Oppose this dangerous guidance

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Trans kids are kids. Every scientific and psychological study tells us that trans kids are more likely to be the victims of bullying, sexual harassment, and hostile behavior than perpetrators, and they experience those things at a far greater rate than cisgender kids. The Youngkin administration has done nothing but attempt to implement contrarian, anti-intellectual policies that seem tailor made to make Virginia worse and more divided. This guidance needs to be dismissed at once.


Ann Marie Barrett (LCPS counselor) arrested for sexual relationship with transgender student

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Counselor my children behind my back regarding their sexuality? Parents that are ok with that are either stupid or child abusers themselves. Period.


OPPOSE

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<p>This proposed legislation will harm trans kids. Period. </p>


Opposed

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<p>Those policy protects no one and actively harms marginalized youth. </p>


Oppose

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As a career educator in Virginia’s public schools I strongly oppose the model policies put forth by Virginia’s Governor. These policies are dangerous to transgender students and need to be retracted immediately.

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

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

Serving in our schools is a public service. If a staff member is unable to show a most basic level of respect by using a child’s correct name and pronouns, then the staff member should seek employment in a private sector where this form of discrimination is tolerated.

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

Prohibiting students from using the bathroom that matches their gender is unnecessary and discriminatory. This requirement puts transgender students at risk for violence and bullying. Imagine, for example, the experience of a transgender girl under the model policies: existing and presenting as a young woman but expected to use the boys’ bathroom. Inclusive policies, such as allowing students to use the appropriate facilities, are key to creating a “positive, safe, and nurturing learning environment for all students”.

Two additional comments:

The authors of the model policies attempt to completely erase the existence of nonbinary students by not mentioning them at all. Despite your failure to mention nonbinary students, they can be found at every level in Virginia schools, and they deserve respect and compassion as much as anyone else.

These policies claim to be “evidence-based best practices”, however the “evidence” cited fails to mention best practices for educating LGBTQ+ students as a special population. The resources referenced focus on the importance of parent engagement in schools and strategies for stopping bullying, both of which are widely accepted and valued. But where is your evidence to support your position that it is best practice to misgender students, out them to unsupportive families, and deny them access to appropriate facilities? I’d encourage the model policy authors to dig a little deeper into the CDC website (which you cite) to read the following:

“Schools can help address the adolescent mental health crisis by implementing policies and practices that support LGBTQ youth. CDC research shows that inclusive practices benefit LGBTQ students and heterosexual students, with heterosexual students seeing greater benefit in some risk categories. The reverse is also true. Restrictive LGBTQ policies and practices negatively impact heterosexual students as well.”

In conclusion, our students deserve better. These not-at-all model policies that have been presented are dangerous for transgender students and a step backwards for our Commonwealth. I call on Governor Youngkin to retract these policies and work constructively with educators, parents, and students to truly create a “positive, safe, and nurturing learning environment for all students” in every Virginia public school.


Yes, Save the children, APPROVE

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Those who oppose are only thinking of the “today”, not the “tomorrow”. What happens when your child, who can’t vote, drive, drink, make medical decisions etc., in 10 or 20 years find out they can’t have sex, or have children, clinically depressed or, God forbid, commit suicide because of a decision a parent and/or school made and allowed to someone too young to know the difference, to make such a life altering decision? Those that oppose will be the ones to blame.

PARENT - Legal authority and responsibility to care for a minor. Schools/teachers/unions - teach English, math, science…. Don’t teach and promote sexual lifestyles, and especially life altering surgeries. Since when was that your area of expertise? It’s not, so stick with what you know and are approved to teach.

Cut your leg off and you’re a cripple. Poke your eyes out and your blind. Though you can make yourself look any way you like, a man biologically will always be a male, and a female always biologically a female. “Follow the science” as everyone likes to chirp. Where did all this sheer  unadulterated idiocy come from? Man’s insatiable appetite to be like God.


Strongly Oppose

This proposed guidance is dangerous. We're risking the lives of transgender and non-binary youth by requiring counselors to out students to their parents. "Home" and "family" is not always safe for this vulnerable population, and it's the counselors' job to protect them. You're asking us to break our code of ethics, too.
This is dangerous because according to the latest research by the Trevor Project:

More than 1 in 3 transgender and non-binary youth reported that they have beenphysically threatened or harmed due to their gender identity
71% of trans and non-binary youth reported that they had experienced discriminationbased on their gender identity
1 in 5 transgender and non-binary youth attempted suicide in the past year
3 in 5 transgender and non-binary youth who wanted mental health care in the past year could not get it.

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This proposed guidance is dangerous. We're risking the lives of transgender and non-binary youth by requiring counselors to out students to their parents. "Home" and "family" is not always safe for this vulnerable population, and it's the counselors' job to protect them. You're asking us to break our code of ethics, too.

This is dangerous because according to the latest research by the Trevor Project:

More than 1 in 3 transgender and non-binary youth reported that they have been
physically threatened or harmed due to their gender identity

71% of trans and non-binary youth reported that they had experienced discrimination
based on their gender identity

1 in 5 transgender and non-binary youth attempted suicide in the past year

3 in 5 transgender and non-binary youth who wanted mental health care in the past year could not get it.


Strongly support the proposed changes

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I strongly support Governor Youngkin and the proposed changes to protect parents as the first and best educators of their children.


Governor thank you for protecting girls sports

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Finally there is an agile in the room. Let’s put a stop to the emotional and physical damage that has been perpetuated upon our female competitors these last few years. Enough is enough. These young ladies deserve a safe environment with fair competition.


Vehemently Opposed

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The proposed policy is incredibly harmful for students. Under the guise of parental rights, this stands to hurt already vulnerable young people. This Governor is more interested in ignorant, misinformed policies to score political points than to actually care for and protect students in Virginia. Governor, I urge you to actually talk to transgender students and hear directly from them. Do not make Virginia a state that is only for some. We Virginians come from ALL walks of life and will not stand for discrimination.


Oppose this transphobic garbage

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These policies are a cynical political stunt that target LGBTQ youth and undermine parents in the Commonwealth. They are antithetical to science and compassion and violate state and federal law. They come from a place of hate and bigotry.


My entire being opposes this transphobic horse manure

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What a strange document: filled with talk of equality and respect, yet glaringly guided by fear, other-ing, and constricted hearts. Imagine a world in which our leaders wrote policy based on compassion and empathy. Oh, to live in a world overflowing with kindness! Where people treat everyone with the respect we each deserve; where all children open their hearts and shine their beautiful lights because they feel safe and loved and supported by all. Instead we live in a world that drafted this document that will cultivate and perpetuate fear and hatred using exclusionary tactics against our children with potentially devastating effects. It is the wrong direction for Virginia. The absolutely wrong direction for humanity. I strongly oppose.


Thank you for protecting parent and child relationships

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<p>There is no greater relationship than between a parent and their child. I fully support this proposal. Parents should be an integral part of their child’s life. Supporting that most precious relationship is imperative to supporting a child’s development. While I recognize some parents fail at this, sharing and teaching your own children in accordance with your own family traditions that your parents taught you should never be interceded by others. And when there are concerns, the relationship between a parent and child should be cherished as a way to work together.  It should never be about normalizing children against their parents. Love conquers all and what greater love is there on earth beyond the love between a parent and a child.  </p>


I support the proposed document

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I've reviewed the proposed document and support the changes being made by the Governor.  I support parental rights to be fully aware and involved in the raising of their children.  I support the schools in assisting parents but not overriding their decisions without parent's consent.  I support protecting all students but not at the cost of forcing others to deny science.


Oppose Model Policies

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The Falls Church City Education Association opposes Governor Youngkin’s 2022 “Model Policies on the Privacy, Dignity, Respect for all students and Parents in VA Public Schools.” These proposed policies would make schools less safe for LGBTQ+ youth and do not reflect evidence-based research or any of the public comment used to formulate the 2021 model policies.

Virginia should work on making schools more welcoming for all young people. Students experience better mental health outcomes when school officials respect their gender and use their chosen name. Schools with student groups that affirm all genders and sexual orientations have been shown to have less truancy and better health outcomes for all students. Students who engage more in these groups report feeling more safe and hopeful.

All students deserve to feel safe in school, yet transgender youth report being bullied or harassed significantly more than other students. Outing students and having trusted adults dismiss them will only increase this.

While we recognize the vital role that parents play in education and value educators’ First Amendment rights, we note that these model policies are adult-centered, not student-centered. As educators who are prioritizing the social and emotional well being of all students, we stipulate that these proposed policies will have a detrimental effect on some of our most vulnerable community members. We oppose these model policies and urge local school divisions to reject them and to implement the 2021 evidence-based guidelines.

Sources:

 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1054139X18300855

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1532-7795.2012.00832.x

https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2016-59420-003

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022440520300042


School board members that defy DOE guidance- get your personal checkbooks ready; You're getting sued

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If you vote to keep parents in the dark while your staff counsels the students in their sexuality you will be held personally responsible when the trans child commits suicides or sexually assaults someone in the bathroom. You will be 100% personally negligent. Make no mistake about it.


Opposed - Proposed change factually unsupported and bad policy

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The proposed change to the Model Policies states:  "The 2021 Model Policies promoted a specific viewpoint aimed at achieving cultural and social transformation in schools."  What objective evidence does the proposed change rely on for this dramatic statement?  Is this aim and technique clearly documented in the history of the 2021 Model Policies?  If so, where?  The proposed change to the 2021 Model Policies further states that:  "The 2021 Model Policies also disregarded the rights of parents and ignored other legal and constitutional principles that significantly impact how schools educate students, including transgender students."  Again, what objective evidence does the proposed change rely upon to support this very specific statement of the development of the 2021 Model Policies?  Did the 2021 Model Policies state that it was specifically disregarding these rights and ignoring "other legal and constitutional principles"?  Isn't it possible that the 2021 Model Policies considered rights and legal and constitutional issues and simply did not treat them in the same way as the proposal.  I would like to see the objective evidence that demonstrates this disregarding of rights and ignoring of other legal and constitutional issues.  This is a powerful charge and any change based upon it deserves transparency.  Finally, I believe the 2021 Model represented a thoughtful and valid policy approach to student gender issues and is not in need of the changes proposed.


LGBTQ+ proposal-- strongly oppose

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Strongly oppose this proposal which was put forward with little to no input from school personnel;  this seems like a great overreach from the state-- what happened to parental rights--this seems like only some people's parental rights are considered.  Fear tactics are being used to damage LGBTQ+ students to appeal to the loudest constituents.  In addition, this goes against Virginia state law.


Agree with the bill...mostly.

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I am an involved parent of two elementary school students in the public school system.  Guiding my children through what is right and wrong, what is acceptable and what should not is extremely difficult.  The current political state of our country only amplifies the difficulty of the situation.  Rather than having common sense, middle ground approaches the leaders of any organization seem to listen only to the extremes.  I feel like the center sometimes is too intimidated to say anything and risk being labeled too woke or a racist.

I want to say that there is a difference between a utopian society and having realistic goals.  I will say that I do agree with the name and pronoun changes being available at the request of the parent.  As a parent I want to help my child any way I can so I want to know how I can help especially in these times of teacher shortages.  Teachers are overloaded as it is and many are taking on additional responsibilities.  Adding a potential lawsuit or even a reprimand over not using the correct affirming pronoun seems to be distracting from what their job is.  That is to teach.  Some teachers rotate out students every other day.  To be expected and held accountable to know a small percentage of students pronouns is unrealistic.

I also agree with the bathroom policy...mostly.  I do not want another student of the opposite sex (at birth) to be in the same bathroom with my children.  I know my children would feel their rights and safety are being infringed upon with someone of the opposite sex being in the same bathroom.  How do I tell my daughter that she has to be uncomfortable and possibly being exposed to inappropriate situations.  That being said, I do believe that there should be a designated single stall bathroom for students that want privacy.  This does become a monetary issue though if schools do not have a separate singe stall bathroom available.

As for the counselors, I do believe there should be some middle ground on this as well.  I believe students should have someone they can trust that they can talk to outside of the family.  I don't believe the counselor should be able to push a child to either direction but should be there to listen and to try and incorporate the parents into the decision making as much as possible.

Again, no policy decision will make everyone happy and as these are children, I believe parents have to be responsible for their decisions, especially life changing decisions such as this.  Schools have plenty of their own issues to handle and should not have to get dragged into the political waters of how to accommodate transgender students.   I believe the common sense approach stands as the best avenue to help the most students.  Again, unfortunately we do not live in a utopian society where everyone can have everything they want without any prosecution or financial repercussions.


Oppose Youngkin's 2022 Model Policies

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I stand by the ACLU VA official comment - The 2022 Model Polices are not evidence based, and they do not reflect the multi-disciplinary consensus (e.g., Worth Professional Association for Transgender Health [WPATH]) around what best practices are necessary to ensure that transgender students have equal access to education in a manner free from discrimination, fear, intimidation, and bullying.

More importantly, I stand by my transgender son.  He is enrolled in a VA secondary public school and I worry that the proposed Model policy would potentially harm him physically, socially, psychologically and educationally.  He has been transgender since 2015 - this is not a phase.  He is living his authentic self, supported by family and friends, and excelling in school and extracurriculars. There is no need to upset him or any transgender or non-binary student with this harmful Model DOE policy.

Please do not target children and adolescents!


Oppose

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We should be welcoming and including ALL children in Virginia. I oppose this new policy.


Oppose this terrible, transphobic policy

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This proposed policy is a stain upon the Commonwealth. It is transphobic and will irreparably harm queer and transgender students who need to have their identities supported, not shamed.


Sex of person is in the DNA

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"Chromosomes are referred to as thread like structures or molecules containing all the genetic information of organisms. The information is passed from one generation to the next generation via the genes of the sex cells. Genes are the structural and functional unit of heredity. In the context of living organisms, chromosomes are arranged in a pair wise pattern. They are located in the nucleus of the cell. In respect to humans, there are 22 pairs of chromosomes that are known as autosomes. But apart from this, humans possess an addition pair of chromosomes that makes the total of 46 chromosomes. That pair is known as sex chromosomes. The gender of a human is decided at the embryonic stage by the fusion of sperm cell and the egg cell  of the mother. The sperm carries one sex chromosome where it can be either X or Y chromosome whilst the egg carries the X chromosome. Therefore, half of the embryo’s DNA comes from the sperm and the other half from the egg. Accordingly, if the egg is fertilized by a sperm bearing an X chromosome, the embryo will contain two X chromosomes (XX) and if the egg is fertilized by a sperm bearing a Y chromosome the embryo will contain X and Y chromosomes. Therefore, as a result of the combination of the sperm and egg, the gender of the embryo will be determined as either a male (XY) or a female (XX). Females having the XX chromosomes are known as homogametic sex while the male having XY chromosomes are called as heterogametic sex. This is the key difference between XX chromosomes and XY chromosome."

Therefore, a person is either a male or a female from conception with no possible means to change that!


support Governor

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Anything not pertaining to academic subjects should not be in school I support the Governors proposal.


Oppose

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I oppose this policy. If enacted, I worry it would expose teachers, students, and staff to harassment, discrimination, and bullying.


OPPOSED

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<p>This proposal to undo the work of public schools to protect trans youth is biased and uneducated. If a student chooses not to disclose certain information from their parents, it is likely because they do not feel safe to do so (they do not feel they will be accepted, supported and seen and may feel they will be punished, ostracized and/or judged). It is obvious that this proposal is leveraging parental power in order to pass a biased law in what I imagine is a low move on Governor Youngkins part to gain popular approval. If Governor Youngkin truly cared about trans youth he would be open to the plethora of research showing that such invasive and forceful measures, that being the outing of trans youth against their will, would be absolutely detrimental to the mental health of these young adults. I oppose this proposal and the people behind it in the name of trans youth and their rights. </p>


Strongly support the proposed changes

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<p>Strongly support the proposed changes that recognize parental rights to raise and educate their children. </p>


Totally support proposed policies

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I applaud you for your proposed policies! Thank you for having the courage to allow parents to have the primary role in raising and guiding their children. Please continue to safeguard the parents role.


fully support governor's policy change

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There is no question that this policy is better than what is in place and will benefit our children. It's time to put our children before political goals that aren't good for anyone.


Virginia transgender school rules

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I agree with the VA Governor on rules on schools


Support policy that prevents my daughter from having to see penis and balls in her locker room

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Sad perverts are preying on children with these fantasy games.


I support parental rights

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I support parental rights.


Support Changes

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I support the changes to the transgender policy.


i strongly OPPOSE,   PROTECT ALL THE KIDS.

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I STRONGLY OPPOSE, PROTECT ALL THE KIDS


Governor Youngkin's Proposal Regarding Policies on Transgender Students

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I back Governor Youngkin's proposal on policies regarding transgender students. Children are at their most vulnerable state when they are in elementary and high school. Children should not be enticed or persuaded in any way by adults in their care who may have a hidden agenda or may have a criminal intent to harm the child. Children shouldn't have secrets from their parents and most especially, adults in their care shouldn't encourage children to have a secrets from their parents. Young girls should always feel safe in their school environment whether it be from adults in the school or students. Young girls need privacy and safety in their own spaces. Young boys in elementary and high school are experiencing their own growing pains. At times, they act out aggressively and some have no control over their behavior. Just because a boy feels he is a girl inside, doesn't stop him, from acting out in an aggressive or dangerous manner. As we have seen in Loudoun County High School. Two young girls have lost their innocence and the ability to trust boys due to the criminal behavior of one boy. How many more girls will have to suffer this same fate. Also just because a boy states he feels like a girl doesn't necessarily mean he doesn't have bad intentions to bully or harass or assault young girls in the restrooms and locker rooms. How is the child going to be verified by the school district he that he is trans by just his word? Why does it always seem that girls have to accommodate boys in giving up their spaces? Decades, school districts have chastised girls for their manner of dress, because it is a distraction to boys. Here we are again, school districts are telling girls, give up your safety and privacy to boys and don't trust your instincts around adult men or boys. This will set up girls to fall victim time and time again. We are giving too much leeway to boys and adult men in our school system to act out on their bad behaviors and at the same time telling young girls, your fears and safety don't matter. Is this how we want our future young women to grow up, with no voice and no basic human rights. Young girls need to play sports with other girls. This builds character and confidence in them. Adding boys who feel they are girls will eventually deter girls from joining girls sports, because of the unfair advantage boys have over girls physically. Girls need the fair opportunity to earn a college scholarship or just be on a team with girls with the same abilities. Take this away from them, girls will either forced to play with a biological boy who can injure them or simply bench them, because they don't measure up to his ability. As well as some girls just won't have the courage to even try out. Girls need these opportunities. Taking this away, here we are again catering to the boys and not acknowledging the girls. This is the whole reason why Title IV was enacted. To give girls the same opportunities as boys when it came to sports (i.e scholarships and playing fields). Do you want to silence or even discourage young girls from even trying. That one girl who maybe shy and fearful in trying out, because the boys have taken over girls sports, might be an Olympic athlete or Professional Athlete who will never see her chance, because the coaching staff rather have a winning season with boys then girls. Think about the young women in NCAA women's swimming championship who either competed or didn't make the cut for the swimming competition, because one man out swam the women in each event he was in. This will be the way it will be in high school for girls. Boys out swimming, out running, out jumping, out shooting, and etc. Let's start thinking of our young girls, will they lose out on academic scholarships as well to a boy who thinks he is a girl. This is a horrible tornado we are in and girls will be the ones left behind when it all stops. We should be progressing forward not stepping back in time, when women and girls had no voice, no safety and no right to vote. Is this how we want our young girls to grow up, with no hope or opportunities?That they must yield to male society. Furthermore, being transgender is only making Big Pharma, doctors, hospitals and therapists rich while it destroys young children's lives as they pump them with wrong sex hormones and unnecessary surgeries. Surgeries and chemicals that will destroy their bodies and age them before their time. Listen to the detransitioners, they are already sounding the alarm. Young girls with no breasts at 13. Children with brittle bones and brain fog. Heart conditions. Hysterectomies at the age of 15 or 21, depending on when they were given testosterone. It's recommended to young women on testosterone around 5 years to get a hysterectomy due to uterine atrophy. Early onset dementia, which young woman have a high probability developing after a hysterectomy. Osteoporosis after the hysterectomy. These children will become adults with permanent medical conditions. There is too much wrong with giving the transgender students a free pass to trample over young girls lives.


Strongly OPPOSE

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I oppose this policy!  It follows a dangerous authoritarian pattern of this administration to seek out potential conflicts in school communities and sensational them in an attempt to sow distrust and discord in our public school communities.

This policy will significantly damage the relationship between teachers and vulnerable transgender youth and crush sensitive relationships within the school setting.

This is not a "parents rights" issues as advertised, but rather does the opposite. Parents have no power to control the name requested of the transgender student, absent a court order.  This policy is designed to stigmatize transgender and non-binary students. Research finds that affirming transgender student identity improves both their mental and academic outcomes.

ALL of our students deserve a supportive and affirming school environment; more so for the vulnerable and marginalized.


You are the best governor ever. Thank you Governor Youngkin.

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Thank you for restoring sanity to our schools.


I Oppose

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I strongly oppose this guidance. It harms and endangers trans and non-binary youth. Every child deserves to be supported, uplifted, and affirmed in their classroom. When we do not support our children in this manner, we are putting them at risk for health and safety concerns. More than half of all trans and nonbinary youth who do not receive support from adults in their life will consider suicide. However, youth who receive gender affirmation from peers and teachers contemplate at less than half that rate. These proposed policies are rooted in transphobia and unfounded fearmongering and seek to force trans youth into schools that threaten their safety, mental health, and lives.


Full Support of Governor

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I fully support Governor Younkin's changes to the trans-gender policy. It's long past time for some common sense.


Strongly oppose

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<p style="text-align: justify;">Trans rights are human rights. If the governor really cared about parental input and rights in the public school system, he wouldn't ignore trans kid's parents when they say what's best for their children. Clearly he only cares about a certain subset of Virginians.  </p>


Support parents and protect kids

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Thanks to Governor Youngkin for leading on this issue.  Schools should focus on education and leave personal decisions at home, to be made by parents.


Strongly oppose

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<p>Protect trans kids from adult bigots. Trans rights are human and right and anything less is unamerican. Let our kids be their true selves without stigma. </p>


LCPS board members are personally responsible for sexual assaults in bathrooms

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Shame on LCPS school board. I pray that you will be held responsible.


Oppose

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I oppose these policies!!! Support the LGBTQ+ community. Say no to hatred!!! Do NOT adopt these policies!!! VDOE AND youngkin are WRONG!!!!


Adamantly Oppose

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It is presumptuous for "school personnel", i.e. a teacher with no medical/psychology degree or a teacher who believes that only her religious views are valid, to advise a parent concerning their child's health or social and psychological development unless they are a physical danger to themselves or others. These people are not trained to make these judgments and have no right to interfere with the student's and parent's rights. It is the parent's right, not the school employees, to do what they feel is best for their child.

This proposal is allowing each school board to institute their own policies regarding trans students including restricting restroom access, sports participation for transgender and nonbinary students and generally allowing these persons (yes, they are people the same as each of us) to be treated as worthless.

This proposal will openly identify, harass, and discriminate against every trans student. Please remember that trans students and their parents have rights, too. Our schools are to treat EVERY student with respect and they have the same right to an education without bigotry.


Make bathrooms safe again


Protecting Trans Youth

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I oppose any change to any policy that would take protections away from Trans youth or any other LGBT student.  I am not sure what good it would do? High School is about SATs, getting good grades to get into college, and Sports, and giving the school a good image.  That's about it.  I want to see every student graduate, and I think Governor Youngkin's changes would harm Virginians seeking a quality education.


#metoo. Protect girls in their bathrooms and private areas at school


Illegal (and Shameful) Proposal

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The proposed 2022 Model Policies for the Treatment of Transgender Students in Virginia’s Public Schools (hereinafter, the “Shameful Proposal”) sharply curtail the legal rights of transgender students in the state’s public schools and threaten those students’ emotional well-being.

As a Virginia resident I oppose the Shameful Proposal and urge restoration of the 2021 Model Policies — which have played a meaningful role in protecting the legal rights and interests of Virginia’s transgender students — and urge the Department of Education to focus on ensuring fully adoption of the 2021 Model Policies by Virginia's counties.

The 2022 Shameful Proposal is illegal, insofar as it violates the legal rights of transgender students. Among other unlawful elements, it notably violates the Virginia Human Rights Act, Va. Code. Ann. §2.2-3900, which protects individuals from unlawful discrimination, including on the basis of gender identity, in public settings. Further, by putting the onus on teachers to identify a “biological sex” of a student, which violates students’ privacy rights — not to mention being completely incompatible with the presentation of nonbinary and intersex children.

The Shameful Proposal’s requirement that schools must “keep parents fully informed about all matters” related to a child’s health and social and psychological development — and its requirement that schools may not “encourage or instruct teachers to conceal material information about a student from the student’s parent, including information related to gender” — makes clear that the Virginia Department of Education actually sees students’ health and social and psychological development as completely subordinate to other interests.  Transgender and other LGBTQI+ “youth are at unique risk due to disclosure of data (e.g., if they have unsupportive family contexts) and have greater overall health risks (e.g., suicide, drug use, etc.) due to a lack of acceptance.”  See Kelley, C., Carter, M., Liehr, A., Naylon, K., Schaefer, C., Temkin, D., & Jordan, E. (2022). Federal Evidence Agenda on LGBTQI+ Equity Response. Comments to the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, Subcommittee on Equitable Data. Child Trends, available at https://doi.org/10.56417/6150g6266n.

Further, the Shameful Proposal’s allowance that school personnel not be required to address or refer to a student “in any manner” that would run counter to an employee’s personal or religious beliefs is unlawful and again places students’ interests dead last.

The Shameful Proposal has already created emotional distress among transgender students, their families and friends — as I have heard in my own Virginia community, with my own ears — and will continue causing greater distress if actually implemented.  The Shameful Proposal, if formalized by the Department of Education — whether or not subsequently adopted by counties — will increase the number of attempted suicides among transgender students, as similarly anti-gender-affirming policies have done elsewhere in the country.

Finally, the Shameful Proposal is clearly no more than a thinly veiled political tactic intended to divide Virginians — with absolutely no regard to the consequences on Virginia’s children.  Governor Youngkin — and those in the Department of Education willing to subordinate children’s well-being to his political interests — should be ashamed.

Benjamin A. Sellers

Arlington VA


Governor Youngkin for president!

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Keep up the good work governor.


OPPOSE

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<p>This policy scares me because students deserve to be called their preferred pronouns and seen as the person that they are. That is just basic decency. Also, the county just spent lots of money on making "All Gender" bathroom signs. We shouldn't spend more money to change them back because that money could go into instruction for students. The "All Gender" bathrooms make sense on a social level because they are inclusive and nobody needs to feel awkward for using the "wrong bathroom". It's also more efficient and productive for that same reason; you can use any bathroom so you don't have to wait in line for a specific bathroom to become available.  </p>


Oppose

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Governor Glenn Youngkin I support your proposed overhauling the Virginia Department of Education transgender policy mandates on public schools and replacing them with regulations that restore parental rights and protection the First Amendment rights of students and staff.

Thank you,

A parent of an elementary student


Oppose

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This is a chilling proposal with detrimental effects on vulnerable children. No medical organization with any credibility says that discriminating against LGBTQ kids is helpful—which is exactly what the Youngkin administration is trying to do here. Please rescind this.

Also, it’s offensive that this is done under the guise of protecting parental rights—this is a political move to drum up support from a small group of vocal parents who are likely early activated 2024 presidential voters. We see through this—be better and treat all Virginians fairly.


Pretty Good, Farily Middle-of-theRoad, Some Language Could be Tightented Up

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Over all, not bad. I am going to nitpick below:

I disagree there is a "right" to attend school. This is a privilege. That sounds heartless when you are thinking only of kindergarten, but by high school if you aren't trying there's nothing wrong with showing a bad student the door if that student's behavior is harmful to the learning environment. Expulsion is, and should remain, a viable option.

There is a long exposition of case-law relating to a specific interpretation of the fourteenth amendment. Due to the current majority of textualists on the supreme court, I doubt that case-law is very safe. If Virginians want such an idea to be law law...pass it. Don't wait for it to be overturned then be caught flat-footed...not that I'm thinking of anything in particular...

The language "reasonable accommodation" is vague. I think there should be a dollar amount on that as an upper bound to help protect schools from lawsuits.

"Sincere Belief" should just be dropped. It is impossible to prove if a belief is sincere.

Section V. Article C. has a similar problem. The beliefs of parents really should only be an issue if we are talking about something where there is no possible falsification, and where falsification is possible a method should be presented. There are a lot of common beliefs not provable which I think public schools should safely be able to ignore. The core issue here is like I said above, the sincere belief of an individual that they have a particular "gender" whether or not it conforms to their biological sex is not subject to falsification, and is therefore properly understood to be a belief. I may or may not reject that particular belief with no intellectual rigor in the same way I may or may not reject the belief that chocolate is better than vanilla. Although there may be some measurable physiological response to such a belief to see if it is "sincere", measurement will ultimately be dependent on the self-identification of an individual. This is quite different than the provably incorrect view of holocaust deniers, whose belief the school system has no right to teach regardless of how many people believe it. I recommend changing the language of this section to reflect that core distinction, rather than using the number of Virginians who hold a belief as a standard. I can see that argument coming back to bite you.


Support mental health care for suicidal kids- not a free pass to girl’s locker rooms and restrooms.

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<p>Suicidal kids need mental health care right away. A society without rules and norms will not benefit them. </p>


Educator and Parent Opposed

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The proposed changes will be harmful to all children and violate parental rights of those students who are seeking their path through the world by removing the parents’ ability to support their child.

As a long-time Educator and the parent of a young child seeking their gender identity, I see this policy as a means to permit the imposition by an outsider (non-parent) on the individual student’s gender identity or the process of determining their understanding of self.

It would also enhance a climate of “other” in the schools – hindering the ability of non-questioning students in developing empathy and compassion for those people who are exploring the world in a different way than they.


Oppose

Winston Barham, Presbyterian Church (USA)

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Respect for gender identity and expression are core religious beliefs I hold. Transgender and nonbinary people (including school-age youth) are valued members of my worshipping communities. Contrary to the guidance document, this policy if enacted would compel ideological behavior and expose both teachers, students, and staff to harassment, discrimination, and bullying. Oppose.


Strongly Support - Go Youngkin!

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I strongly support Gov Youngkin's proposal to overhaul transgender policy


Protect Childhood

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<p>Governor Youngkin - I support you 100% in overhauling the Virginia Department of Education transgender policy mandates on public schools. Our children's minds are too young in the elementary/middle/high school years to make sound decisions about their sexuality. Their brains and common sense are developing during these years. That's why we call them the "formative" years. </p>


Governor Don't Let The Devil Win

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Everything you do helps to defeat Satan and his minions! From transgender insanity to anti white racism. Keep up the great work! We have the devil on the run! Keep our children safe


PROTECT NORMAL

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I think we should be protecting the normal kids, which are by far the majority.  If some parent wants their kid to be queer, (most of these kids don't know yet what they want to be) then thats their business, but don't make my kids life miserable just to satisfy yours.

 We have very little discipline in our schools now,  Lets don't make it any worse by letting boys and girls share bathrooms and locker rooms.

GO Gov. Younkin  GO


Oppose

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Our government should work to make our schools a place where all of Virginia’s students can learn and grow in a welcoming environment; that is not just what the law requires, it is what basic human dignity demands. The Virginia Department of Education must rescind these shameful proposed policies immediately for the good of students, parents, and the entire Commonwealth.


I am very opposed to the proposed model

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<p>We’re here. We’re gay. We fight the KKK. </p>


Oppose bullying vulnerable children

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This proposed guidance will result in dead children.  Multiple studies have shown that creating hostile environments for trans and non-binary kids greatly increases the risk of suicide, self-harm, and self-destructive behaviors.  The governor is himself a bully.  His administration is choosing to bully some of the most vulnerable children in this state in order to score points with his bigoted base.

It's interesting that "parental rights" are suddenly so important.  Where were these rights for those of us who wanted to keep our children safe from covid?  Our efforts were undermined daily by republican politicians throughout the state.  Now, these same politicians want to bully vulnerable children, and they are using "parental rights" as the catchphrase to justify it.

Bullying trans kids won't make them cisgender, but it may make them dead.  Between no covid protections, no real policies to prevent school shootings, and now the bullying of marginalized children, it looks like "dead kids" is an official republican platform.


Trans female in California shout out to all Virginia trans- come to California!!!

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You’ll love it here. It’s really sunny. Gather all your trans friends and come right away.


Trans female in California shout out to all Virginia trans- come to California!!


Trans female in California shout out to all Virginia trans- come to California!


Trans female in California shout out to all Virginia trans- come to California.


OPPOSED!!

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Shame on you, Younkin! Shame shame shame


Oppose this

Laura Rowsey-Collins,  Rowllins Mental Health and Wellness Center, LLC

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<p>I strongly oppose this.  The documented harm done to children by not affirming gender expression is tremendous. </p>


I am completely opposed.

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I am completely opposed.


I oppose...but not for the reasons you might think.

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"Schools should attempt to accommodate students with distinctive needs, including any student with a persistent and sincere belief that his or her gender differs from his or her sex."

No they shouldn't. The student may very well be sincere in his or her belief that their gender differs from their sex but that doesn't make it true.

Not accommodating the "needs" of someone who believes that their gender differs from their sex is not discrimination, is is simply refusing special treatment.

We should be encouraging children to accept the reality that there are two sexes, male and female, and that you cannot change between the two. There are plenty of testimonies coming out of men and women who have tried to transition from one sex to the other but regretted it immensely. DO NOT encourage children to pursue trangenderism.


The attacked, discriminated ones are those that live in reality and refuse to accept wrong

Trans forcing lies and confused values on others.


Governor why can furries wear dog collars and tails to school but my son can’t wear a hat?

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The liberal mob is insane and needs to be reigned in. Please help.


Support protecting all youth from discrimination

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Sigh. Are we really here again? Disgusting measures by Youngkin and his political cronies.

All children deserve protection against discrimination

Even us moderates don’t like this measure. Makes no sense and we should not be in the business of hurting children by this anti-trans legislation. Even research demonstrates that evidence-based best practice trans-inclusive policies help all youth. It’s really disappointing he’s taken us back to 1800s with this archaic measure. This isn’t why people of Virginia voted for him. The proposed policies seek to erase trans and nonbinary youth from the classroom and create a hostile and dangerous school environment. They restrict restroom access and sports participation for transgender and nonbinary students, require faculty and staff to “out” trans and nonbinary students to their parents, and prohibit teachers and staff from supporting trans students in a range of ways, including blocking them from using a student’s affirming name and pronouns. I’m against this Youngkin’s administration of hurting more youth.


If you don’t affirm and use the sex, gender, and pronouns I make up I’ll hurt myself. You have to.

You have to celebrate and tell me I’m brave or else get canceled.


STRONGLY OPPOSE

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<p>Trans Rights are human rights. Don’t let sensationalist stories rob our children of their identities and freedom of expression. This parent insists that tolerance be taught and modeled at schools. </p>


Protect ALL kids. Rescind this policy.

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Protect ALL children and not just the ones you deem "less than." Protect the rights of ALL parents. Rescind this "model" policy.


YES!- protect girls sports, safe bathrooms, reality. Trans is mental illness. Stop encouraging it

Would we help the anorexic vomit to get the body they identify with?


Congratulations Governor Youngkin- We elected you to restore parental rights. Do the right thing.

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please restore power to the parents


opposed to the proposed "Model" policy and fearful of its potentially destructive consequences

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I am a parent of a high schooler as well as a mental health professional working in schools.  My personal and professional perspective is that this version of the policy does not give any consideration to the needs of one of our most fragile groups of students and has the potential for devastating, potentially lethal consequences.  We need to be focused on understanding, compassion, and problem solving skills, not unwarranted judgments and assumptions.


Trans is a harmful fad pushed by sick extreme liberal adults that need a cause to pour into

Who can be the most woke. We are all sick of this garbage. Try reality.

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<p>This is a bunch of harmful make believe at the expense of children. And everyone is sick of it. </p>


HIWASSEE TRANSGENDER VOLLEYBALL PLAYER SEVERELY INJURES FEMALE HIGH SCHOOLER WITH SPIKE TO THE FACE

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These liberal fantasy games have dire consequences.


Strongly Oppose

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<p>This is a policy that will impact a huge number of students and make their lives so much harder. Trans youth already have so much to go through, with ostracization from their peers and often times their family, with a high rate of depression and suicide due to a lack of acceptance in many social settings. This policy goes against past legal rulings and policies, as well as mental health professionals. Trans youth need to be uplifted and supported by their school, not outed and put at risk. School is supposed to be somewhere safe for all students to express themselves. Trans youth do not deserve to have to fear going to school, or whether they are going to be called by their own name and be able to use the restroom. This policy is not one coming from a place of education and forward thinking, and will cause real harm to a large number of students. </p>


support for restoring the role of parents in public education

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Parents know their children’s needs better than anyone. If children are struggling with gender dysphoria, they need guidance and emotional support from their 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.


I strongly oppose this policy.

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<p>We strongly oppose this policy and believe all students should feel safe in a learning environment, without fear. </p>


Protect children from ultra left wing nut ideology

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<p>Please governor protect us from the woke mob </p>


Thanks you Governor Youngkin

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Thanks for practical sense solutions and not caving to over reaching nonsense.


Protect out children from destructive woke ideology

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I overwhelmingly support the governor’s proposed policy. We need to protect our children from immoral, irrational and sexually charged woke policies. Liberals are taking advantage of trans kid’s very obvious mental issues and using them as political props to push their agenda with no regard as to how this will negatively affect the mental health of the trans kids they purport to care about. Moral decency and parental rights are at stake.


Support

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Kids belong to their parents, not the government


Strongly oppose this

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<p>Trans children are the most vunerable students.  These policies will actively make life harder for them and increase suicide rates. Shame on Gov. Youngkins.  I just hope he stays in VA long enough to read these comments. </p>


Hispanics overwhelmingly support this policy.Thank you for protecting our children and families.


I strongly oppose this proposed policy.

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I STRONGLY oppose this proposed policy. This proposed policy will be extremely harmful to transgender and nonbinary kids, their families, and the broader community.  It is well documented that trans and non-binary youth have significantly higher rates of suicidality and other forms of life-threatening psychological distress especially if their family is unsupportive. As a clinical psychology trainee, I am acutely aware of the risks this model policy poses to kids' ability to learn and thrive at school, let alone survive into a successful adulthood. Although parents have the right to advocate for their child, schools should not be mandated to prioritize a parent’s personal belief over the child’s well-being.

More specifically, this model policy is egregiously lacking compared to the 2021 policy. In fact, this proposed policy eliminates every effort in its predecessor to create a nurturing and supportive environment for all students, including transgender and gender-diverse youth. This policy claims that, “All students have the right to attend school in an environment free from discrimination, harassment, or bullying,” yet persecutes children by denying them their identity and freedom to express. Any policy that directs teachers and staff to mistreat their students in this way is discriminatory at best and deadly at worst.


LGBTQ Kids Should Not Have to Always Live in Fear

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I’m a mom of a trans male, and although my son knew I loved him and would support him, I was not the first person he came out to as trans.  His high school class mates and teachers knew his chosen name and pronouns first and when I discovered that he was already being his true self at school, I was relieved to know he had that support. It actually saddens me to know that he lived for so long as someone he wasn’t, and he did so out of fear. He was not afraid of being judged. He was afraid of being attacked; of being physically harmed because he was trans. School was a safe place for him to start building the courage to face the rest of the world as his true self. Isn’t that what we want from our schools? To be known as the safest place for kids to learn, explore and become who they were meant to be?? Yes, kids’ homes should be the safest place on earth, with loving and supportive families, but we all know that’s not always the case. We teach our kids starting at a young age that they can trust their teacher/school to help them and protect them. LGBTQ kids shouldn’t have to fear a parent’s rage or betrayal from a teacher/school. Any parent that is angered over their child expressing who they truly are to friends and teachers, should be psychologically tested and attend parental training.

Our culture, to include our government, has always treated LGBTQ as second class citizens even though they’re no different from any other citizen that puts their pants on one leg at a time or pays their taxes! Being LGBTQ is not a choice and it’s not easy - a lot of times it’s scary. Please don’t make it even harder and scarier on these kids. It’s time to stop the abuse of power over the LGBTQ community and start focusing on keeping our schools the safest place for our kids to be by preventing school shootings.


I Strongly Support Youngkin's New Policies!

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Woke gender ideology politics doesn't belong in schools. Parents' rights and the safety of our children are more important than what's popular at the moment. Thank you for protecting what we value most, our children!


These hateful policies have no business in VA

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These policies fly in the face of established state and federal law. Under the Virginia Human Rights Act, conduct that violates any Virginia or federal law governing discrimination on the basis of gender identity is an unlawful discriminatory practice.

These model policies will cause real, devastating harm.

Our government should work to make our schools a place where all of Virginia’s students can learn and grow in a welcoming environment; that is not just what the law requires, it is what basic human dignity demands. The Virginia Department of Education must rescind these shameful proposed policies immediately for the good of students, parents, and the entire Commonwealth


Prayer at school is forbidden but dressing up like cats is acceptable? The woke mob is NUTS!

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Wacko liberals are running these school boards.


Governor's LGBT proposal

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Why not move to unisex restrooms like in Europe?  No need to legislate any prohibitions.


Even the kids protested to this bill

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If, even the kids have protested to this, shouldn't we listen to them? I mean, they will be the ones who are really affected by this bill.


Oppose

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<p>As a parent and an educator, I strongly oppose the recommended changes. </p>


Transgender rights are human rights…

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Stop being hateful little twits and bullies that’s pick on kids just to garner votes.


Oppose the student model policy

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This policy intentionally harms queer youth in Virginia and will have irreversible and unnecessary damage to their physical, mental, and emotional health. This also unfairly removes an educators ability to ensure the safety of their students and provide critical support to them.


You are the best governor ever. Thank you Governor Youngkin.

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<p>Youngkin for president </p>


Strongly opposed to the Model Policies for the Treatment of transgender students as proposed

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<p>Model Policies for the Treatment of Transgender Students in Virginia’s Public Schools as proposed violates a persons freedoms, that are given to others. These young people are having a hard enough time adjusting to what their body and mind are doing to them it just seems humanly, religiously immoral for our government to propose some of these mandates on them.  </p>


Protect the children from this bill: DO NOT SUPPORT

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<p>This is trash and should not be subjected to our children now or in the future. To comply ignore children and how they are growing as individuals and forcing them to adhear to policies like this is counter productive to their emotional development. Allowing negetivity like this in our school systems would only increase the suicide rate and make children feel like they don't have a safe place to grow and learn and feel valued like other children. Being a Trans father of two beautiful children i wouldnt want to bring them into a school system that would force them to hide who they are and make them feel unsafe and unvalued to where they wouldnt want to live in a world like this. When it comes to the cofortability of teachers it shouldnt matter what your personal beliefs are when it comes to educating our children religion should not be included and that should be left to the parents to decide at the time until the child is old enough to make a definitive decission themselves. All this uproar and force on how we allow our children to feel love and enouragement even if they are not the "typical" child is completely appauling. Please stop trying to force children into a box just to make others feel uncomfortable, maybe if someone felt what that was like they would try more to be more inclusive. Growing up I found it hard to just open up and state what I was and had I been allowed to be open and loved I would have avoided alot the negitive impacts in my childhood just trying to navigate a broken and hateful system. Please dont let this go forward and reconsider, this would end up killing more children and force parents backwards in things weve faught years to progress past. </p>


Quit imposing your beliefs into politics

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<p>Protecting trans people is a must! Government must keep its nose out of people’s personal lives. The more they impose the less we have freedom. Worry yourselves over more important things like stopping all the school shootings, taking care of the people that actually work and have families to feed. Quit using these red herring policies as a political ploy. Stand out and stand up! Take real action and quit trying to curry favor with the rich. </p>


I oppose the model policy.

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This policy does nothing for parental rights and only serves to sanction in school bullying of trans youth.  There is no reason to make it even harder for LGBTQ youth when they are already the most vulnerable group of students.  This guidance will lead to more suicides if LGBTQ youth and is a huge step backwards for inclusion in Virginia.


Opppsing this policy would severely endanger girls in their bathrooms

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Please pass this policy


Judge finds transgender teen guilty of Loudoun County bathroom sexual assaults

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<p>The Loudoun County school board is 100% responsible for these elsexual assaults in bathrooms. </p>


This unlawful policy would severely endanger and hurt LGBTQ children

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First, this entire guidance document is simply unlawful. As Delegate Danica Roem has pointed out, "You can’t use executive action to overturn § 2.2-3900 of the Virginia Human Rights Act."

"It is the policy of the Commonwealth to:

Safeguard all individuals within the Commonwealth from unlawful discrimination because of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, age, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, military status, or disability in places of public accommodation, including educational institutions and in real estate transactions;

Safeguard all individuals within the Commonwealth from unlawful discrimination in employment because of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, age, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, or military status;"

Also - "Conduct that violates any Virginia or federal statute or regulation governing discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions including lactation, age, military status, disability, or national origin is an unlawful discriminatory practice under this chapter. "

Secondly, the proposed policy is incredibly cruel and dangerous. Misgendering and misnaming have a huge negative effect on a child's self-esteem and mental health; these horrible actions also stigmatize a child and can increase bullying and harassment of the child. This policy would also result in an increase in children being outed to unsupportive parents who would kick them out in the street. This has happened again and again.

Please do not attempt to put this unlawful guidance into effect. This would harm so so many children so deeply.


Parental rights in Virginia's schools

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In support of parent's rights to raise their own children as they see fit without having to worry about teachers or school administrators undermining them.


I STRONGLY oppose the 2022 model policy

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I STRONGLY oppose the 2022 model policy. All students deserve to be safe at school, and the proposed policy is based in hate. I support trans youth and so should our schools.


I strongly oppose this model!

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Transgender youth represent part of our future. Having at least one accepting adult can reduce the risk of their suicide by 40%. Polling shows that 85% of transgender and nonbinary youth say  that  recent debates around anti-trans bills have negatively affected their mental health. We need to protect our transgender youth at all cost! I STRONGLY OPPOSE THIS MODEL!


I strongly oppose

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I strongly oppose Governor Youngkin’s guidance to target trans youth and prevent vulnerable children from having accessible advocates in their classrooms. As a member of the LGBTQ+ community, I directly benefitted from teachers who supported and affirmed me while I was working on how to communicate with my parents. I am thankful for the space to grow and choose how I would be perceived outside of my parents’ house so that I could develop into the adult I am today.

I strongly disagree that this guidance is also directed outside of Virginia’s general assembly. Youngkin’s attempts to subvert law discredits his cause.


I oppose the Student Model Policy

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This policy does nothing to promote parents rights and will simply harm LGBTQ kids.   For some of these youth school may be the only safe space that they have and it is cruel to make teachers choose between their jobs and protecting some of their most vulnerable students.  I cannot oppose this policy more and is a huge step backwards for fairness and inclusion in Virginia.


I strongly oppose Student Model policy

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I strongly oppose Student Model policy.


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,
Mary Flynn
5438 E Calle Redonda
Phoenix, AZ 85018

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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 />Mary Flynn
<br />5438 E Calle Redonda<br />Phoenix, AZ 85018<br /><img src="http://admin.phone2action.com/email/open/leg/657523/148745204" width="1" height="1" />


Pro-parent policy

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<p>I strongly support the newly proposed  pro-parent policies. </p>


I strongly oppose.

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I strongly oppose these proposed policies—they discriminate on the basis of gender identity under the guise of protecting freedom of speech and parental rights. The proposed policies violate the Virginia Human Rights Act which prohibits discrimination on the basis of gender identity and sexual orientation.

It is a well supported fact that trans youth are at a significantly higher rate of suicide and self-harm when they are unsupported by adults. Trans students already experience a significantly higher risk of houselessness, self-harm, and sucide. By stripping students of their autonomy, denying them mental health care, outing them, failing to protect against gender-based discrimination, and refusing to use their correct names and pronouns, you are knowingly and intentionally putting them at higher risk. Children are not the property of their parents or the state, stop treating them as such! Enacting these policies will inevitably kill trans students. I demand that they be withdrawn.


This will bring harm to trans kids.

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This will bring harm to trans kids.


I support!

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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.


Prohibitions on teachers to respond to their students’ worries about their gender identity are dange

David Garth, Charlottesville Clergy Collective

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Please leave teachers free to talk to students about transgender issues without government or parental control. Free speech is personal  lz


I oppose this policy as a parent, educator and thinking person...

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I am a teacher, a person of faith, an engaged community member, a voter, and most importantly, a parent of a transgender child.  I believe that hard data is not up for anyone's opinion and should not be tossed out based on someone's political affiliation or a change of political party, meaning who is in power in any given time.

I am ashamed and shocked that the Department of Education has chosen to bow to the will of a governor who seeks only to advance his career and therefore has chosen to yield to the will of a group of people who have decided that their children "belong to them."  I know this is a real belief amongst far-right conservatives to whom Youngkin has espoused himself because this is a phrase I heard over and over at one of our local school board meetings from adults who support this new policy. These misdirected, angry parents asserted that finding out that their children might not feel safe enough with them to share this information with them FIRST must mean that others are trying to take their parental rights away.  How absurd of a notion is this?  Children are not property! The last time I heard white men and women raging about other humans belonging to them was in the context of slavery. These parents need a reality check.  Birthing a baby out of my body does not mean that that child BELONGS to me.  It means I have been entrusted with a gift.  I guide.  I teach.  And yes, I let my children fall down.  This is how they learn and grow and develop empathy and resilience.  I offer advice that they may or may not take.  But most of all, I LOVE.  I tell my daughters that they can tell me anything or do anything -- but I WILL LOVE THEM STILL.  My daughter who is transgender is a PERSON who I am raising to be a thinking adult who does not BELONG to me.  She belongs to herself, to the divine, to this world, and to the community she entrusts herself to, which I hope will always include me, IF I earn that place in her life.  And if she does not feel safe enough with me to trust with information she is not ready for me to know, then I have taught her to seek out people in her life that she can trust.  Because I know that I will not always be with her.  THAT is my job.  It is not to own her, to dictate her life.  It is to love and guide and nurture and fight like hell for her rights to exist as the person she wants to be -- whether I fully understand it or not.

I assert that these policies fly in the face of real data and scientific evidence that gender-affirming practices in the home, our school, our medical system, and workplaces are proven to improve mental health outcomes and reduce suicides rates in LGBTQIA+ populations.  I could cite the sources that report this data all day if I thought they would be helpful.  But we all know this is not about data.  This is about power.  Who doesn't have it.  Who wants it.  And who abuses it.

I did not have to find out that my child went by different pronouns and a different preferred name by her teachers or her school.  She knew that our home was a safe place to be herself, and she told us before any adults at school knew.  We made a plan together on when she could feel safe to share this information at school, and this happened on her own time, not mine.  But if it had happened any other way, that would have been 100% fine with me.  Do you know why?  Because I've gotten to know her teachers.  Always have.  I know that most of them are going to have her back and her best interests at heart.  Just like they will continue to do so, whether these policies pass or not.  Because real educators make decisions based on data, not politics.

Do you know why else it would have been fine with me?  Because alive children are better than dead children.  And affirming adults, whether it's me or someone else, mean that my trans daughter may just make it in this life without attempting to end her life because of policies like this one and the people who write them.  Shame on them for putting their own political aspirations ahead of the lives of children!  It is pathetic!

In case it is not clear, I don't care if these adults feel like their rights are being taken away.  I really don't.  What I want is for my children, AND their children, to survive this dystopian, post-Trump nightmare we're living in.  And if they need to whine about how they were out of the loop on something they would definitely already know if they knew their kids AT ALL, then all I feel for them is pity.  Their lives, and the lives of their children, would be greatly improved if they spent their energy on developing that precious relationship instead of trying to deny the existence of anyone who doesn't look, sound and act just like them.


I Oppose the proposed Model Policies re: LGBTQ+ Youth

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I oppose the proposed Model Policies re: LGBTQ+ Youth in Virginia Schools.

This new Virginia model policy rolls back freedoms for transgender students and will be harmful for the mental health and safety of trans, nonbinary, and gender-nonconforming students at school, as well as the broader LGBTQ+ student body.  Kids are people too, the Youngkin administration wishes to commodify LGBTQ+ kids for their own political aims.  Schools are supposed to be safe places for kids, this policy creates an impossible position for the schools and the kids.  Schools already have a hard time getting teachers...these model policies will make it harder.  Teachers will have a tougher time with choosing to be confidants and mentors, or alternatively being rats selling their charges to keep their jobs.  These policies require the teacher to rat out the student.  In a very short time, there will be no confidence in trusting a teacher or a school administrator with a problem in the student's life.  Schools are already a tough place for many kids, this will make it tougher with an increased environment for abuse and suicide. School bullies will thrive...the policies help them do so, they get the full support of the school teachers and administrators.  Mental health and safety of non-conforming kids will be the cost of these new policies, if implemented.  Leave the 2021 policies in place.


I support the proposal

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There are a lot of reasons why I support this measure, but I will only mention a few. If school supervisors truly care about the safety of girls, they will not allow males to use the same bathroom. I don't think I need to remind anyone why this is a dangerous idea. It is, in fact, one of the reasons why Gov. Youngkin was elected. If schools care about girls having a fair chance to compete in sports, they will not allow males to participate and compete against girls. A North Carolinian female volleyball player recently was injured when a male player hit her in the head with the ball, causing concussion symptoms, which she has yet to recover from. Her school has forfeited all matches against the biological male's school due to safety concerns. Parents have an absolute right to be informed with regards to their child's status and well-being. The role of child raising belongs to the parents, not the state. No one has the child's best interests in mind more then the parent. I say this as a father.


Kill this provision before you endanger trans youth irreparably.

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This provision is based on ignorance, bigotry, and cruelty. If you really care about rights of children and youth, help to stamp out transphobia. Policies of this kind endanger young people at the hands of others armed with hate and lacking genuine knowledge of LGBTQ lives.


The model policy supports only state-sponsored bullying, NOT parental rights

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I OPPOSE this policy change. "Empowering parents is not only a fundamental right, but it is essential to improving outcomes for all children in Virginia."  Yet the proposed policy does not empower all parents - it only empowers a small minority of parents and puts everyone's children at risk. This model policy does not support parental choice about our children unless the parents happen to share the same views as Youngkin and the Board of Education. It certainly does not empower most parents or any children.  It will be highly detrimental to our Virginia children, overriding our parental rights and the rights of our children. It supports state-sponsored bullying and will increase risk not only to transgender children, but to all children in any minority (racial, ethnic, religious, sexual orientation, gender identity, etc.).


In Support of Governor Youngkin's reasonable Pro-Parent Policies

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I continue to be amazed on how far some will go to circumvent the rights of a parent/guardian (in support of an ideology).  As if a child is consistently capable of making a well-thought-out decision (vs one based on emotion and/or hormones).  We know this to be true because we have  laws that govern when a teen can drive (the license is handed to the parent/guardian), when one can vote, when someone can purchase a firearm, the age at which one can marry, etc….   It’s not meant to be slight to the minor – instead, it’s a simple timeless observation that there is a time for parental oversight and judgement, and a time for independent thought and action (hopefully with a guided transition time in between).

Hence, I am in FULL support of Gov. Youngkin’s proposed 2022 Model Policies for the Treatment of Transgender Students in Virginia’s Public Schools.  An individual has their entire life to make a life-altering decision to “change” genders whether through external means (clothes, make-up, hair styles) or medical ones (chemical/surgical alterations).  The latter options are often permanent and decisions of that magnitude should not be left to a teen who can’t decide which zit to pop or whether to wear jeans or yoga pants (yes, this is a humorous generalization but it makes the point).

Logic and reason, folks…. logic and reason.  We use it in every other aspect of our lives…so let’s not stop with our children.   If a parent or guardian want to allow their child to change genders, so be it.  As for me, logic, reason and science will win the day.  I support Gov. Youngkin's 2022 Model Policies for the Treatment of Transgender Students in Virginia’s Public Schools.  A


The policies about parents seem reasonable

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<p>Hi. I am a queer bisexual woman. Don't enable kids making changes to their bodies they could severely regret later. And don't let them identify as nonbinary in ways that would clearly help them abuse others. </p>


I support this policy

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


Strongly oppose the proposed "model policies for the treatment of transgender students"

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I strongly oppose the proposed "model policies for the treatment of transgender students."

This proposed policy violates the Virginia Human Rights Act to “safeguard all individuals within the Commonwealth from unlawful discrimination because of . . . sexual orientation [and] gender identity . . . in places of public accommodation, including educational institutions.” This policy promotes discrimination on the basis of gender identity (at both the state and federal levels) and should not be allowed to be made into official policy.

More personally to me as a school psychologist, if enacted and followed, this policy will result in more student deaths by suicide and substance misuse. To remove cost-free and evidence-based forms of preventing deaths - respecting a student's preferred name/pronouns and their timeline for coming out - is one of the most unethical and cruel thing Governor Youngkin's administration could tell educators to do.

Please reject the policies.


Strongly oppose.


Protect our children

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This is all a terrible agenda that the children do not need or want. Parents do not want to even hear of the language being pushed onto the public let alone the children. It must be stopped!


2021 Policy document has good information and is useful, except for a couple of pages

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Reading through the 2021 document, I find that it is well researched and contains a lot of useful information for the "uninformed".  For the most part it represents an earnest attempt to protect the rights and the dignity of students that aren't "mainstream".   It is unfortunate that the automatic approach of the new administration is to gut it completely just to fix one main issue, which is the student-parent relationship (page 12-13 of 2021 document).  It is unfortunate that some parents will not support their children if they are experiencing uncertainty about gender, or other related topics; however, until the children turn 18 they are still the responsibility of the parents and it is not acceptable for the parents to be shut out of conversations between the school and their child regarding these topics.  That is the one area of the 2021 document that should be revised.   Yes there are bad unsupportive parents; I suggest we come up with a different solution to deal with that versus usurping their parental relationship with their own children.


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Protect Emotionally Vulnerable Children and Parental Rights!

Dear Virginia Dept of Education,

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.


Support Parents Right

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<p>I support parents having the right to know what their children are being taught at school. Especially if it goes against their religious beliefs. </p>


Strongly oppose this unconstitutional attack on LGBT youth

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This policy, which is an unconstitutional power grab aimed not at helping families but at Gov Youngkin's political ambitions will not help family unity.  It will get trans kids killed, by their intolerant parents or by their own hands.  Children are people, not property.  One's own identity should never be in the hands of others, no matter their relationship.

Protect trans kids.  This cynical, politically motivated power grab must not stand!


Guidance document

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<p>I strongly support the Governor’s proposal </p>


I absolutely agree with and support the proposed policy.

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<p>Vulnerable children need to be protected from trans activities and medical professionals that do not have the best interests of confused children in mind.   </p>


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,
Mary Alber
Clermont, FL 34711

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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 />Mary Alber
<br />Clermont, FL 34711<br /><img src="http://admin.phone2action.com/email/open/leg/657523/148740315" width="1" height="1" />


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,
Hannah Peskin
Malden, MA 02148

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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 />Hannah Peskin
<br />Malden, MA 02148<br /><img src="http://admin.phone2action.com/email/open/leg/657523/148740313" width="1" height="1" />


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,
Audrey LaRue
Triadelphia, WV 26059

<!DOCTYPE html>

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 />Audrey LaRue
<br />Triadelphia, WV 26059<br /><img src="http://admin.phone2action.com/email/open/leg/657523/148740312" width="1" height="1" />