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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2/3/21  11:04 am
Commenter: Concerned Parent

Do Not Support - You are disregarding women's rights
 

I wholeheartedly vote NO on this proposal.  I do not agree with the pressure by the media, hollywood, leftist politicians and inept parents to allow young children whose brains, body and emotions are not fully developed, to make such an uninformed, uneducated and dangerous decision to "change" the gender God had blessed them with in this life.  To me this means that you are saying God is fallible, which is wrong.  I do not want to go further into my beliefs nor judge a person for their actions (or inactions), but it does concern me that there is a promotion of something that will bring harm to an innocent child. This I will leave to God to make the ultimate judgement.

Regardless of what the parent and child decide, be careful that you are looking to remove the rights of the majority (girls and women) in order to appease a select few.  Several years ago there was the "Me Too" movement to empower women to ensure their voice, safety and well-being.  This so-called policy will silence and discriminate against women - biological women.  Argue either way, I believe that becoming transgender is a choice.  If you believe that science is real, then you cannot in good conscience place a biological male in a situation where they are exposed to women in the locker room and bathroom. Science will not refute that biological males are more powerful in body, size, strength than biological women. The potential risks of severe bodily injury or even psychological and emotional injury during "supposedly fair" sporting competition will have a last effect. 

As the father of a teenage girl, I fear that you are placing emphasis that she and other young women, DO NOT MATTER.  You have a responsibility to her and all young women to encourage and support them in our public school system.  Again, being transgender is a choice.  If someone chooses this, then they have to accept the consequences that go along with it.  You are trying to please everyone, which is impossible.  Find a better solution that makes sense without taking away or disregarding the rights and opportunities of my daughter and the other young women in our school system.

My children choose to pray in school.  Would you consider their First Amendment rights? Is that something you are willing to propose to the state? How is their choice of freedom of religion any different?  How about their right to peaceful assembly or to have a voice to be heard? 

Food for thought.... 

CommentID: 95153