Debate Over Virginia’s New Transgender Student Policies Highlights Parental Rights Battle

"Parents rights first": Fairfax County resident Lin-Dai Kendall protests at a rally outside Luther Jackson Middle School before a Fairfax County Public Schools board meeting, in Falls Church, Va., on Sept. 15, 2022. Terri Wu/The Epoch Times

FAIRFAX COUNTY, Va.—More than 20,000 comments—containing both strong support and objections—were registered during the first two days of the public comment period for Virginia’s new transgender student policies. The new guidelines, released on Sept. 16, overhauled the 2021 version by ensuring parents’ consent to their children’s name or gender identity change and requiring school bathroom use according to students’ biological sex.

In addition, a student LGBT advocacy group—the Pride Liberation Project—organized walkouts in about 100 schools across Virginia on Sept. 27, asking the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) to revoke the new guidelines and their school districts to reject the VDOE model policies. The demonstrations mainly concentrated in Fairfax County, where the student group is based, and the remaining northern Virginia counties: Loudoun, Prince William, and Arlington.

The 2021 VDOE model policies, finalized in March 2021 under the state’s former administration, allowed students to pick their names, pronouns, and gender identities without their parents’ involvement. As of early September, only 10 percent, or 13, of the state’s 132 school districts adopted them, according to Equality Virginia, an advocacy group for the LGBT community. Nine school districts rejected the model policies.

Virginia school districts' adoption of the 2021 Virginia Department of Education's (VDOE) transgender student policies according to Equality Virginia's data. Counties marked in blue passed the VDOE policy, while those in light blue partially adopted the policy and those in red rejected the policy. The blue school districts also show the number of schools that participated in the walkout to protest the 2022 policy on Sept. 27, 2022, according to data from the Pride Liberation Project and Loudoun County Public Schools. Terri Wu/The Epoch Times

“These new revisions betray the original intent of the law, instead attacking LGBTQIA+ students across Virginia,” the organizer stated in a press release, referring to the law enacted in 2020 by the former Democrat governor that authorized VDOE to issue model policies on the treatment of transgender students.

Macaulay Porter, spokesperson for Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin, said in a statement emailed to The Epoch Times: “The guidelines make it clear that when parents are part of the process, schools will accommodate the requests of children and their families. Parents should be a part of their children’s lives, and it’s apparent through the public protests and on-camera interviews that those objecting to the guidance already have their parents as part of that conversation.

“While students exercise their free speech today, we’d note that these policies state that students should be treated with compassion, and schools should be free from bullying and harassment.”

Pitting Students Against Their Parents

Loudoun County Public Schools (LCPS) is one of the 13 Virginia school districts that adopted the 2021 VDOE model policies on transgender students. The school board voted to adopt last year’s guidelines in August 2021, even though the majority of the online comments and in-person public comments speakers were against the policies.

Ian Prior, executive director of parental rights group Fight for Schools, at a rally outside the Loudoun County Public Schools (LCPS) administration building in Ashburn, Va., on Sept. 13, 2022. Terri Wu/The Epoch Times

Ian Prior, executive director of the Loudoun County-based Fight for Schools, a parental rights advocacy group, told The Epoch Times that the LCPS education system has pitted children against their parents.

“Governor Youngkin received nearly 1.7 million votes in November of 2021, largely on his promise to restore parental rights in Virginia. He has delivered on that promise,” Prior wrote in an emailed statement.

“The fact that a small minority of high school students are protesting the involvement of their parents in crucial decisions about their emotional, mental, and physical health proves the point that some of Virginia’s public school systems are far more focused on training activists than on providing a world-class education,” he added. “It is unfortunate, but predictable, that this has pitted children against the rights of their parents.”

In a Sept. 27 statement, LCPS said that about 1,375 students, or 1.7 percent of the total 82,000 student population, from 12 LCPS high schools participated in walkouts, which lasted, on average, 25 minutes. The statement said the activity wasn’t school-sponsored and that “students who chose to participate will not face disciplinary consequences.”

Hundreds rallied to protest against Loudoun County Public Schools' adoption of the 2021 Virginia Department of Education's transgender student model policies outside the Loudoun County Public Schools administration building in Ashburn, Va., on Sept. 28, 2021. Terri Wu/The Epoch Times

‘Disconnect’ Between Parents and Schools

Carla, a licensed professional counselor specializing in adolescents, young adults, and women, who has her own business in northern Virginia, has seen first-hand the rise of gender identity issues among her clients in the past few years. Carla is a pseudonym to protect her identity and business practice.

“I have seen more clients [students] disappointed and frustrated that the school allows the lack of boundaries. They’re confused and saddened by the disconnect between their parents and the school,” she told The Epoch Times.

“It feels hidden, covert from their parents, yet free-feeling that they can keep something imperative from their parents. But they’re smart. They intuitively know it is wrong. They feel equal and on the same playing field as their teachers, and they know that’s not OK.”

Pride Liberation Project’s statement quoted a queer student’s worry about the impact of the new policies: “As a closeted student, my friends and I are terrified that we won’t be able to come home if these proposed guidelines go through.”

Carla responded: “My thoughts are, ‘Go home! See what will happen.’ Maybe you’re wrong. You’re not inventing the wheel. Maybe your parents are stronger than you think. Maybe starting at home where you are loved is healthier than a sterile, boundary-less institution whose initial sole mission was to educate, not indoctrinate.”