Virginia Regulatory Town Hall
Agency
Department of Education
 
Board
State Board of Education
 
Guidance Document Change: The Model Policies for the Treatment of Transgender Students in Virginia’s Public Schools guidance document was developed in response to House Bill 145 and Senate Bill 161, enacted by the 2020 Virginia General Assembly, which directed the Virginia Department of Education to develop and make available to each school board model policies concerning the treatment of transgender students in public elementary and secondary schools. These guidelines address common issues regarding transgender students in accordance with evidence-based best practices and include information, guidance, procedures, and standards relating to: compliance with applicable nondiscrimination laws; maintenance of a safe and supportive learning environment free from discrimination and harassment for all students; prevention of and response to bullying and harassment; maintenance of student records; identification of students; protection of student privacy and the confidentiality of sensitive information; enforcement of sex-based dress codes; and student participation in sex-specific school activities, events, and use of school facilities.
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1/11/21  10:25 am
Commenter: Dewey L Davis

Sexual Preferences are personal and optional. Biology is not.
 

I have no problems with any individual's sexual behavior or preference, within the law.  Clothing, mannerisms and other such displays are all fine with me.  

However, as a free thinking rational person, I should not be forced to pretend that a boy is a girl.  One's actual gender is determined before birth, at the moment of conception.  And it remains this way until our very last breath on earth.  Some children near puberty switch back and forth with great sexual confusion.  However, no amount of surgery or behavior modification can ever change our gender because it is locked into every cell of our body, with a pair of exactly the same DNA chromosomes that we were born with. 

So let people express themselves however they wish, but do not force my daughter to share restrooms/showers with your son.  There must be a recognition that there are immutable biological differences that drive some policies, and privacy, and medical care, which cannot be trumped by a teenager's sexual preference. 

CommentID: 89436