The proposed model would be devastating to Virginia’s families, children, and parents, as well as many teachers and other school staff.

• It would deny their right to freedom of speech, including freedom from compelled speech. It would also violate the right of parents to raise their children according to their own values and beliefs, which is specifically protected by Virginia Code Section 1-240.1.

• There is already a prohibition against harassment and bullying of students and unauthorized disclosure of their personal information, regardless of their gender identity. The proposed model would make transgender students a specially protected class of people above cisgender students (e.g., by treating the status of a transgender student as “particularly sensitive”), thus violating cisgender students’ constitutional right to equal protection of the laws.

• The proposed model would create an unsafe and stressful environment for cisgender students by requiring them to share their bathrooms and locker rooms with transgender students who have not fully transitioned. This would be especially unsafe and stressful for cisgender girls.

If the Board of Education truly cares about the well-being of all students and their families, then it must revise the proposed model to correct these fundamentally flawed policies.