2023-09-12 03:22:41
Arlington Public Schools announced that it will refuse to comply with the Virginia Department of Education’s (VDOE) discriminatory policies toward transgender students in the state, which were finalized by Virginia’s governor Glenn Youngkin (right) last week.
“We have reviewed the model policies and determined that our current policies and procedures for implementing policies that protect the rights of our transgender students will remain as is,” wrote Arlington Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Francisco Durán , in a letter published on July 20. .
The VDOE’s “model policies” prohibit transgender students from participating in school sports and using restrooms that match their gender identity. Under the new policies, teachers would also be required to refer to students by the name and pronouns listed on their official records, forcing them to misgender many of their students.
“Today, Governor Youngkin and the VDOE made the dangerous and politically motivated decision to ignore the thousands of Virginians who submitted public comments in opposition to the proposed model policies – policies that target transgender and non-binary youth in our schools”, Narissa Rahaman, principal. director of Equality Virginia, said in a statement.
This move by Arlington Public Schools comes after other school districts across the state, including Falls Church, Alexandria and Richmond, announced earlier this year that they would challenge the VDOE’s transphobic policies. to protect their transgender students.
Many of these policies were introduced as bills in the Virginia Legislature this session, but were rejected for failure to be signed into law. By adopting these policies, Virginia now aligns itself with states like Florida, Arkansas, and Alabama, which have passed some of the harshest anti-trans laws in the country.
“The government decides, not the parents, what is best for students,” said Shannon McCay, founder of the nonprofit He She Ze and We. CBS 6. “If they truly centered parents in this policy, then they would believe parents like me and all the families I work with. »
The original policy was unveiled in 2022 and received significant backlash from LGBTQ students, parents, teachers and advocates. The policies will affect more than 4,000 transgender students in Virginia. During an extensive public comment process, more than 70,000 public comments were submitted. Thousands of students also staged school walkouts to protest the policy.
In March, a transgender high school student confronted Youngkin about transphobic policies during a CNN event at the town hall. The student, Niko, asked the governor if he thought the girls at Niko’s high school would be comfortable sharing the bathroom with him. Youngkin dodged the student’s question.
“Even for a governor who has made his name manufacturing political outrage on the backs of hard-working teachers and innocent students, the intentional targeting of LGBTQ+ students in such a blatant and crude manner in the name of “rights” parents” is a scandalous affront. to decency,” Dr. James J. Fedderman, president of the Virginia Education Association, said in a statement.
The VDOE’s anti-trans policies stem from a 2020 state law that tasks the VDOE with creating model policies for transgender students. While the law was designed to protect transgender students and has been celebrated as such, Youngkin, who has campaigned on “parental rights” and against “woke,” has used the law as a weapon against transgender children. . Research by the Trevor Project shows that transgender youth who attend gender-affirming schools are less likely to attempt suicide — meaning Youngkin’s endorsement of these policies could very well be a death sentence for some trans children.
“All school boards and superintendents should remember that no school is required to implement this policy developed by the administration and should think twice before considering this politically divisive debate and expose yourself to extensive legal liability,” Fedderman said. “If implemented, these policies would undoubtedly threaten the safety and well-being of LGBTQ+ students, open the door to harassment, and roll back recent civil rights gains in Virginia.
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