Teachers More Important than Parents?

All of the Democrats on a House subcommittee on k-12 education voted party line 5 – 2 this morning to defeat HB 670 (R-Freitas) “Sage’s Law,” and HB 1120 (R-Oates) to prohibit biological males from competing on female sports teams. (Note: Delegate Carrie Coyner (R-Chesterfield) left her seat just before these two votes, but returned to vote on other bills in this same committee.)

“This bill would create a wedge between students and their teachers,” said the lobbyist for the Virginia Education Association (VEA) during debate over Sage’s Law this morning.  What about the bond a child has with his or her parents?

The VEA - the union arm for public schools teachers - elevated the bonds students have with teachers above the natural bonds that children have with their parents, and the fundamental rights of parents to direct the education and well-being of their minor children. Repeatedly this morning, we listened to opponents of Sage’s law – a bill to simply require schools to communicate with parents if their child is exhibiting behaviors incongruent with their biological sex – say that a student’s bond with their teacher was essentially more important than the bonds they have with their parents.

Sage’s Law is a bill we have championed the past two years, which is based on the heart wrenching experience of Michele Blair, who nearly lost her daughter to a mental facility that was seeking to “transition” her from a female to a “male” and did not want to give her back to her parents, which all started when the high school she attended in Appomattox had intentionally hidden her “transgender” identity from her parents.

The subcommittee chairwoman, Delegate Christie Simmonds (D-Virginia Beach), heard Sage’s Law and HB 1120 together, combining two separate and important issues with the only connection being “transgenderism.”  Despite giving proponents and opponents time to speak, she ignored Del. Freitas’ request that Michelle Blair be a co-presenter given that there are details about her experience that only she could appropriately give.

Among those to testify in support of HB 1120 was nationally recognized swimmer and advocate, Riley Gaines, who issued this statement on X:

In addition to these bills, all of the Democrats plus Delegate Carrie Coyner, voted 6 - 2 to defeat HB 757 (R-Walker) which allows instructional material used in any public elementary or secondary school in the Commonwealth to be open for inspection during normal business hours by the parents of students enrolled at the school, as well as HB 1516 (R-Early), which requires as part of Virginia’s Family Life Education curriculum that public school students be presented a video recording of a live ultrasound of an unborn baby.

Not only that, all of the Democrats, along with Del. Coyner, voted to approve (HB 571) brought by Delegate Karrie Delaney (D-Centreville), which would codify language discouraging school boards from using their authority to protect the innocence of children by keeping sexually explicit and pornographic materials out of school libraries, sending that message that it’s okay to have pornographic books on school library bookshelves.

While this may have been the final vote for Sage’s Law and Protect Girls Sports in the House of Delegates this year, that doesn’t mean the debate and pursuit to pass this legislation is over with.  The Family Foundation is committed to defending the laws of nature and biological realities, and protecting families from ideologies that seek to undermine these core values.