Transgender School Policies Delayed After Parents Speak Up!
Your voices matter. Below we've shared our press release that just went out today demonstrating the impact when Virginians speak up! I want to thank all of you who took the time to comment and share our alerts with friends, loved ones and neighbors. (Be sure to check out our video and public-comment sampling at the end.)
Parents are Clear: Virginians Oppose Mandated Transgender School Policy
Majority of Virginians Speaking Against Transgender School Policy in Public Comments Forced a Delay in Implementation
Richmond, VA–The Family Foundation of Virginia is calling attention today to the voices of thousands of families and Commonwealth citizens who made their concerns known loud and clear: A mandated transgender policy for all K-12 schools has been delayed from taking effect (originally slated for today, Feb. 4), after a majority of Virginians spoke against it in public comments last night.
"Just yesterday evening more than 9,000 Virginians had made their voices heard on the state-run public comment site for this policy," said Victoria Cobb, President of The Family Foundation of Virginia. "By close of business Wednesday, those comments reflected that the majority of Virginians were speaking 2-1 against it. State law is requiring every single, K-12 public school to adopt measures that align with this transgender policy that — in one fell swoop—erases basic parental rights and protections for the bodily privacy and safety rights of even our youngest students."
While the Governor and the DOE had direction from a previously passed state law to develop guidance for schools—this policy goes much further than needed and crosses the line into invasive violation of rights. "Once again, the Governor and his state agency are demonstrating their pattern of ignoring the voices of average citizens and their concerns," said Cobb. For that reason The Family Foundation brought together voices representing parents, teachers and school board members who provided the video press statement featured below. Included in the video are:
Sarah Via, a mother of students in the Hanover area who has personal experience with her daughter losing the right to privacy at school: "My daughter does attend public schools, and she's currently in a state where her body is changing and she is maturing into a young woman and, like most girls, she wants to be modest and maintain that modesty. She also wants to choose when a biological male can see her body. Why is it ok for ... school administrators to take this choice away from her?" said Via.
Peter Vlaming, a beloved high school teacher who was fired after 7 years at West Point High School, just east of Richmond, because he couldn't agree to a similar policy's demands: "It would be one thing if the guidance were suggesting true tolerance, asking teachers to respect differing views on gender, but that's not what this is. It's saying there is only one view on gender and every one must adopt and advocate that specific view. Tolerance is supposed to be a two way street and, in this case, that's not what is going on," said Vlaming.
Ginger Burg, a mother of six who serves on the Amherst County School Board: "We need to go back to locally run schools that reflect our community's values and not what the state thinks our community should be," said Burg.
Josh Hetzler, legal counsel for The Family Foundation's Founding Freedoms Law Center, explained that the Law Center believes the policy violates state regulations and laws and could open a floodgate of litigation for schools across the state.
Please also see a sampling of public comments.
