive children over dead ones

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this will get transgender students killed. You are going to kill children.


Strongly oppose, this could be a life or death decision for many students in Virginia

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This policy goes against everything mental health and medical professionals recommend regarding the treatment of gender diverse youth.

More than 60% of LGBTQ youth said their home wasn't affirming, the survey found.

45% of LGBTQ youth seriously considered attempting suicide in the past year. Additionally, nearly 1 in 5 transgender and nonbinary youth attempted suicide.

Source: The Trevor Project survey of 33,993 LGBTQ youth ages 13 to 24 living in the United States. Data was collected in an online survey between Sept. 20 and Dec. 31, 2021.


I do not support this or anything that endangers trans lives. Protect trans folk!

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<p>Trans folk already face high suicide and death rates. You should care about protecting vulnerable peoples. That's the right thing to do, and these new laws are an active attack on human rights. </p>


NO more discrimination on females; Support this bill

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<p>Stop discrimination on half of our population. No more males in our bathrooms. USE YOUR OWN! No more males on our sport's teams. </p>


100% Support


2021 Model Policies

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<p>Parents have the right to decide what is best for their child until the age of 18.  Children and school administrators and/or teachers do not have the right to overrule parental wishes with respect to how the child is raised.  </p>


PROTECT TRANS KIDS

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I cannot overstate that what this transphobe is proposing will hurt so many more people than help, but I already know this is the bigot's wish. Kids who are trans are going to turn to self harm, addictions, and suicide when they're not given the tools and support they need to live. Kids learning about and expressing their trans identity is not harmful and its not making more  cis kids be trans- trans kids are trans regardless if they have the right terminology, it's not learned it just is a state of being. But again, bigots who even propose  like this want us to not exist, to disappear, to die. We are not going anywhere and we will continue to fight transphobia!


Strongly oppose

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These policies claim to have the best interest of students and parents in mind, yet they place transgender youth at unnecessary risk. There is a proven correlation between transgender-hostile environments and transgender suicide rates, and I highly doubt that schools have the necessary counseling resources to offset this cost attached to these policies.


This will negatively effect every single child

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This policy will negatively effect every single child will be negatively affected by this policy. You might think that this will protect children but it will not. It will make them afraid, it will make them endangered. They will turn on each other and hurt each other. Protecting children is accepting them.


The updated policies are harmful and will raise public outcry

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The rights of all students, especially transgender students, must be protected. Forcing students to conform to what the administration believes their gender identities should be, rather than what the students know themselves to be, is actively harmful. Students who don't feel that their right to a safe and supportive education environment will drop out of school. Families who oppose this new policy will withdraw their support for the school board representatives, as well as Governor Glenn Youngkin, and their opinions will be reflected in the next election.

Furthermore, forcing students to conform to their gender assigned at birth rather than what they personally identify as will lead to stress and depression and other mental health concerns, which will directly affect academic performance. It will also lead to bullying and harassment, both from the student body and possibly even from faculty members.

Regarding the intent of the policy to inform parents of a student's gender identity if it is known to the administration, this can be especially harmful. A student may identify as a different gender outside of their family for many reasons, but in some cases, they may not feel safe with sharing this information at home. Informing parents of a student's gender identity this way can and will have a direct impact on home life, usually negative. It will lead to stress at home, affecting academic performance. It may also lead to child abuse, running away from home to escape a non-supportive environment and, in extreme cases, suicide.

The school administration, faculty, and school board have a responsibility to provide a safe and respectful environment for education. Adopting a new policy that does not respect the rights of students to express their gender identities as they believe them to be is a gross and utter failure on the part of these governing entities.


Strongly Oppose

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My name is Egon and I have been teaching in the public and private sector for 7 years. Over and over again, I've seen how these types of policies have a negative impact on our most vulnerable students. The sad reality is that transgender and nonbinary youth face an exponentially higher rate of suicide, domestic violence, and homelessness than their peers, and it is policies like those proposed here that force those rates to climb every year. For many of these students, school is the safest place they have to explore their identity, and being forced to out themselves to parents/guardians often results in an unsafe environment at home.

I have seen the effects of these kinds of policies play out firsthand, and as a nonbinary teacher, I am deeply concerned - both for myself and for my students. School should be a safe place for students to explore ALL facets of their growing identities - including their gender and sexual orientation. The continued pathologization of what is a normal adolescent growing process is not based in reality, but in political and religious motivations that should have no bearing on the way we teach our children. These policies are a step backward for Virginia public schools, and I urge our legislators to prioritize child safety above the political and religious agenda of adults.


Strongly Support

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I support this revised policy.


My family supports prohibiting biological males from dominating girl's sports

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Biological males should not be on sport's trams with females. My family supports this bill.


Strongly Oppose

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<p>This new model policy only puts public school employees on edge because they feel it is another way for them to be policed and possibly lose their jobs.  This policy has nothing to do with helping transgender students and their families. It is all about politicians who are attempting to appeal to a specific population to gain votes.  </p>


Bring Florida's bill to Virginia that bans teachers from talking about this nonsense to children.

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Teachers and school boards do not have the right to talk about sexual themes with my children. Period.


Strongly Oppose - Protect And Support Trans Kids!

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<p>Legislature decisions such as this directly attack the happiness, mental health, and general well-being of transgender kids, one of the most vulnerable groups in our school system. Instead of "empowering parents", you are actively threatening the safety of trans youth. If you really "support efforts to protect and encourage respect for all students," then you must focus first and foremost on providing transgender kids a safe and supportive school environment - one where they are entitled to the dignity and privacy of their own identities. </p>


100% Support- Give girl's their rights back

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Girls deserve safe places at school that are off limits from males. They deserve their own sports teams. Stop the discrimination against females.


A Student's Perspective

Before I begin, let me give you a few aspects about myself. I'm a junior in high school and am currently sixteen, turn seventeen this November. Yes, I might be procrastinating on my English homework right now (oops!), but I do have straight A's. I love to read and founded a book club among my friends. I play the clarinet, saxophone, and the piano. (Piano since second grade, clarinet since fifth, and started the saxophone last year!) I'm blessed with loving, supportive parents who are involved in my academic and extracurricular life. But that's enough about me.----Although parents should be involved with their children's school life, because this policy abridges a student's right to privacy and the right to feel safe in school, this policy will promote distrust between a student and their school environment. This policy sends a message. To parents, it might be that you have a right to know what is happening with your child - and you do! But wouldn't it be better if that knowledge was given by your own child? Would you deprive yourself the moment to know, whether or not you agree, that your child trusts you with something so close to their hearts?
But the message this sends to students? School is no longer somewhere safe, no longer a place to explore your budding interests and passions. School is no longer a place where you can safely confide in those around you. If you want the ability to talk with your parents on your own ground, on your own time, and build a healthy, honest trust between them and you? Hide who you are. Yes, parents have a right to know what's happening to their child. But both students and their parents should be able to foster a natural, wholehearted trust between them, created by sharing secrets both big and small on their own terms. But, maybe a child will never feel safe around their parents, however tragic that may be. This is for a reason, whether it was given by society as a whole (the idea that being trans is something to be ashamed of, or something unnatural and wrong - and who would tell a child that they're unnatural?) or something the parents did. Abusive parents are out there. They exist and its a reality that cannot be ignored. Sharing information a student is not ready to give might end in disaster. What if a child is disowned, beaten, ignored or neglected because of this information? It's not as uncommon as one might think. Several of my friends are trans or gay. Many of their parents are unaware - the reason? My friends feel unsafe sharing this part of their identity with them. They know their parents won't support them. Some parents already neglect them, going away for weeks at a time because their child did something they didn't support. Why? Why would you put a child danger, in greater risk? What happens if a student accidentally lets it slip that they're trans to a teacher. What happens if, not being able to bear the thought of their parents looking at them with disappointment or disgust, instead of going home find themselves running away, hitchhiking with some stranger? What happens if that stranger is dangerous, or if the child is never found alive again? What happens if, instead of running away to a stranger, they find themselves at the edge of a bridge?Heed my warning: this policy will end in blood.

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Before I begin, let me give you a few aspects about myself. I'm a junior in high school and am currently sixteen, turn seventeen this November. Yes, I might be procrastinating on my English homework right now (oops!), but I do have straight A's. I love to read and founded a book club among my friends. I play the clarinet, saxophone, and the piano. (Piano since second grade, clarinet since fifth, and started the saxophone last year!) I'm blessed with loving, supportive parents who are involved in my academic and extracurricular life. But that's enough about me.
----

Although parents should be involved with their children's school life, because this policy abridges a student's right to privacy and the right to feel safe in school, this policy will promote distrust between a student and their school environment. This policy sends a message. To parents, it might be that you have a right to know what is happening with your child - and you do! But wouldn't it be better if that knowledge was given by your own child? Would you deprive yourself the moment to know, whether or not you agree, that your child trusts you with something so close to their hearts?

But the message this sends to students? School is no longer somewhere safe, no longer a place to explore your budding interests and passions. School is no longer a place where you can safely confide in those around you. If you want the ability to talk with your parents on your own ground, on your own time, and build a healthy, honest trust between them and you? Hide who you are.

Yes, parents have a right to know what's happening to their child. But both students and their parents should be able to foster a natural, wholehearted trust between them, created by sharing secrets both big and small on their own terms.

But, maybe a child will never feel safe around their parents, however tragic that may be. This is for a reason, whether it was given by society as a whole (the idea that being trans is something to be ashamed of, or something unnatural and wrong - and who would tell a child that they're unnatural?) or something the parents did. Abusive parents are out there. They exist and its a reality that cannot be ignored. Sharing information a student is not ready to give might end in disaster. What if a child is disowned, beaten, ignored or neglected because of this information? It's not as uncommon as one might think. Several of my friends are trans or gay. Many of their parents are unaware - the reason? My friends feel unsafe sharing this part of their identity with them. They know their parents won't support them. Some parents already neglect them, going away for weeks at a time because their child did something they didn't support. Why? Why would you put a child danger, in greater risk? What happens if a student accidentally lets it slip that they're trans to a teacher. What happens if, not being able to bear the thought of their parents looking at them with disappointment or disgust, instead of going home find themselves running away, hitchhiking with some stranger? What happens if that stranger is dangerous, or if the child is never found alive again? What happens if, instead of running away to a stranger, they find themselves at the edge of a bridge?

Heed my warning: this policy will end in blood.


Leave trans kids alone

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Trans kids already have a much harder life than other kids. Leave them alone, leave the policies alone. These kids are already at increased risk of self harm, the state should not add to their suffering.


I strongly opposed this change to the current state guiance.

Transgender and LGBTQ youth need protection, not further stigmatization and isolation.Statistically speaking, the points addressed in the proposed 2022 Model Polices on the Privacy, Dignity, and Respect for all Students and Parents in Virginia’s Public Schools policy are empirically unfounded will lead to the significant harm of transgender and LGBTQ+ youth. These policies seek to undermine previous legislation to create safe and supportive environments for our most vulnerable youth.
Research shows that protective factors in schools, including resources and policies to support LGBTQ+ youth, inclusive curricula, and Gay-Straight Alliances provide measurable health benefits to students (Johns et al., 2019). The proposed guidance detracts from actionable progress toward providing these empirically-proven supports and will inevitably cause further harm to vulnerable LGBTQ+ youth.

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Transgender and LGBTQ youth need protection, not further stigmatization and isolation.
Statistically speaking, the points addressed in the proposed 2022 Model Polices on the Privacy, Dignity, and Respect for all Students and Parents in Virginia’s Public Schools policy are empirically unfounded will lead to the significant harm of transgender and LGBTQ+ youth. These policies seek to undermine previous legislation to create safe and supportive environments for our most vulnerable youth.

Research shows that protective factors in schools, including resources and policies to support LGBTQ+ youth, inclusive curricula, and Gay-Straight Alliances provide measurable health benefits to students (Johns et al., 2019). The proposed guidance detracts from actionable progress toward providing these empirically-proven supports and will inevitably cause further harm to vulnerable LGBTQ+ youth.


Oppose--Strongly Oppose

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I can't even believe that I have to say that I oppose dehumanizing policies like those proposed by Governor Youngkin. This is 2022!!!

Oppose. Oppose. Oppose.


Strongly Agree. We are legal guardians of our children.

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Hello.

Thank you Governor Youngkin.

Parents deserve to know all things related to their children's lives.

Family unit is unbreakable and state does not belong in our families.

Mike


Would you rather a transgender child, or a dead child?

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You may not believe that children in K-12 can be transgender.  You may not believe they are old enough to make that decision.  But your child believes it.  They know it.  So you can ban this in schools all you want.  You can encourage sending a child home with the fear and unknowing of whether or not they'll get the  beat out of them.  But all you're doing is creating a person who is resentful, scared, angry, and despondent.

When your child turns 18, they'll never want to see you again.  They'll hate everyone in their life that made them scared to be who they believed they were.  Parents who believe their children will withdraw their kids from the school system and homeschool them, leaving children who aren't properly educated, socialized, or both.

Not only will this ban increase bullying, but it'll also increase domestic violence, it'll increase mental health problems, it'll increase the rates of substance use and abuse in teenagers in an effort to numb their increasingly terrifying and miserable existence, it'll increase the rates of high school dropouts amongst children who can no longer stand to have people look down on them - the butterfly effect continues.

So believe in transgender people or not, believe in LGBT issues or not, that's not the debate here, its a function of believing in your child and letting them learn to express themselves safely, or risk losing them forever, be it to them not wanting to see you anymore, or death.


Thank you Governor Youngkin!

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What about regular kids?


FULLY SUPPORT! Thank you Governor Youngkin!


A change to the current state policy is NOT NEEDED

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Veiled attempt for ‘restoring parental rights’ when they have not  been ‘revoked’.

Vocal and explicit verbal support  for the mental health needs/advocacy  of students who are encountering bullying and intolerance for their personal struggles with gender identify is what SHOULD be the headline.


STRONGLY APPROVE OF GOV. YOUNGKIN'S POLICY TO RESTORE AND MAINTAIN PARENTAL RIGHTS!

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Parental rights are given by GOD--not the legislators or confused citizens who want to force others to believe this nonsense.  ANY policy which seeks to remove the rights of parents from making important decisions for their children should always be suspect!  Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness... Isaiah 5:20


FULLY SUPPORT! Protect REGULAR kids! Thank you Governor!


Protect REGULAR kids! Fully Support!!!


You people sure don’t care about REGULAR kids! Fully Support!!!


I strongly oppose this

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Your main concern should be the safety of your students. Stop with this nonsense. You're supposed to protect them, not persecute them. Trans students' lives matter. First rule of an educator is to respect and listen to the students under pur care and you're dailing them.


SUPPORT

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<p>Parental consent is very important part of this document. Conversations with your children are very important as well to understand what they are thinking so they do not go down a dark path to self destruction. </p>


STRONGLY OPPOSE

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<p>Allowing this policy to pass through will literally result in children dying. </p>


A Honest Conversation

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Put quite simply, this is a move that has a good majority of America puzzled. Moving forward into the 21st century, we, as a country and a community, have worked hard to reverse the wrongdoings that were put in place by people that lived before us. Discrimination against races, persons of the LGBTQIA+ community, and more has ravaged humanity for as long as we can remember. Even during the beginning of mankind, the seeds were sown of a tragic and devastating future. But, we had hope. This law reverses the hard work we have put into making this an equal world. Isn’t that what we all strive for, what we all honestly want? Tell me, what drove all of our great leaders through such hard times such as the civil rights movement or apartheid? What else made people get out on the streets, to march, to put themselves in the face of danger? I say, equality. And you, Mr. Governor, you are an intelligent man, a man of high standards, a man of great power. You, of all, should know the struggles that this world has faced. Even if you may have never encountered them, my question to you is, how do you not empathize? How do you not put yourself in the shoes of a 15-year-old, working at a gas station, barely scraping together coins to get the next bit of food on their plate because their parents threw them out on the street because they can out to them as trans? How do you not feel the pain of a little boy who is scared to go to school every day because the other kids will punch and kick him for wearing makeup and carrying a purse? How do you not look to the people who you will be affecting and think of all of the changes that will come about if you pass the law? To you, just another day at the office, to them; a whole another life.


School Counselors and Social Workers reject this.

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<p>On behalf of ASCA (American Association of School Counselors) - this is inequitable policy that cannot be allowed to proceed. </p>


Strongly Oppose Regressive Legislation

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<p>This policy will put transgender youth in extreme danger. Transgender youth suicide rates are already incredibly high, this problem will only get wore as students are forcibly outed to their parents (who could possibly abuse them, or kick them out of their homes). Transgender teens deserve the basic respect of being referred to by their preferred names and pronouns. Trans teens are not dangerous. This decisions lacks empathy, and gives in to the sensationalized propaganda about trans people that has no backing in reality. </p>


On behalf of the Hispanic community- We support this policy

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The Hispanic community supports an environment that provides safety in schools. We believe that schools are a place of learning; not a place for indoctrination. We believe that children should play on the sports teams of their biological sex. Thank you Governor.


100% Support 2022 policy

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Yes to parenting and yes to normalcy in our schools! The 2022 policy returns both to our family and community.


sad to see you hate kids

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this will put children at risk and make them a target for bullying. if this goes through, you will have blood on your hands.


Thank you governor for restoring normalcy to our schools

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It is a start but needs to go further. Thank you.


OPPOSE

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Imagine you are a 14 year old boy. Then imagine the school is forcing you to use the women's restroom because you "don't seem like a boy." That is what this policy is. Even flipped around. It's just horrible how some people treat their own kind. Humans. Trans/Nonbinary people are humans too.


Support policy to remove males from female bathrooms, locker rooms, and shower facilities

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It's a sad state of our society when you have to fight liberals to protect our daughter's right to change without males being in their locker rooms. They have completely lost touch with reality.


Protect Emotionally Vulnerable Children and Parental Rights!

Dear Virginia Dept of Education,

Schools should never secretly socially transition students and keep the child's new name, pronouns and gender identities from parents. I am pleased and relieved that the Virginia Department of Education's revised model policies support parental rights and ensure that school employees don't cut parents out of critical decisions for their children.

The Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) issued "model policies" in 2021 that encouraged every school district in Virginia to hide a child's new gender identity from parents who choose to affirm the child's biological sex. Under Governor Youngkin's leadership, the VDOE's revised policies make it clear that all children should be valued and parents' rights and beliefs should be respected. The 2022 Model Policies on the Privacy, Dignity, and Respect for all Students and Parents in Virginia's Public Schools keep parents involved in major decisions in their children's lives.

The 2021 VDOE "model policies" encouraged schools to create "a plan (that) may include addressing the student at school with their name and pronoun consistent with their gender identity while using the legal name and pronoun associated with the sex assigned at birth when communicating with parents or guardians."

I strongly support the revised policies that end this practice. Virginia schools should not drive a wedge between parents and their emotionally vulnerable children. Virginia school districts, including those who have already communicated their plans to ignore the 2022 revised model policies, should put an end to secret Gender Support Plans now.

Sincerely,
Richard Jones
PO Box 5772
Springfield, VA 22150

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Dear Virginia Dept of Education,<br /><br />Schools should never secretly socially transition students and keep the child's new name, pronouns and gender identities from parents. I am pleased and relieved that the Virginia Department of Education's revised model policies support parental rights and ensure that school employees don't cut parents out of critical decisions for their children. <br /><br />The Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) issued "model policies" in 2021 that encouraged every school district in Virginia to hide a child's new gender identity from parents who choose to affirm the child's biological sex. Under Governor Youngkin's leadership, the VDOE's revised policies make it clear that all children should be valued and parents' rights and beliefs should be respected. The 2022 Model Policies on the Privacy, Dignity, and Respect for all Students and Parents in Virginia's Public Schools keep parents involved in major decisions in their children's lives.<br /><br />The 2021 VDOE "model policies" encouraged schools to create "a plan (that) may include addressing the student at school with their name and pronoun consistent with their gender identity while using the legal name and pronoun associated with the sex assigned at birth when communicating with parents or guardians." <br /><br />I strongly support the revised policies that end this practice. Virginia schools should not drive a wedge between parents and their emotionally vulnerable children. Virginia school districts, including those who have already communicated their plans to ignore the 2022 revised model policies, should put an end to secret Gender Support Plans now.<br /><br />Sincerely,
<br />Richard Jones
<br />PO Box 5772<br />Springfield, VA 22150<br /><img src="http://admin.phone2action.com/email/open/leg/657523/148233087" width="1" height="1" />


STRONLY OPPOSSED

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<p>How is putting the lives of trans children in danger helping them?  This is bigoted and disgusting legislature and you should be ashamed for even putting it down on paper.   </p>


Strongly Oppose

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This is going to do more harm than good, youre killing kids with this.


regarding laws against transgender students

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the only thing that can come from this is domestic abuse and bullying. STRONGLY OPPOSE


This is not normal

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I do not know how to describe that school’s demanding knowledge and compliance of children to conform to their genitalia is not normal. It is not normal for school administrators to demand this information be something that students conform to. It is a flagrant violation of children privacy, which under the constitution, is their fundamental right. Our children deserve the respect of their teachers, their school admin, and their community; if we say they do not, then how can we call ourselves decent people? If we cannot show respect to CHILDREN, than how can we be called decent people? It is no one’s business but the students. Re-examining one’s relationship to the societal expectations and nuances of gender is entirely normal and healthy, but it is also terrifying and we should be there to comfort and guide our kids through those thoughts. Who can they trust if not us?


This policy will kill kids there’s no way around that. Do Not Support

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This new policy is a direct attack on any transgender or questioning kids that’s it. Telling a parent that their kid is questioning could get them killed straight up. Being forced into these situations by close minded, transphobic people directly effects the mental health of questioning students. Does Virginia want its kids to commit suicide? Does it want them to harm themselves or get harmed by their parents? If not then this policy better be taken out. This WILL cause unbelievable harm on every kid. Don’t support this horrible policy that will kill children.


I oppose this strongly

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This will lead to abuse of children by their families


Trans Kids Deserve Better

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As a transgender adult who was lucky enough to have a supportive family and go to a supportive school when I came out at 16, I am greatly disturbed by this policy and disappointed to call Virginia my home right now.

None of you know what it is like to be a transgender teenager. It is hard enough as it is with support. We know that there is a direct correlation between community support and its impact on the mental health of transgender children. If this policy becomes reality, you will see a direct increase in suicide amongst transgender students. This is not an issue of personal opinion or politics, this is an issue of life or death. Trans people are nothing to be afraid of, I promise you that all these kids want is to feel loved and supported by their peers; just like any other kid would.

If you’re looking for suggestions for supportive school policies for LGBT students, I suggest looking at GLSEN’s website. They have some really great guides. There, you will also see studies that back up the claims I made about transgender suicide and mental health.

Don’t be on the wrong side of history. If you support this policy, I hope that you can find it in your heart to set aside your personal politics for the safety and well-being of these kids. They deserve to feel loved, supported, and treated like human beings, just like you or I.


This will increase domestic violence

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The vulnerable in this case are gender-nonconforming kids who know that their parents are abusive and that any hint of their gender nonconformity will set off a violent episode, but have gotten the mistaken notion from the internet that it's safe to be out at school.


STRONGLY SUPPORT

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Thank you Governor Youngkin for standing up for parents & children.


I oppose this policy

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As a public health professional, this will cause deaths. Children deserve compassion and understanding, not punishment for who they are


Oppose 2022 Model Policies on the grounds of student health and building towards a better society

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To the Virginia Department of Education and Governor Glenn Youngkin:

As a Virginia resident since 2002 and a graduate of Virginia secondary and higher education, I strongly oppose the 2022 Model Policies. Students learn best when they worry least. We owe it to Virginia’s students to give them the peace of mind that they will be respected for who they are and safe within their schools’ walls. Respecting students’ gender identities is a matter of life and death for some children, and a matter of key importance to mental health for all children. We also do better and grow better as a society when we teach and model inclusiveness. For children who are not trans or non-binary, learning more about their trans and non-binary peers, and learning to include them and respect them as the equal human beings they are is an extension of those invaluable lessons of inclusion and respect taught in classrooms everywhere.

Parents (and I write as an involved stepparent) certainly have and need much agency over their childrens’ lives and choices. However, many situations exist where children are permitted to make choices, or receive services, outside of the domain of parental control. This, too, is part of helping young people to grow up healthy, supported, and able to make independent choices for themselves as they come ever closer to adulthood. Examples include: mental health and counseling services, accelerated or additional academic services, food choices in the lunch line, class choice at the middle- and high-school levels, and others. Our schools can be that safe harbor for children who are not or cannot receive affirmation of their whole selves - gender included - at home or elsewhere in their communities. While it’s not my main argument here, I will also add that the reference to the 14th Amendment rights of parents (to the exclusion of the rights of students, educators, and health professionals) is a revisionist interpretation of the Constitution if I’ve ever seen one…

Governor Youngkin and VDOE, I beg you to reconsider this proposed policy and the spirit and legal grounds behind it. Move Virginia forward into the coming years of change and greater openness. Lean into the principles and policies that help each of our young people to emerge from our schools stronger, more confident, and more whole. Prepare them for the future they will enter, a future that is really here already. A present and future where the vast majority of our corporations and institutions encourage people to bring their whole selves to work - and each person to respect the identities of others. A present and future where in respect, understanding, and inclusion we and our societies can thrive and better weather whatever storms may come.


Research

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Where is the research on this? If we don't know the long term problems associated with this then why would the schools use it? ALL surgeries and dispensing of drugs must end until we know the consequences of this new practice.


Firmly Reject!

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<p>I firmly reject the 2022 Model Policies document. Parents have the right to parent/raise their children, yes, but children are autonomous beings that have the human right to be who they want to be. Removing supports for transgender students in schools when they already may not receive support from their parents at home is dangerous!!! The governor and these proposed policies are putting students' livelihood and their lives at extreme risk. The data is clear and evident that transgender and other gender diverse students are more likely to attempt suicide. This document states under Model Policies D 1. "Every effort should be made to ensure that a transgender student wishing to change his or her means of address is treated with respect, compassion, and dignity in the classroom and school environment." If this is the case, the policies that follow this are all in contradiction to this statement. If we believe transgender students should be treated with dignity, respect, and compassion, then, we must also believe they should be called by their preferred names and preferred pronouns should be used. They should be able to use the bathroom they feel most comfortable in and play on sports teams in which they feel comfortable as well. That is what dignity, compassion, and respect looks like, not deliberately ignoring and disregarding the students' wishes for how they want to be treated. </p>


Parental Rights Restored

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<p>I agree and support the govenor in updating these policies to restore protections for basic parental rights and ensuring that parents are no longer cut out of the process—especially when it concerns how gender and sexuality issues are handled with our kids at school. </p>


Support removal of grooming from teachers and school boards

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<p>We send our children to school to learn from their teachers not to think like them. </p>


Strongly Support Parental Rights

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We must remove the grooming of our students by woke teachers.  This is a good start in the right direction.


support parental rights

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Thank you governor Youngkin for removing the power from the teacher's unions and giving it back to the parents where it belongs.


Oppose

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All peoples need to be respected and cared for -- its especially true in Schools.  Very difficult, but needed.  All does mean All.  Some hard decisions will need to happen, but kids need to feel safe.


Attention seeking parents promoting this nonsense on their kids is sickening.

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Just imagine the day when you can come out as a trans parent to your liberal facebook friends. What a day that will be!.  I feel so bad for your kids!


A violation of human rights

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<p>This is nothing short of an encouragement to bullying. Any hate crimes committed if this policy is implemented can be laid at the door of this policy.  </p>


Mental health of students my main concern

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As a proud parent of a transgender female, I can speak with experience about the mental health of trans individuals.  By reversing the policies regarding trans youth that were in place in Virginia, Youngkin's administration is putting the mental health of these students in jeopardy.  Before my daughter came out as trans she contemplated suicide several times and experienced high levels of depression and anxiety.  Since coming out as trans she is so happy, gainfully employed and living a life full of friends.  We support her because we have her with us today.  The other option is hard to contemplate (suicide).

Wouldn't it be wonderful if all the trans youth had parents and family who support them and love them as trans?  I know there are students in our southside Virginia community today who have parents who do not support their children's gender identity.  One father refuses to acknowledge the student's gender identity. That has a huge impact on that individual's mental health.  Just awful!

I heard the governor say he wants families to have conversations together and make decisions together.  That is the problem....there are parents who don't support trans youth and make decisions for their children; not with their children.

People talk about trans kids using the bathroom of their birth identity and keeping trans kids out of the bathroom their daughters use.  My trans daughter doesn't want to hurt anyone any more than Governor Youngkin wants to.  My daughter just wants to live her life without being told which bathroom she can/can't use.  She just wants to walk down the sidewalk without having people throw things at her.  She just wants to eat at restaurants without being asked to leave.  She just wants to live her life.

Please support these trans youth so they can live their lives the way they feel comfortable.....not the way their parent's feel comfortable.


100% SUPPORT!

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<p> I support the proposal.</p>


Support for Youngkin's changes

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<p>Please keep the focus of schools on the academics. Parents MUST be involved in everything that the school is doing as a team effort in providing the best education possible. The school system should not be tasked with teaching social/ cultural issues and is not capable of sucessfully handling all that is asked of it/ them. Stick with academics! Resist being dragged into culture war and social issues. </p>


STRONGLY SUPPORT THIS COMMON SENSE POLICY

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FCPS ALUMNUS - STRONGLY SUPPORT


Protect children and parental rights

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The new policies honor the sacred role of parents in the care of their children during school, athletics and other activities.

Parents know their children’s needs better than anyone. If children are struggling with gender dysphoria, they need guidance and emotional support from parents. Under the new policies, school officials must keep parents fully informed, and require schools to enforce laws, regulations and policies that prohibit and deter bullying or harassment.

Student participation in sex-specific athletics, school activities and events should be determined by sex, e.g., for overnight travel accommodations and locker rooms.

Students should use the bathrooms that correspond to their sex. Single-user bathrooms and facilities should be made available in accessible areas and provided with appropriate signage, indicating accessibility for all students.

The new policies protect the fundamental religious liberty interests of personnel and students.


Parental Rights

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<p>I am in full support of Governor Youngkin’s revisions to the transgender policies.  Lying to our kids and allowing them to lie to themselves is not healthy behavior.  We should be teaching them confidence in who they are instead of who they are not.  It is not safe for any of our children to have a disregard for the truth.  </p>


Do not support this.

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Doesn't the school board have better things to do with its time/money than torment a minority group? I thought we had a zero tolerance policy on bullying. Why is the school board modeling something we're trying to discourage?

Parents, this will not keep your girls safe. My daughter was confronted by a full grown man on a school bathroom last year (she got away safe). Men and boys who want to assault kids will find a way to do it without playing dress up. Do what's actually right for our kids' safety, not these smokescreen hateful policies.


I fully oppose this violation of human rights

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This will put children in danger if implemented


Y'all just want kids to die.

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It's so funny how I see news articles of parents killing their LGBT children and then governors want to pass laws like this. Child murderers the lot of you.


I strongly oppose this policy

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<p>As someone who works in a public school system, I feel that this policy will negatively impact the safety and physical/mental wellbeing of students. </p>


Focus on academics

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Keep Virginia traditional and focus on failing academics. Parents MUST be involved in the education (and social development) of our children. If a confused child chooses to go outside the main stream, they do not have the expectation that the entire system will be upended to accomodate them. XX or XY. That's it! Keep boys out of my daughters bathroom/ locker room!


Opposed. This policy is a violence towards our children.

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I'm a mental health professional and policy advocate working in SW Virginia.

Spaces in which one's existence is not recognized is a form of erasure. Erasure is a form of violence. Further, spaces that are hostile towards or directly deny one's existence are spaces of violence and create a culture of violence.

This policy will make our schools unsafe for all children. Schools have already become spaces where students feel unsafe from the threat of gun violence. While the rhetoric around bathroom use has often been framed around safety, there is robust research that finds that trans youth are at a higher risk of sexual assault when they are forced to use restrooms that do not correspond to their gender. Indeed, 1 in 2 trans individuals will experience sexual abuse or assault in their lifetime. This policy will increase that number for Virginians.

This lack of safety is not merely limited to restrooms. This policy will embolden violence against our children, both in the classroom and in the home, by creating a system that coherses "outing" them at the expense of their autonomy and their well-being. It will strengthen a bureaucratic system in our schools that will see teachers and staff forced to put their students, their colleagues, and indeed themselves at risk of reprimand. It will incentivize lying and deception; vilification and exploitation. It will reward violence.

This policy betrays both the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution as well as well as Section 12 of Virginia's Bill of Rights, namely the right to free speech, in so far as it censors teachers from using students' pronouns. It erases the use of "they/them" all together. Further, it betrays Article 3 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

For those wishing to sign on to this policy, you are risking the lives of Virginians and children all across the Commonwealth. Suicide is now the 2nd leading cause of death among people ages 10-24. LGBTQI* youth are 4x as likely to attempt suicide than their peers. Having a loved one who died by suicide increases the likelihood of attempting suicide by 65% than if the loved ones died by natural causes.

The average life expectancy of a trans person is as much as half of that of the general population in the U.S. But I know that these statistics are not enough. They do not rouse the emotions necessary for the severity of this moment. Often, they distance us from them.

So instead, I ask you to think about your own children. Your grandchildren. Great-grandchildren. Right now, some of them, have yet to come out to you. Maybe even to themselves. In supporting this policy, you place their lives imminently at risk. Indeed, in supporting this policy, you deny that they even exist.


I oppose this policy

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<p>I strongly oppose this policy. You claim it is not meant to be discriminatory yet it limits transgender kids rights. Many of them live in unsafe homes and this policy endangers them. It gives parents the power to hide their abuse. You are giving uneducated parents the ability to make detrimental decisions for their child. Children are required by law to go to school, they deserve to feel safe in a place that they are required to be. If parents don’t like how the schools are being run they can homeschool their kids. Many children I know are suicidal and this policy will be the tipping point. Many parents are using religion to back this policy  however the constitution prevents people from forcing their religious beliefs on others. Do not let kids suffer because of uneducated parents. Many parents supporting this policy aren’t taking into account other children's situations. If children aren’t opening up to their parent than that is most likely the parents fault. </p>


Good job Youngkin

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<p>It seems kind of crazy to overturn the entire system to accomodate just a few, confused students. Parents rights shall not be infringed!!! Children should be protected and the parents are the protectors. Stick with teaching the three R's and leave the culture war out of the school. </p>


OPPOSE this harmful policy

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The people saying this policy is meant to "protect children" have been mislead by this administration. This policy is designed to hurt people; that is its only purpose. Queer youth are already 4 times more likely to commit suicide than their straight peers--why would our government enact a policy that could increase that rate? Why can't the Republican Party mind their own business? I've never seen so many people obsessed with what people are doing in their bedrooms and with their bodies. To the point where they would rather see young people harmed--by their own hand, or the hands of their families when they're outed by school officials--or worse, dead, than let these young people live their lives without fear.

Governor Youngkin ran on a platform of "parental choice." Well I'm a parent with a child in Virginia schools and my choice is to keep the Governor out of the bedrooms of my child and other children. Why are you obsessed with the sexuality of children, Governor? Why do you think it is appropriate to put teachers in the position of outing students to their parents? You think teachers can't be trusted to the point where you opened a tip line to report teachers' behavior; how are they suddenly "trustworthy" enough to tell a parent if their child is queer? You know this policy is nothing but pandering to your bigoted, ignorant base. I'd say "shame on you," but we all know you have no shame.


Transgender policy

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What a horrible decision. This policy will result in children being abused both in school and at home by their parents. A child's gender identity is their own business, especially when their parents knowing about it could put them at risk. Everybody deserves to have their privacy and identity respected as long as they are not endangering anybody else, which transgender children clearly are not. In fact they are at a much higher risk of being abused and bullied in comparison to their cisgender peers. Please reconsider this policy to make school a safe and welcoming place to all children, including transgender ones.


STRONGLY OPPOSED

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<p>Bad for kids. Bad for schools. Bad for families. And also unconstitutional. </p>


Pushing this policy shows you don't value trans kid's safety

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There will be so much blood on your hands if you do this. You know how horrific so many parents are in their attempt to "stop" their child from accepting that they're trans. They are beaten. They are thrown out underage. They are raped because the rapist wants to "fix" them. They commit suicide from the horrific abuse they face when their parents believe in this kind of ignorance. You have heard the stories and you KNOW that these things will happen if you report kids who identify as trans to their parents like they committed some crime. You have some audacity trying to frame this as about children's safety when it's clearly about your hatred and nothing else. If you have any decency left in you after even considering doing something so cruel, you need to reverse this decision. Absolutely despicable disregard for the safety of children.


Support for Youngkin- Parents rights are paramount!

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<p>Please stay tough and support traditional family values! Remove the radical ideology and focus on teaching academics in schools! </p>


Completely support

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<p>I strongly support ALL of the changes </p>


Govenor's policy will kill children

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The govenor's policies will lead to children dying. Children will die from suicide. Children will be murdered by their parents if they are outed by school administrators. Children will be forced to run away from home and become homeless to remain safe from abusive parents. Children will endure child abuse at conversion camps and in conversion therapy, leading to more suicide. If you want children happy, healthy, and alive, you will NOT support this policy.


Trans Gender Policy

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I fully support Gov. Younkin's common sense changes to the previous model policy! Thank God for common sense from this Governor. Parents rights in schools are of paramount importance! We must protect our students from physical harm as well as the mental anguish of an environment where the minority view has all the rights and the traditional is discouraged. The loudest voice isn't always the right voice.

Youngkin/ Sears, keep up the great work in keeping Virginia strong! Thank you.


Fully support Governor!  ONLY Biological gender for bathroom and sports!

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<p>No more leftist craziness - protect our girls!  </p>


Fully support! ONLY Biological gender for bathroom and sports!


Fully support! Biological gender (MALE) for bathroom and sports!


100% Support

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This policy is greatly needed.


If you stand up to pee, get out of my daughter's bathroom

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You don't need a degree in gender studies to understand who should be allowed in girls bathrooms. My 6th grade girl doesn't need teachers allowing boys into her bathroom. Keep that nonsense at their own homes. Don't bring it into mine.


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Strongly Support 2022 Policy - Teach Reading, Writing, Arithmetic & Science NOT Social Issues


TERRIBLE POLICY

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<p>Stop abusing children just to uphold your hateful ideology </p>


Students are already in a mental health crisis

Jennifer Spangler, mental health self-advocate

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This policy will contribute to the youth mental health crisis.

According to NAMI "Transgender youth face further disparities as they are twice as likely to experience depressive symptoms, seriously consider suicide, and attempt suicide compared to cisgender lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer and questioning youth.

Virginia's behavioral healthcare system is failing all youth.

Moving forward with this policy doesn't make sense.


OPPOSE THIS POLICY

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This policy systematically forces children to be outed to parents regardless of if that parent will react well to the news. This will put children’s lives in danger. Oppose these policy changes.


Support policy


Bad Policy

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This isn't going to do anything other than harm ALL the children in our schools. You're not making kids less likely to be trans, nor are you "protecting" your cis children.


Cruelty Against Children

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If enacted, forcing schools to get involved with the private lives of children would only endanger and hurt both children and teachers. Outing children to possibly violent parents will not help them learn better, and frankly if there is no positive learning outcome to be gained then lawmakers should not force schools to get involved. Furthermore, forcing a teacher to choose between protecting a student and their livelihood is cruel and morally reprehensible. When I was in high school, I had a friend whose parent threatened to beat anyone who was part of the LGBTQ+ community to death with a baseball bat who even came near their child. Do you think that if my friend had been outed to that parent that their parent would have hesitated to enact violence on my friend? How would this have made my friend a happier, healthier child or contributed positively to their learning environment in any way? I ask for lawmakers to understand that trans children will always exist, and that they cannot be erased by laws, only hurt by them. Please make the right decision and protect innocent children.


The 2022 policy is excellent.  The 2021 version was as deluded as the Salem Witch Trials

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The 2022 model policy is a vast improvement over the 2021 policy.  The new policy protects ALL children and encourages school staff to work with parents in a complementary manner.  The old 2021 policy incorrectly interpreted the 1st Amendment, 14th Amendment, HIPAA and FERPA to force school staff to lie to parents about gender identity.

For example, the 2021 policy stated "First Amendment: The First Amendment protects freedom of speech and expression. Schools may not prevent students from expressing their identity. "    Note that the 2021 policy omitted that all students, staff and parents have a right to freedom of speech, and to exercise their religion and it falsely added "expression".

Virtually all of the studies cited in the 2021 policy were less than ten years old, and many were from non-objective institutes. They were really one-sided studies for the current trendy fad.

Second, when democratic congresswoman Patsy Mink championed the passage of Title IX sexual fairness for female students in the 1970's, she didn't intend that her law would be interpreted so that teenage girls would have to be in a locker room with a confused teenage boy.

I request that the current excellent policy reference additional studies, covering the past 50 years showing the pros and cons of gender dysphoria and Title IX.


Strongly Support this policy

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All kids have the right to privacy and safety. Allow them to grow up without being groomed by the staff.


Strongly Support Gov Youngkin's efforts to codify the rights of Parents to parent their Children

I completely support the 2022 guidelines.  While there are many many incredible teachers, principals and administrators in the school who cared for mine and care very much for the children in their schools, the responsibility must ultimately reside with the Parents for decisions regarding education, Sexual education, gender v sexual confusion and other highly sensitive topics addressed by the guidelines.  We should never give that authority over to a school system, to work directly with our children on these sensitive topics without explicit requirement for parental inclusion and approval of any steps taken.  The guidelines put forth by Governor Youngkin are a model that other states should use.

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I completely support the 2022 guidelines.  While there are many many incredible teachers, principals and administrators in the school who cared for mine and care very much for the children in their schools, the responsibility must ultimately reside with the Parents for decisions regarding education, Sexual education, gender v sexual confusion and other highly sensitive topics addressed by the guidelines.  We should never give that authority over to a school system, to work directly with our children on these sensitive topics without explicit requirement for parental inclusion and approval of any steps taken.  The guidelines put forth by Governor Youngkin ar<img src="data:image/gif;base64,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"/>e a model that other states should use.


Boys should not play on girl's sports teams; And no it isn't their "right"

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Trans rights don't mean doing whatever they want at everyone else's peril. Girls have rights too.


OPPOSE this bigoted policy

Going after the rights of children that already face the hardship of being transgender/nonbinary in this world is outright bullying.  Picking on children?  Really.  This policy will create a hostile environment for those children and others that care for them and stand up for their rights to be themselves.This policy is cruel and unusual, created simply as a culture war and dog whistle by the governor.  LGBTQIA+ students deserve the support of their schools, which may be one of their few safe spaces.  Whether you want to admit trans children exist or not, it is not an opinion.  It is fact.  And it is also fact that implementing policies such as this one is going to hurt students, not help them.  This is why it's important to get out and VOTE, people!  Because many chose to sit this past election out, this is the types of bigoted and short-sighted policies we have to endure.

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Going after the rights of children that already face the hardship of being transgender/nonbinary in this world is outright bullying.  Picking on children?  Really.  This policy will create a hostile environment for those children and others that care for them and stand up for their rights to be themselves.

This policy is cruel and unusual, created simply as a culture war and dog whistle by the governor.  LGBTQIA+ students deserve the support of their schools, which may be one of their few safe spaces.  Whether you want to admit trans children exist or not, it is not an opinion.  It is fact.  And it is also fact that implementing policies such as this one is going to hurt students, not help them.  This is why it's important to get out and VOTE, people!  Because many chose to sit this past election out, this is the types of bigoted and short-sighted policies we have to endure.


Common sense policy to protect girls at school

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I agree with this policy.


You won’t prevent transgender students from being trans, you will just prevent them from being safe

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Although they may not say it directly, some people seem to be of the belief that not respecting students’ stated gender identity will magically make them cisgender. The willingness of transgender people to come out in the face of danger implies that a certain percentage of people will always be trans. These students are already going through hardship because their identity does not match their assigned gender, in addition to the existing struggles of school and any other issues in their lives. The adults who run a school environment have an incredibly significant degree of influence over a child’s wellbeing, and should not participate in actively worsening it.

Since the restroom point is frequently used for scaremongering, I would like to point out that even in non-academic environments, such as stores or restaurants, people pretending to be trans just to go into women’s restrooms is not the widespread issue it’s often made out to be. With the exception of an infinitesimally small percentage of people with serious mental disorders, people do not uproot their entire life and risk societal rejection from their peers just to go into the “wrong” restroom. Furthermore, there are not armed guards outside of bathrooms checking the genitalia of students before they enter restrooms, so this policy isn’t even enforceable, which implies it’s just there to be discriminatory. If a boy—and in this case I mean actually a boy, who identifies as such—wanted to go into the restroom with girls, there’s generally nothing stopping them doing so, other than the fact that children have the capacity to understand when their behavior is right or wrong. Women’s restrooms also have stalls. You’re not looking at anyone, and you would have to crawl under the doors if you wanted to actually see the genitalia of the other people in the restroom. I could have gone to the bathroom with trans girls every day of my school career and I never would have known. The only way this policy would actually be 100% enforceable would be if children were either forced to carry documentation stating their assigned gender that would be checked before entering restrooms, or would have to undergo a physical examination, and both options seem horrifying to me personally. This is not a policy that can be enforced in ways stricter than societal convention already enforces it, so its implementation only serves to point out that the policymakers view trans children as inherently a threat and something that needs to be further alienated.

Growing up in the FCPS school system, I was proud that my school created an environment where we had several out transgender students, and I would never wish to see that supportive environment taken away from them. They were my classmates who I was friends with, who I worked on group projects with, who had valuable inputs to class discussions and were inherently valuable by virtue of existing as people. Every student should have the right to a safe learning environment, and that cannot exclude students who do not identify with their birth sex. The existence of trans students is not a threat to the safety of other students. A transgender student is still a 5-18 year old who simply wants to complete their education, have friends, and have a future, and they are not some abstract concept of the Other. I’m afraid that many of the people making this decision have never spoken to a trans person, let alone a trans student, because there seems to a lot of fear that only comes from not understanding that a person different from you is just a person trying to live their life.

To put it bluntly, this policy could kill transgender students. Gender diverse children already have a significantly higher rate of mental illness than cisgender children (one study among many: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5914494/), and a suicide rate that is drastically higher when they are in an unaccepting environment versus one with societal support (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32345113/, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30065001/). The school system I grew up in, despite giving me a good education, which I’m grateful for, already had significant issues with mental health and suicide. I believe policies such as this can only make that situation worse. Both my sister and I had friends that took their own lives as children, and I do not wish either side of that situation on any other students. I cannot say with certainty that school environments were the sole factor, although I do know that academic and social pressure  was a significant factor in one, but I can certainly say that I would not want to create a less supportive school environment than one that already has these issues. This will negatively impact transgender children, and it will negatively impact the other students who care about their friends and classmates, because there is more empathy among the student body than people may expect.

I urge anyone who cares about the well-being of the students that a school system is meant to nurture and to mold into capable adults to vote against this discriminatory policy. Transgender students simply want to live, receive their government provided and required education, and be in a social environment that is not hostile to them, the same way cisgender students want those things. Every student should be treated with respect, and those who do not believe this shouldn’t be in charge of children’s futures. This policy will end up on the wrong side of history like other discriminatory schooling laws if implemented, and I urge you to push back against it.


Restrictive government mandates should not decide what happens in classrooms and families

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People worry that it does children psychological harm when they dress against gender expectations. But it’s quite the opposite. It helps people with an internal sense of difference have an increased sense of well-being, which allows them to study harder, contribute more, and go farther in life.

Policies involving surveillance and strict conformity harm everyone- even uninvolved students and teachers. They learn that conformity is more important than individual choice, and that if they ever show a part of themselves that others don’t like, they’ll be socially punished.

Women should be able to wear pants, men should be able to wear pink, and teachers should have the right to call their students by pronouns that help that student focus and learn better if they do choose. Government mandates like this are restrictive and cannot allow for nuance or more local decision making.

The life of every child matters. Including the weird ones. Including the awkward or emo or queer ones. They have a place in this world. Many adults once were them. The state should not decide if they live or die. So if this policy will lead to deaths by suicide for many children, or hardship and misery for many who survive, then it should not be passed. No matter the validity of the end, these means are not effective or in line with American values of freedom.


This is such a scary policy, it'll cost children's lives and quality of life

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This policy will make it so that children won't be able to trust the administration. In this case, especifically trans and genderqueer kids will be left vulnerable, but this seems like the first step of many. If this is approved, any kid who has to hide part of their identity from their parents or is being abused at home won't be able to seek support from the administration, which is the only other net of support children of this age have.

I beg you to reconsider: a kid exploring and discovering their gender is a good thing, is something that should be supported, it doesn't harm anyone! It definitely should not be punished, and policing which bathroom each student goes to is both disturbing and a complete waste of time and resources.

I know this is just one of the many transphobic policies from all around the states, but going after children for the comfort of bigots is messed up.


I strongly and respectfully oppose

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As a parent of two public school children (one of whom identifies as nonbinary) in Virginia, I strongly oppose the Virginia Department of Education’s 2022 Model Policies on the Privacy, Dignity, and Respect for All Students and Parents in Virginia's Public Schools as they are currently proposed. The 2022 model policies create barriers to privacy, dignity, and respect for Virginia’s students and seek to undermine previous legislation (i.e., § 22.1-23.3. Treatment of transgender students; policies) that works to create safe and supportive environments for our most vulnerable youth. I myself grew up in an abusive home where I would not have been safe to disclose a gender identity other than the one aligned with my birth one, my parents would not have accepted any sexuality other than heterosexual and they would not have agreed to an interracial relationship. I know parents want to know and have a right to know but sometimes parents are the ones causing the children’s pain and agony. When that is the case, we must protect the child from the parent.

Looking at statistics provided by The Virginia School Counselor Association (VSCA), you can see that:

56% of transgender youth reported a previous suicide attempt and 86% reported suicidality. School belongingness mitigates these risks and is a significant predictor variable for reducing suicidal ideation and attempts among transgender youth (Austin et al., 2020).

Transgender and nonbinary youth whose schools prevent them from using the restrooms/locker rooms that best matched their gender identities were significantly more likely to be sexually assaulted, 26% for transgender males and 149% for transgender females (Murchison et al., 2019).

28% of transgender youth whose pronouns are not affirmed attempted suicide in the past year. In fact, when pronouns are respected, transgender youth attempted suicide at half the rate of those who did not have their pronouns respected (Trevor Project, 2020).

Transgender adolescents experience significantly disproportionate levels of childhood abuse compared to cisgender adolescents and experience greater levels of homelessness as a result of being kicked out or abused (Thoma, 2021).

Fewer than 2.5% of transgender youth re-transition to cisgender (Olson et al, 2022).

Virginia school counselors, teachers and administrators work to remove barriers and support the social, emotional, and mental health needs of all students and do not contribute to a students gender ideation or sexuality. Virginia’s school staff job is to be there and be supportive of their students no matter what their strengths and weaknesses are and regardless of their gender, sexual identity or race. The idea of putting a teachers religious beliefs ahead of a Childs wellbeing is to me mind-blowing. If a teacher does not agree with the public school policies, they can find a job at a parochial school that agrees with their beliefs. However, a public school student cannot just transfer to another school and be assured that the teachers there will not put their religion ahead of the students wellbeing under this policy. Many, if not most, Virginia parents cannot afford private schools and few are non-religious, further adding to the alienation of LGBTQ+ students.

I will quote David Mariner (former D.C. Center for the LGBT Community executive director) who wrote at the death of Jacob Pring: “As LGBTQ+ people we struggle with higher rates of depression, substance use, and rejection. We struggle with friends and family members who see us as 'less than because our lives do not match their expectations. And of course, despite the stereotype, we are not all wealthy. In fact, most of us struggle, and lacking the safety net of a supportive family makes those struggles harder. Those of us who fight our demons and make it through know that life is pretty amazing on the other side. In fact, life is wonderful on the other side. But as we know, not all of us make it through. We still have higher rates of suicide, we still have a lower life expectancy."

That a state government that is supposed to care for all its constituents should turn on one of the most vulnerable populations is unthinkable. This is where the Virginia government should be standing up and assisting them and showing that they do care and will support their rights too.

Against this background, it is my stance that the 2022 Model Policies on the Privacy, Dignity, and Respect for All Students and Parents in Virginia's Public Schools are empirically unfounded and are not in accordance with evidence-based best practices concerning the treatment of transgender, nonbinary, gender non-conforming and gender-fluid students.


What should we be teaching our children?

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In this entire debate I do not think we have stopped to think what message this sends to the students. It appears that one side claims it is protecting, while the other side who claims to be creating a tolerant and inclusive educational environment.

In my humble opinion: maybe, just maybe, students are smart enough to live and learn in and around a community of their peers regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity? Would it be absurd to give children that sort of credit?

I trust students to be around peers of all backgrounds. I trust kids to do what kids do: ask questions. These are, after all, schools: places where students ask questions and receive education from qualified teachers.

I know that teachers in Virginia Public Schools are licensed and qualified to teach students- its a predicate of them being teachers. I have full faith in their abilities, and feel they should be better empowered and better funded to keep Virginia well educated. I do not have one shred of confidence in the Governor's qualifications in this regard- and I attended the same school he did- had some of the same teachers he did even.

Perhaps, we should stop using the education of Virginia's children as just one more chip in a culture war, whether it is real or simply fabricated out of anger and fear. If our teachers were better funded every student would have access to the same caliber of education. If we empowered and motivated educators to teach children facts and context, we will see our children flourish in ways we cannot imagine.

Do not rob our children of their rights. Children do not simply exist when it is politically convenient for them to exist. They do not learn only the good lessons we try and teach- so they will continue to learn and perpetuate the bigotry this effort is designed to teach.

To the Governor and the Virginia GOP: you should be ashamed of yourselves. We are ashamed of you, and history will be too. If you need examples of how history remembers bigots, look at the Confederates you try to make excuses for. If you claim to defend rights, then actually defend them. If you are the party of freedom, do not deny others their freedoms.


Strongly support

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As a parent and citizen, I support this model policy. It is important for parents to be involved in conversations regarding the emotions, mental health and identities of their children. Educators can be instrumental in these conversations, but it is not in the interest of the child or his or her family to encourage educators to withhold information about any area where the child is struggling, especially an area so important to mental and emotional health as one’s sense of identity.


I have mixed feelings

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I 100% support the LGBTQ community and I think everyone should grow up to be whoever makes them happy. Also, I don't think that should negatively effect others. I do not think that biological males should be able to play on girl's sports teams or use their locker room and shower facilities. Also, I think it is disrespectful for kids to demand that other people remember and use each child's new pronoun and then become offended when they don't use them. In short, I believe kids should be themselves but not be allowed to negatively impact others.


Strongly opposed, this will hurt children

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If a young trans person feels unsafe discussing gender identity with their parents, it’s often for a very good reason. Revealing this information to parents could lead to emotional or physical abuse of the child. Not to mention, students who have no one else to turn to may confide in their teachers, and this can provide the safe space they need in order to maintain good mental health. Breaking the bond of trust between a student and a teacher they feel comfortable with is a cruel way to isolate them even further. If you consider a child a full human with their own rights, then that includes their right to privacy. These parents so eager to have these revisions passed are the same ones who will become emotionally abusive of their children if they happen to be outed under this policy.


Safety and Dignity Demand We Keep Boys Out of Girls' Restrooms/Locker Rooms

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I was very thankful and relieved when I heard recently that Governor Youngkin had taken actions to reverse some of the dangerous transgender policies that have been in effect in our Virginia public schools, including a return to the age-old rules that boys and girls must use the bathrooms that match their gender (i.e. their actual/scientific/biological/genetic/true/real/birth gender).  Since then, however, I have learned that boys continue to enter the girls' restrooms in our local school.  In response to my concerns, our Administration has informed me that the statement in the model policies says  “students shall use bathrooms that correspond to his or her sex, except to the extent that federal law otherwise requires" and our Administration has referred me to Grimm v. Gloucester County School Board, 972 F.3d 586 (2020), noting that federal law prohibits schools from not letting transgender students use the bathroom corresponding to their gender identity.  This policy interpretation, of course, would nullify the efforts of Governor Youngkin to protect our children.  The Grimm case is a legal opinion, not a law, and although the Federal Government is threatening to withhold funding, there are states, such as Alabama, standing against this tyrannical approach, and I hope Virginia will have the moral fortitude to do the same.  I pray our elected representatives will also pass laws to keep our bathrooms and locker rooms safe.

My concern with the Grimm case and legal opinion is that allowing boys into the girls' restrooms is a violation against human dignity; it is a violation against the dignity of my daughter and her right to privacy. This policy creates a hostile environment for her - isn't that what Title IX was seeking to avoid?  If forcing a female to undress or use the bathroom in front of a male is not sexual harassment, then what is?  There have been countless cases of sexual harassment on far less egregious grounds.  I sincerely feel compassion and concern for those suffering from gender dysphoria; but our response cannot be to put other children at risk.

While I am not a legal scholar, and I have not taken the time to study this case in detail, I disagree with many of the conclusions made.  I cannot believe that the original intent of Title IX was to allow boys into the girls' bathroom.  Just like it felt like mistreatment, inconvenience, stigmatization, isolation etc. for Grimm to have to use a special bathroom, the same is true for the implausibility of asking girls who are uncomfortable with being exposed to boys to avoid using their own girls’ restroom and instead seek a private bathroom.  The case also asserted that it was a myth that there might be predators emerging as a result of this; however, we know that fear was well-founded based on the multiple rapes that occurred in Loudon Co. within a year of this opinion.  The case also asserts that gender dysphoria is immutable and something you are born with; however, more recent data suggests this condition is a growing trend and is indeed influenced by the environment and culture we create; a recent NYT article indicated that the number of people who identify as transgender has nearly doubled in recent years and varies widely from state to state, raising questions about the role of peer influence and the political climate of communities.

There is a reason that we have had separate bathrooms from time immemorial.  There is a serious issue of dignity and safety at stake here.  We often make poor decisions because of our flawed human nature; because of original sin and concupiscence.  Children are even more prone to make bad decisions because of their maturity level. I know this because I have teenage children and I was once a teenager myself.  I am confident those who work around children are all too aware of this.  There is a difference in the risk of harassment or assault in a boy-on-boy or girl-on-girl situation, and a boy-on-girl situation.  The difference is in power and in the risk of rape and unwanted pregnancy.  As a father, that is what concerns me most of all.  I don't believe abortion is a just/morally acceptable option, which makes mitigating this risk all the more important.

I know these recent transgender policies are not helping my children, they are putting them at elevated risk, and I also believe they are not helping those they claim to help; they are intensifying the mental health/suicide concerns already present.  We should seek compassionate ways to help those suffering from gender confusion or dysphoria in an environment of love and support, yet we must be faithful to the truth, as telling someone they are what they are not hurts them and us.  There is an eye-opening special on Fox Nation called "Transgressive: The Cult of Confusion" which illustrates some of the harm children have experienced as a result of this cultural movement.  Let us recognize the dignity and worth of our children; let us affirm our children in their God-given/natural/biological genders, and affirm them in their identities as children of God.


Hateful policies!

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Studies show that not allowing children to live as their gender identity greatly increases their risks of suicide. Forcing teachers to inform parents will also result in children facing abuse at home from unsupportive families.

Furthermore, these "bathroom bills" are unnecessary - trans people attacking others in bathrooms is a made-up problem. It does not happen. Trans people are far more likely to BE attacked.

This is a ridiculous, unnecessary policy meant to scare people into thinking that transgender children are dangerous monsters.


Promotes hate!

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Hateful policies that turn back the clock just like all Republicans do. Expect suicide and depression rates to go up, so be sure to boost mental health services if you plan to go evil on the Commonwealth.


Trans child sexually assaulted multiple girls in LCPS bathrooms thank to their policy. Enough!

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<p>Thank you governor for stepping up to help parents and their children. </p>


Respect Students as Individuals

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This policy reflects politicalization of matters that are, or should be, of a highly personal and intimate nature. As it regards sexual orientation or gender dysphoria, there comes a point of maturity at which respect for a student as a separate and distinct individual should outrank other considerations, including parental rights, in cases where there is a conflict. As a minimum, students must be allowed to consent to parental notifications at an age consistent with Virginia code section 54.1-2969 (consent for medical procedures). Schools must establish a bypass path to accommodate students' wishes if such students state that a parental conflict exists.

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