Concerned Parent Who Wants to Protect Children

Strongly Oppose. Seriously, have you all lost your minds? Where's the common sense?

Where has the protection of all students gone? Allowing these policies to go into effect will set a dangerous precedent. Gender dysphoria is a condition in the DSM, a disorder to be treated by mental health professionals; but instead, this guidance would allow for a whole myriad of disturbing things to include boys exposing themselves to girls, boys allowed to compete in girl sports (hello, haven't we seen this happen already and it's absolutely absurd), and to top it off, teachers couldn't even question a child for entering a specific locker room. Does any of this truly sound safe to you all? Have you not daughters and sons you want to PROTECT? In theory, transgender and non-binary should be a small percentage of the population but in reality, let's think ahead to what can and will actually happen.


Strongly support

Schools should be safe spaces, free from harmful harassment and bullying.  Transphobia doesn't just harm, it ends lives.


OPPOSE

Have you ALL lost your minds?  This is nothing short of child abuse. No wonder parents are fleeing to private/charter schools, or on a waiting list to get in.


Proposed “Transgender” policy

I strongly oppose this proposal which puts the government between the parent(s) and their child. I strongly oppose this proposal that forces speech compliance.


The Rev. Stuart E Schadt, Trinity Episcopal Church

Support Policies for Treatment of Transgender Students in Va Schools

I was talking to a 7th-grade Virginia public school teacher recently who was grading the reading logs of her 100+ students. Remember how much less influence they have over each other because of virtual school and yet there was one clear novel that was most read. It was Wonder, the story of a boy with a facial abnormality that makes him stand out and be rejected by many. I think this story captures every youth's feeling of being different and fearing being an outcast. How much truer is this, how much of a reality is this for Gender Nonconforming students. We need to make our schools safe for Gender Nonconforming Students and for all students. These policies are a step forward.


Transgender Regulations

Are children really able to give informed consent to such a decision at age 5 or 6? Won't children be pressured to make these decisions? The privacy of the child and the right of parents are being violated.


I fully support this proposal

It is imperative that we continue to support the emotional and physical well-being of our students, so I full support this endeavor to place policies around how to handle these sensitive situations.


Condemn

We cannot let political and social ideology trump basic biology. By taking this action we are inviting our children into a world of anxiety, depression and suicide.


OPPOSE

Please let the school stay out of our homes and return to Reading, Grammar (correct), Math, Science (real), History the truth with the good and bad but the truth. Lets not fall prey to ideology or trends, simply  teach basics not what to think. The citizenship will do better if we just educate our children. Let them learn they will have less stress they don't need this we the adults are the ones pushing this stuff on them.


SUPPORT

I fully support this. We should all be supporting our kids, no matter who they are.


I strongly oppose this!!

This document is a complete undermining of parental rights, and represents a great danger to our children being abused.


Strongly Oppose This!

Strongly Oppose This!


Please stop

Please do not try to condition our children with this SJW crap. thanks!


Guidance Document

Strongly oppose!!!


Model Policies for the Treatment of Transgender Students in Virginia’s Public Schools)

Strongly oppose!!!


Strongly oppose

strongly oppose


Absolutely Oppose!!

I strongly disagree with this legislation. This is a violation of parental rights to teach my children according to my beliefs.


Strongly Oppose this ridiculous requirement.

I strongly oppose this requirement.  I am sick of these Leftist trying to take all our rights away.  lets end this now.


Support for the Guidance Document

This guidance document is vitally important to the ability of our young people to live as they are. This isn't about imposing anything on kids, it's about allowing them to be who they are.


Oppose regulation. Mental impairment needs addressing,  infringing privacy

In the aspect of gender identity, one should be obviously able to identify in one single observation regarding the specific identity of an individual's gender. This observation is made by a medical professional upon observation while in utero. Facts are based upon the observatory results based upon visual factual evidence in aspect of all things. Emotionally, if one certain gender cannot gather the evidence obviously endowed at birth and prior to birth. Then next should be questioned is the mental state of the the individual's obvious delusion and denial thereof. Furthermore,  is the realm of sexual exploitation to minors, we would have to regard this issue as a contribution toward the decline of morality and decline of mental and emotional stability as result of the pursuit of ones sexually perverse nature to be considered a race or ethnicity. The parents should be fully capable of teaching their own children how to properly understand subject matter regaurding sex, nature, and reproduction. According to their belief without interference from outside sources. The school system is to teach basic skills regarding academic achievement not interfere in the personal affairs of the individual unless abuse is discovered. In closing the view in which I and many Virginia Americans can agree. Is that the delusional mental state by definition and even scientific evidence (not bias by ones own persuasion). Only factual information, this movement, at its best is oblivious  lead  by mentally impaired people in sight of the most basic evidence of natural and biological evidence. The next step is to admit the facts of ones own gender and natral purpose without any denial by a perverse delusion causing a decline in morality and delusional state of mind.


Insanity

Stop trying to outwit nature.  Boys will be boys and girls will be girls.  If they want to change this, there are surgical options but short of that what you have is simply cross dressers.  You may try to fool nature but that is a fool's errand.  Young people who put so much stock in their gender are spending way too much time thinking about their genitals instead on concentrating on school work and adjusting to the world, instead of the other way around.  In real nature, boys...no matter how they dress...are more aggressive than girls and letting them into girls' bathrooms and locker rooms can and will lead to the disaster known as rape.  99.X % of  human beings know who and what they are so those that are confused or refuse to accept nature's decision must adjust to the real world, ruled by nature, rather than the other way around.  Don't force ridiculous rules on normal human beings. Let those that need help be helped.


OPUESTA A ESTA LOCURA

Parece ser que se les a botado la canica y no saben ni cual es lo correcto o moral.  Da mucho miedo saber que nuestros hijos estan a su cuidado.


Vehemently Oppose Transgender Guuidelines for FCPS students

In my opinion, the public school system's responsibility is to teach the basic skills in academic subjects so that the student will achieve skills in that setting.  Interfering with the personal affairs of an individual is not the responsibility of the school system  and I absolutely and vehemently oppose this intervention into the rights of the students and their families. This is a plot to take away our freedoms under the Constitution and must be thrown out!


Vehemently oppose this ridiculous bill to snatch away the rights of the individual and his/her families.  This bill is an attempt to squelch our freedoms and should never see the light of day.


STRONGLY OPPOSE

The school system should be teaching children reading, writing, math, science, factual non-revisionist history, etc.  Parents have a right to know what is being taught to their children and should have every right to refuse this anti-science agenda.  There will be a generation of permanently damaged bodies one day from children being encouraged to transition when they were never actually trans in the first place.


These Transgender mandates make no sense and I oppose them

As mother of a freshman son at a high school in Fairfax County, I very much oppose the mandates that you are setting forth here. They are ridiculous! The population of people who call themselves transgendered is minute. Mandating that ALL students and staff members change their ways of speaking when referring to a tiny population of the entire student body makes no sense whatsoever. Additionally, I absolutely cannot support the notion of allowing a child who is biologically female, into the high school locker room or bathroom with boys like my son. Again, this is ludicrous and potentially dangerous for the young woman who would attempt to do such a thing. As the mother of a high-school aged daughter, as well, I am especially concerned about her safety in a scenario such as this - which is one reason why we moved her out of the public school system and into Catholic school. Since time immemorial, people have been born either male or female. When I was pregnant with my three children - the options before me, when asking my doctor about the sex of my babies - were either MALE or FEMALE. No woman is ever pregnant or delivers a "transgendered" child. Such medical conditions can be documented and are extremely rare! This notion of *feeling* like a boy one day or a girl the next is simply not feasible. The science simply doesn't support it. Ask any scientist or doctor and he or she will tell you by looking at ANY person's DNA on this planet: they are unequivocally male OR female -  whether they "feel like it today" or not. There simply is no other option! Feelings need to be kept OUT of this argument. Asking the rest of the public school population to change the way they address this population (or whether they share a locker room with this child) for the sake of a relative few students makes no sense. This is why I respectfully ask you to please refrain from implementing these ridiculous policies and concentrate on more important initiatives, like getting our kids back to in-person school! Respectfully, Jennifer Callahan Fairfax County, VA


Transgender guidelines

we oppose the proposed guidelines for transgender students for many reasons. Among them are that imposing sanctions for not using ,and requiring made-up pronouns,or those pronouns that don't reflect the biological gender of a student puts teachers, administrators, and staff in a difficult position in an already difficult job. Also, parents should be notified before and when a school allows transgender bathroom and locker room use. Parents are informed of many other behaviors /unsettling events at schools, why should this one be an exception? Where's the vaunted "transparency" ?


Let the parents, not the state, deal with their child's sexual dysphoria.  Parents know their child and love their child more so than does the the state.  Besides, one law cannot possibly cover all cases.


Thank you for caring about these wonderful and vulnerable students!

I want to express support for these policies which support and uplift our transgender children--through these policies, they will be told they are valuable and deserve protection from bullying, accepted for who they are by using their chosen names, pronouns, and bathrooms that fit the gender they feel they truly are.  They will be able to focus on their education, building strong relationships with friends, teachers, and administrators, and do their very best as students.  Thank you!


Absolute Travesty!

The word travesty means to disguise, cross clothe, distort, or misrepresent. In the attempt to elevate a small percent of children in school, we are jeopardizing all. If a restroom for instance is no longer gender specific, girls will be at risk and unsafe to SIMPLY go to the bathroom. We already have enough problems with sexual assault, why would we literally put boys and girls out there as prey? It also opens the door to confusion for both teachers and students. Schools are not social engineering institutes; they are environments for learning. This evil is clothed as “good”when gender has never been determined by a person, but as a gift- male and female from our creator.


Opposed!

I am opposed to the very nature of this guidance and I am appalled that this transgender mandate has reached this point with no accommodation for those who will disagree if it were to become policy.   Do not approve this measure.  It is beyond overreach!


100% OPPOSED

My wife and I are 100% OPPOSED to this!


Support transgender students as a religious parent

My children will attend Fairfax County Public Schools when they are old enough and I look forward to policies like Model Policies for the Treatment of Transgender Students in Virginia’s Public Schools being in place when they get there. Whether or not my children identify as transgender, it is crucial that every person has safe and respectful treatment at school, mandated by VDOE, with clear education and guidance that may not come from the homes, faith groups or agencies that train teachers, staff and other students to lead or navigate a school setting full of people with diverse gender expressions. My faith nurtures all people as we are all made in the image of our loving creator, our whole lives-- any argument that people of faith don't support Model Policies for the Treatment of Transgender Students in Virginia’s Public Schools is bunk. There are plenty more parents of faith like me. As our schools support our children as they grow into bright and capable adults, we must remember the plurality of our communities and that we have to ensure children in any minority who could be targets for cruelty or any treatment that derails education must receive extra protection and the staff and teachers around them must have the language and guidance to make sure all students receive high-quality education and growth experiences. Maybe next year we can take it a step further and offer similar protection to transgender staff and faculty...


Tragic & Insane

This would be government overreach to the nth degree. It opposes biological science, common sense, and parental rights. Children can't take a tylenol in school without a parent's permission yet can be "affirmed" in their body dysmorphia? What about school employees who don't believe in this latest trend of encouraging mental illness? What if it goes against your religion? I can't believe this is even being proposed.


Strongly Opposed to VDOE Transgender Policy Proposal

The state has no business getting between parents and their children.  These types of sexual and identity issues are complex and caused by a number of variables.  How can a school employee possibly know what is best for these young people? State employees won't be there for these children.  Parents will.  These policies are evil and give the state too much power of the personal lives of its citizens.  Please do not enact them!


Opposed

Transgender student policies-  All students deserve to be treated with respect, I hope that goes without saying. They deserve to have a safe environment free from harassment. The majority of these policies however, go far beyond offering students what should already be their basic and universal rights, and cross the line into infringing upon parental rights and responsibilities for their children. A parent has the right to know about such monumental and possibly life altering decisions that their children are making.  In a perfect world parents would already be talking to their children about such things, but even if they aren’t schools shouldn’t have the right to supersede that relationship with no notice to the parents. Additionally, if no “evidence” is to be provided, and no student is to be questioned, and students are able to decide or change gender identity at any moment, what’s to prevent any student at any time from deciding a change in gender and going into any bathroom/ locker room they choose? It may sound absurd, but as written these policies do not protect the majority of students in these situations. Additionally, requiring all kids to wear gender neutral clothing for a small percentage of the school population is simply over reaching. Any person that is uncomfortable in “gendered” clothing should be free to wear something gender neutral- but why make other students conform to that? Where would it end? No headbands/ barrettes, bows?  It may be splitting hairs but such a policy would cause more problems than it attempts to solve. Finally, what constitutes harassment, besides the obvious forms of bullying? And why would a parent not be informed if their student was accused of it? Basic respect should always be the standard, but what of the many religions that are opposed to changing genders? Is there any protection for those students in these situations or is respectfully voicing an opinion equal to harassment and bullying?  These issues are not clearly defined. I do not support these policies.


VDOE Seeks to Compel Speech and Institutionalize Child Sexual Abuse

The Title of this comment specifies the greatest complaint, however, there is much more to be said which will be said all too briefly. The proposals first and foremost compel speech, which in Barnette vs The West Virginia School Board, the Supreme Court compared such compelling with the Nazi and Bolshevik reeducation camps. If the VDOE is and to enact such policies, it does so in direct hatred of the free speech and the rule of law. All citizens should stand up refuse these policies in court if they are ever to be enacted. Therefore, if VDOE chooses to adopt these policies, then VDOE stands in history with the likes of the Bolsheviks and the Nazis. Furthermore, the policies aim at forcing sodomite propaganda (and action which is in itself sexual abuse of the child) down the children's throats and creates a space by which the school institution groom the children for both future standard sexual abuse and medical genital mutilation. The proposals effectively criminalize the parenting of children by any who hold to the ideas about the family that are common to all world religions. The proposals further deny students due process and representation when in alleged conflict to these insane and abusive, including removing the protection of the parent. If VDOE adopts these policies, then VDOE for all intents and purposes acts as a sex offender and will doom a generation of kids to damage the equivalent of which is rape. All parents should stand up against these policies for the sake of their children by any means necessary. There is no excuse for any parent to allow a children to be so afflicted by the deranged lunatics at the VDOE. The disgusting nature of these proposals would cause any sane person to react in anger and it is a wonder that VDOE bureaucrats can act the part of pedophiles without legal retribution from the people who the apparently aim to abuse.


Proposed transgender policy under consideration for Virginia schools

I strongly oppose this transgender policy.


If it passes, the VDOE will endanger all students and parents

If the proposal passes, all parents should come together and suit the VDOE for supporting pedophilliac grooming policies and seeking to endanger students.


Transgender Policy

I am opposed to this policy. STOP THE MADNESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Bureaucrats behind these policies should be fired

The sadistic minds that would come up with these criminally insane policy proposals have no business working in education.


Proposed Virginia Transgender Policy

God created male and female sexes.  No others have been created.  Where did all these others come from recently.  It cannot be explained.


Opposed!

The proposed "guidance document" ignores biological reality in favor of an anti-science ideology which inflicts irreparable physical and emotional harm on children.  It is not "scientific" to pretend that genetically-coded sexuality does not exist and that gender is a purely artificial and arbitrary construct.  It is not "enlightened" or "compassionate" to exploit temporary feelings of gender confusion (which are common among adolescents) in order to subject teens and even pre-teens to manipulative "counseling" that pushes them toward gender dysphoria (and even to agreeing to irreversible genital and other physical mutilations, which many victims subsequently regret), while criminalizing attempts by any caring adults in their lives to help them be comfortable in their body.  Moreover, the document violates legally established parental rights, infringes on basic freedom of speech, subjects children of both genders to invasions of private spaces by members of the other, and requires biological females to compete in sports against biological males.  If they are adopted, they will be challenged in court and invalidated, but only after considerable tax money is wasted in trying to defend this ideologically motivated folly.


Opposed at all costs!

First, the idea is utterly absurd that gender is fluid.  Please wake up out of this nonsense! Of course, there have been many creative expressions of gender that were normative for that particular society throughout history.  For example, in some royal courts of the past, men dressed more fancy than, or at least as much as, the women as a standard norm in that society.  But the men were still men and the women were still women. Nobody questioned that. It is true insanity to believe otherwise. Second, for any child that is struggling with identity in any way, the school should NOT be DISCOURAGING the student from dealing with those emotional, mental, and sometimes spiritual issues away from their family, but SHOULD ENCOURAGE the student to work this out with full parental involvement. For it is within the FAMILY STRUCTURE that children learn and grow into who they are, not the STATE STRUCTURE. The state should be in the business of encouraging and promoting strong FAMILIES, not intruding into and taking over for the family in a government school setting. Third, how dare you ignore those children and families who live by the basis laws of nature as male or female and thrust this nonsense on them in a way that causes confusion at the least and possibly a loss of innocence and bodily privacy by allowing anyone to use any bathroom or locker room. That is by basic definition, sexual assault!!! DO NOT DO THIS TO OUR SCHOOL KIDS! Please get back to focusing on reading, writing, and arithmetic and encourage STRONG FAMILIES to help their children grow up in other ways as best seen fit by THEIR PARENTS.


I DISAGREE! NOT GOOD, NO NO NO NO NO!

I Strongly Disapprove of this Radical Push to eliminate differences between females and males and the brainwashing of our children and grandchildren. God created us as we should be...not to change it. STOP CONFUSING CHILDREN. STOP PUSHING CRAP INTO THEIR BRAINS. Thank you for hearing my comments.


Only Bigots Support these Policies.

Policies requires that no family can safely transmit their ethnic, cultural, or religious values and beliefs to their children - state threatens to take children away for their ethnic values.


Oppose

As a teacher for 6th grade, I understand my particular age is vital for growth and development. My girls specifically need a safe place, apart from eyes of boys.


This policy harms ALL children

I fully support policy that keeps children safe and makes sure they are treated equally. This policy DOES NOT do that. It instead encourages the possibility of school employees keeping VITAL information from parents regarding their child's gender and sexual identity--usurping parental authority and allowing a child to live two separate lives at school vs. at home. In what context would it ever be considered "safe" for a child to lie to their parents? This policy also leaves children vulnerable when using restrooms and locker rooms--subjecting them to use the bathroom and change in front of the opposite biological sex. Would you feel comfortable making a 13-year-old biological female completely undress in front of a 17 or 18-year-old biological male? This policy simply does not take into consideration the emotional or even physical safety of children when placing them in these potentially vulnerable situations. We know that sexual abuse is RAMPANT in schools and this policy is only further opening the door to this. These are only two of the many reasons why I oppose this policy. Listen to your concerned parents and citizens. I hope the DOE can step up and suggest thoughtful policy that ACTUALLY protects the well-being of all children instead of simply answering to the demands of a certain ideology or political policy.


The devil is the author of confusion

I Corinthians 14:33. For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints. (KJV). It is apparent that the devil has sunk his teeth deeply into governmental officials and policies. The morals, values and Biblical principles that this great country and state were founded upon are getting thrown to the side for the agenda of the truly spiritual confused elected officials. May God be with us if this passes, but I object to this notion


Vehemently Oppose Transgender Guuidelines for FCPS students


No !


Transgender school policies

God created male and female and nothing in-between or extra. All this transgender stuff in schools is wrong and harming our children!!


This Virginia Father and Teacher Opposes

As a father and public school teacher, I am opposed to these model policies.  Before I detail the specifics of what I find most troubling, I’d like to say a word about where we agree.  It will not take long.  We agree that “all children have a right to learn, free from discrimination and harassment” (Model Policies, pg 8).  After that guiding principle, our methods diverge drastically. I disagree with the belief that “gender identity is considered an innate characteristic that most children declare by age five to six” as cited in these Model Policies.  Although you cite studies that support this claim, these studies are as old as 2015 and as recent as 2020.  This evidence fails to demonstrate the longitudinal studies that are needed to document the long-term effects of choosing or affirming one’s gender at age five to six and how this decision affects one’s overall happiness and health throughout life if it differs from the gender at birth.  These policies are a hasty acceptance of an ideology that is in great need of more supporting evidence.  I am disturbed by their trust and willingness to embrace and promote ideas that could very well be harmful to children. Furthermore, I strongly disagree with the Policies’ intentions to support and affirm students in lieu of their parents’ support and perhaps in opposition to it.  The claim that “there are no regulations requiring school staff to notify a parent or guardian of a student’s request to affirm their gender identity” as described on page 12 is troubling.  Where else is this philosophy supported in public education? As a teacher, I know that schools routinely notify parents about a student’s visits to the nurse and about their struggles and successes in classes.  How much more is it important to work with parents on an issue involving their child’s sexuality!  Moreover, the Policies’ intentions to “be prepared to support the safety and welfare of students when their families are not affirming” as described on page 13 is startling.  Schools should support parents as the primary educators, not strive to supplant them.  It is parents who partner with schools to educate their children, and this document suggests that it is the school system and the state that get the power to direct a child’s future over their parent’s wishes, as seen in the first paragraph on page 13.  This is a dangerous precedent, one that is not entitled to the school system or the state, and one that I oppose most strongly. Finally, I am disturbed to read that “school divisions should accept a student’s assertion of their gender identity without requiring any particular substantiating evidence, including diagnosing, treatment, or legal documents” and that they do not require a “minimum duration of expressed gender identity,” as stated on page 12. Again, where else is this philosophy promoted in public education?  Rightly so, students are required to obtain vaccines and undergo sports physicals to demonstrate their fitness and health, and to show medical evidence of this before coming to school or participating in sports.  Will the school also stop seeking evidence of these for similar concerns about privacy?  To best support the mental health of students, schools should seek to collaborate with doctors, parents, and other medical professionals as equal members of a team instead of assuming that they are the sole arbiter of any child’s gender identity. As stated above, I find these Model Policies very problematic and potentially harmful to the students they seek to support and to the community at large.  All students deserve a “safe and supportive school climate,” and all students also deserve a safe and supportive home climate.  These policies have the potential to drive a wedge between students, their parents, and their families in their own home.  The VDOE would do well to remember that it was this home that was a student’s first school, that it was the parents who were their first teachers, and that it is the parents who remain their primary educators.


I Vehemently OPPOSE the bill in progress that will push the LGBTQ, etc. agenda in Virginia schools

Though I do not currently have any children or grandchildren in the Virginia public school system, I unequivocally OPPOSE the installation of a new initiative teaching Virginia's school kids favorable to the LGBTQ agenda.  This type of training should be done from the home, at the parent's behest and in as the parents see fit - NO ONE else!  Any legislative body that would promote this is far overstepping their boundaries, and when up for election, any in my district, will be voted OUT.  I do plan on telling my friends who feel the same on these issues about this, all of them Virginians, too.  This is NOT acceptable "education" for our kids, period.


Please consider the safety of our girls

All people should be protected and treated with dignity, including those who are confused about their sex or gender, but that does not mean they should be allowed to force everyone else to participate in their confusion. I have two young girls in the public school system and am deeply concerned about the risk this puts them at. I would like to continue to have them participate in public education, but will be forced to look into other options if the outlines provided are enacted in my county.


Absolutely NOT

When the government encroaches on the education of sexual orientation it encroaches on freedom of religion.  Believing in the bible and what the bible teaches conflicts with the current secular ideology being promoted by this proposal.  It is not only wrong, it is totally opposed to the constitution and to the reason this country was founded in the first place.  People came here to escape persecution for their religious views.  Shame on you for even considering it!


Support transgender needs

I am a therapist who has worked with transgender minors. Allowing them to use the proper bathroom, the one that fits their gender identity, is deeply important. It does not harm anyone; there are no negatives to allowing transgender youth to use the bathroom that fits their gender identity.


Strongly Support

Trans students are children. Their identity is who they are. When we, as a society, let one marginalized group suffer under the heel of bigotry, we take ownership in the cause of that suffering. Whether or not your personal faith supports trans children, although it is their choice, please recognize that their suffering from bullies, both young & old, is your decision. We can choose to prevent cruelty to children, as a society, starting from our government.


Protect GIRLS Opportunities and SAFETY

As the mother of three daughters (and two sons) I know how important athletics are to development and self-confidence. I also know WHY there are teams for girls and boys in the first place:  Because there are real physical differences between males and females, which mean that, on average, if males and females compete against each other females simply will not win. Often, they will not even be in the running. We have seen how this works in Connecticut and Texas, as competitions meant for females end up being dominated by males. This doesn't mean that transgendered students shouldn't be treated with respect or allowed to participate in any athletic program.  Yet we must reserve female athletic competitions for those with female bodies.  If we do not, we risk having girls consistently losing to those who were born as boys (which is already happening throughout the country).  It will destroy the progress that girls have made in terms of athletic participation and in terms of continuing to play sports in college.


Safety for our girls and staff

This policy is extremely dangerous for our girls, opening them up to assaults by men posing as girls. Giving kids the leverage over faculty they don't like is extremely dangerous and will get out of hand. Unacceptable policy.


Oppose teaching children about sexual transgender

Children are at school to learn reading, writing and math. Not to have a social issue be taught. Children can’t decide if they want to wear a blue shirt or a pink shirt. How do you think they can decide if they want to change their body to be something else? This is ridiculous!!


Strongly oppose

I am an educator in the public school system of Virginia. These policies will cause more harm and confusion within our schools. This whole transgender concept goes against logic, science, and God. We can treat all people with respect and dignity without being radical and political.


Support

I support the guidance for schools to support trans and non-binary students. There are so many kids in our schools who dearly need this support.


Do not support

I do not support this legislation.


Strongly oppose.

I strongly oppose this legislation. This will damage children’s perception about themselves and provide ample opportunities for abuse.


I Strongly Oppose Eradication of Gender Distinction

I oppose your proposed guidelines based on radical theories that eradicate distinctions between males and females. These guidelines, for those who believe people are born male or female, would create confusion, fear and emotional trauma not only for children who are developing their sense of identity, but also for their parents who are tasked with teaching them how to navigate the real world while in the more protective environment of the home. Additionally, it undermines a parent’s role and authority in raising their own children according to their conscience, the essence of human nature and families, who are the foundation of a healthy society.


Very strongly oppose for the health of the child and family

To confuse a child concerning their gender when they are actually either male or female is a diabolical and heinous crime. Do not pass this education legislation which causes an identity crisis in the child, if you really love children, the family, and America.


I STRONGLY OPPOSE

I oppose your proposed guidelines based on radical theories that eradicate distinctions between males and females. These guidelines, for those who believe people are born male or female, would create confusion, fear and emotional trauma not only for children who are developing their sense of identity, but also for their parents who are tasked with teaching them how to navigate the real world while in the more protective environment of the home.  Additionally, it undermines a parent’s role and authority in raising their own children according to their conscience, the essence of human nature and families, who are the foundation of a healthy society.


Transgender in schools

This is a private decision, not forced on by the Gv't. or school board !


Transgender students

This is beyond protecting some children - it's indoctrinating all children .  Strongly oppose.


STRONGLY SUPPORT

I strongly and enthusiastically support this guidance in support of our trans students. It is vitally important that trans students feel safe and welcomed in our schools, and this guidance makes that possible. Additionally, the science is clear and unequivocal that the idea of there only being "two sexes" or "two genders" is completely wrong. Whether you look at chromosomes, physical characteristics, or gender expression, they are never bifurcated into just two possibilities - there is a wide spectrum of each of these. So there is absolutely no basis to claim that science refutes this guidance, when the opposite is true: this guidance is is grounded in sound science and it should absolutely be enacted state-wide.


STRONGLY Support!

An accepted and supported transgender child is a HAPPY and HEALTHY child! The science supports transgender identities. It does NOT support any claims that transgender children are a threat to themselves or others. Every child deserves a safe and supportive school environment!


Strongly oppose!

Lord come in the rapture!


Listen to science (Dr. Paul McHugh and Dr. Michelle Cretella) ignore Democrats

Approximately 75% to 95% of children who experience transgender feelings spontaneously lose those feelings over time , typically during or after puberty. Dr. Paul McHugh, Dr. Michelle Cretella, and the American Psychological Association's Handbook of Sexuality and Psychology should guide policy, not the socialists trying to grab power. The term "liberal" used to mean freedom from government control in our private lives.  The honorable Mr. Harvey Milk would be utterly ashamed and horrified at the modern Democrat party.  The Democrat party used to say that the government should get out of the bedrooms of homosexuals; now the Democrats in Virginia want to get inside the pants of children in schools.  It is disgusting. The B in LGBTQ nullifies about 3/4 of the "Model Policy" under review.  Simple logic. Clutching the banner of "look at these victims we're trying to help," the Democrats charge forward with an illusory and delusional goal of standing up for the rights of transgender students. To transgender students:  The Democrats are lying to you.  They don't care about you.  They will use your victim-value and discard you like they have done with many others. If you are a transgender person or have children who are transgender, oppose the Democrat's pathway to new legislation.  This will bring nothing but new regulations, waste, and will divert schools away from what they should be:  A free, fair, open, and honest forum for the learning of facts. Not the disregard of science that is encapsulated in the proposed "Model Policies." The current document under review purports not to apply to athletics; that is because they understand that if they started permitting those born as boys to compete with those born as girls, it will result in massive harm to the girls.  Bet the barn on it:  next year the Democrats will expand this policy to athletics. But this is the insidious methodology of the Democrats; it follows the classic Marxist destruction:  Demoralize, destabilize, create a crisis, and normalize. Rinse repeat. The Democrats say anyone who doesn't support their LGBTQ policies are evil (demoralize), they say you (anyone who will listen) should hate those anti-LGBTQ Nazis (destabilize), that LGBTQ children are being bullied and are at risk of suicide (fake crisis that ignores the data), and ultimately, propose policies such as what are before us today (normalize).  This is a cycle that has gone back decades and will not stop. When they use up the victim-value of a group through this cycle, they move on to another victim. Stop the cycle, stop misgendering children, don't let these policies be adopted in any form; reclaim our schools and permit school choice, vouchers, charter schools, and let the poor send their children to rich schools.


Support Women and Girls!

As a mother of a Virginia public school student, I am deeply disturbed by this proposal, which will not only harm young girls and women, but allow public schools to deny parents information about their own child’s developmental issues and undermine a parent’s role their child’s life. The proposal states that schools, not parents, are the ones who should help a student make decisions about “gender identity.” In fact, the proposal states (emphasis mine), “Regardless of the circumstances, the school should support the student’s need for privacy and not disclose a student’s gender identity to other students or parents .” Further, the proposal seeks to punish parents who might question a child’s decisions to change their “gender identity,” by allowing public school staff to report parents for “abuse” if they are not supportive of their child’s decision to identify as a different gender than their sex at birth. The proposal also raises safety issues in that any student who simply self-identifies as another gender no matter their sex at birth and without any evidence that such identity has been asserted for any sort of duration, can use the same bathroom, changing facility, or overnight accusations, as those of a different biological sex. For young women and especially women who have survived physical abuse and sexual assault, sharing a bathroom with or having to remove clothing in front of an individual who was born and might even have gone through puberty as the opposite sex (which means they will likely still look like a member of the opposite sex in size and physical characteristics), can be very traumatic. Please consider the damage these policies will do not just to women and girls, but also to the parental bonds that are critical to a child’s healthy development.


Strongly oppose these policy changes.

Science is real: people are born with chromosomes that identify them as male or female. Let us not pretend that reality does not exist, and with it the fact that genitalia also identify biological sex (and the abnormalities are the exceptions that prove the rule). What people want to do with their own bodies is their right. But stop the nonsense of pretending biology does not exist. Not only is it nonsense, but it makes a mockery of the progress of feminism for the last half century.


Strongly Object

Gender identity is completely subjective and known only to the person. Students can opt to "change" their gender identity based on whichever whim suits them for that day. The notion that biological males can decide to identify as a female and then use girls' facilities is a violation of girls' privacy and modesty. The fact this can happen without parents being informed their daughters' privacy is being violated in such a way is an egregious affront to sanctity of the family and the trust between the school and the parents. These guidelines are based on concepts that are anti-science and anti-biology. It is going to cause confusion and harm to children--I believe it is tantamount to child abuse.


Strongly object

Think of the young women and men who will be in unnecessarily exposed to intimate parts of the opposite sex, in the locker rooms. A male who "identifies as female" in an all women's locker room for a gym class is completely inappropriate. How will the young ladies in there have the room for modesty? Comfort? Privacy? Security? And the young ladies who "identify as male" in the male locker rooms?? Is that safe for HER?? They are CHILDREN, too young to give consent, sexually, some, too young to drive, too young to smoke, too young to VOTE (some), therefore, and too young to know better, mentally and emotionally to oppose to the sexual trauma that will occur in these locker rooms from the unwarranted exposure and uncomfort in changing in front of the opposite sex. This is perverse.


The dying educational system

how can you find it acceptable as a society to brainwash our children into believing it is not acceptable to be who they were born to be?  Glad created us as men and women ONLY and there is no justification for allowing our children to be brainwashed and attacked for being who they are. I will NOT ALLOW my children to be in a school system that thinks starting children as early as five to be fought false ideology about genders and being told that there are more than 2 genders and they can change their gender.  You are preying on our children and their hormonal normal development and sterilizing a generation that is meant to be strong and fight for what is right. I do not and will not accept this type of education into the minds of my children.


Opposed to this confusion

In God's divine created order there are only two genders.  In the first book in the Bible (Genesis ) it states..... So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him, male and female He created them (mankind).  And God blessed them....  There is a blessing with staying within God's divine created order.  There are boundaries; there is order and it is good.  Anything else outside this is called "gender confusion".  Confusion is exactly what the name states  .. it means:  a lack of understanding  ... a breakdown of order ... a disorderly jumble ... unclear in ones mind about something.   These things result in the inability to focus attention;  impairment of awareness and spatial dis-orientation.  This leads to the loss of ability to think with clarity. Please let the children.. be children, not adults.  Some may need a gentle, loving Counselor to address some emotional/spiritual problems in their lives.  Some may feel forsaken; unwanted and unloved and want attention.  Please do not exploit them ... you will have to answer directly to God  if you do.


I strongly support these model policies for transgender students

Equal is equal.


Stongly Object

Please reconsider this policy. Every child—including those struggling with sexual confusion—should feel safe and protected from harassment. However this proposed policy goes well beyond protection. It undermines the role of parents, and gives too much of their role to civil servants. It goes beyond the need for every child to be safe and accepted, and expects those with genuine faith-based disagreements to positively affirm something they cannot without violating conscience. Those with deep religious convictions should also feel safe and protected from harassment.


No way, Virgina!

There is no way the state of Virginia should trump parents' rights when it comes to making decisions for their children. Representatives from the health department, or any other organization for that matter, should not have the right to discuss private information with children without their parents knowledge or permission.


Very Concerned

I am very concerned that as written, this legislation puts a wedge between parents and their children.  Prohibiting notification about preferred pronouns and changes made at school concerning preferred names creates an “us versus them” situation- it assumes that all parents are going to be hostile instead of including them in this important step of their child’s development. Parents, not the school administration, are ultimately responsible for their child’s well-being and this bill should reflect the essential role of parents to help their child make decisions and grow. I am very concerned about giving school administrators directives to hide information that pertains to their child from parents.


STRONGLY OPPOSE!!! BOYS DO NOT BELONG IN GIRLS BATHROOMS/LOCKER ROOMS!!!

The parent makes the decisions not the teachers and the government!  No you can't have boys just walk in to a girls bathroom or locker room.  How on earth are you going to determine if a boy truly feels like a girl so they get access to innocent girls using the bathroom/locker rooms.  So much more to write but not enough room.  Boys and girls not having to wear proper clothing... WHAT!!!! All students can decide which locker room to go in!!!  What??? Do you want your daughter or grand-daughter in a bathroom with men.  This is an open invitation for someone to take advantage and harm a child.   I STRONGLY OPPOSE!!!


STRONGLY SUPPORT as a former student

I am a former student of Loudoun and Fairfax counties, and inclusive policies like this one would have been life-changing for me. I'm nearly 30 now and still identify as gender non-conforming; the proposed changes here are evidence-based and could be life-saving. Please, please adopt these policies.


Opposed

Strongly object. Boys do not need to be in girls bathrooms!


Strongly OPPOSE your filthy perversions

We The People demand you withdraw this filthy, insane, demonic perversion on our children. If you want to be involved in filthy, insane demonic perversions, it is suggested that you go get a job at the Clinton Foundation (or become a priest).


Terrible idea

The government has taken a mental issue and labeled it as normal. I agree that we need to help folks suffering from this mental disorder, but it should be in the way of cognitive therapy.


Model Policies for the Treatment of Transgender Students in Virginia’s Public Schools)

Strongly, strongly object to the inclusion of school policies that would enforce transgender promotion in taxpayer funded schools/programs and that violate the bodily privacy and safety of our children!   Sex education and gender discussions are in the role of the parent, not the school system.


Strongly support this legislation

Students need to be treated with dignity, fairness and compassion.  Their needs as transgender and non-binary individuals must be attended to as provided in the VDOE Model Policy.


Transgender recognition and bathrooms

Please do not contribute to the perversion of our country by making transgender recognition mandatory publicly. This is an outrage and very offensive to males and females across our state.


Transgender recognition

As a medical doctor, I strongly OPPOSE transgender recognition; it only contributes to confusion, depression, anxiety and often suicide.


I Strongly Oppose...

...many aspects of the new Guidance Document regarding the teaching on transgender issues in Virginia's public schools. Specifically: 1) We should not mandate that Virginia's public school teachers teach on these issues, which are very personal, and are better handled by families and/or qualified mental health professionals. 2) Public school teachers who know that a particular student is struggling with gender identity issues should not be allowed to conceal that fact from parents. 3) Biologically male students should not be allowed to use female bathrooms or locker rooms (or vice versa).   It is critical to both the physical safety and the mental and emotional health of our children, that each gender should be taught to respect the privacy and the physical boundaries of the other gender. Trygve Gaalaas


Strongly oppose

It saddens me that we have come to the point where we have to teach a child that they can "be" any gender they want to be regardless of the fact they were born with a certain gender.  What is even worse is that we have to teach a child what sexual orientation they can "be."  Just let children be children and when they are adults they can "choose."


Education of Our Students Needs to Be On Core Subjects

The time that our students spend on school related studies is valuable.  Our teachers are hired to teach our children how to be good citizens, teach life skills and core curriculums.  Teaching about the transgender lifestyle or other lifestyles has no place in our schools. Teaching about alternative lifestyles does not help our child to thrive in a competitive world or be ready for the workforce.  The educational system needs to step back and refocus on scholastics. Sincerely, Brenda Kline


Transgender Changes in Education

Do we really need this? Show us the study that proves it. This is yet another misguided culture war missile serving little or no purpose. No.


No on transgender changes, please focus on openning the schools

This is unnecessary and maybe harmful legislation that will solve nothing. Please focus on re-opening schools instead.


Revision to Proposed Transgender policy

In response to the new Transgender Policies for School Districts in Virginia: In the section regarding Bullying, Harassment, and Discrimination the proposed policy states: “The [School Division] prohibits any and all discrimination, harassment, and bullying based on an individual’s actual or perceived race, color, national original, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, or any other characteristic protected by law. Any incident or complaint of discrimination, harassment, or bullying shall be given prompt attention, including investigating the incident and taking appropriate corrective action, by the school administrator. Complaints alleging discrimination, harassment, or bullying based on a student’s actual or perceived transgender status shall be handled in the same manner as other discrimination or harassment complaints. The [School Division’s 11 Designated Contact] shall be available to hear concerns from students or parents when complaints are not resolved at the school level”(page10). We emphatically agree with these protections for students’ safety and wellness. All children are wonderfully made for good works.  They are to be unconditionally loved and welcomed into schools and learning environments.  They must be afforded equal opportunities to prosper with a bright future of achievement and hope. There are sections that infringe on the sovereignty of families and religious freedoms and conflict with current Virginia code. In the section Student Privacy and Confidentiality, t he proposed policy states: “ All school personnel shall adhere to legal standards of confidentiality relating to information about a student’s transgender status, legal name, or gender assigned at birth. In addition to adhering to all legal standards of confidentiality, school personnel shall treat information relating to a student’s transgender status as being particularly sensitive, shall not disclose it to other students and parents, and shall only disclose to other school personnel with a legitimate educational interest” (page 12). This sentence must be revised to remove the words “and parents” in order for school personnel to partner with parents and families for student success. Parents must still have authority over their student and be informed of any gender expression different than sex assignment. School personnel must inform the parent or guardian if the student has expressed a different gender expression than the sex assignment for three reasons: 1. Healthy school culture is built upon parent/family and school partnerships  2. Current Virginia Code calls for parent notification for health concerns § 22.1-272.1. Responsibility to contact parent of student at imminent risk; and 3. parents have access to educational records per 20 U.S.C. § 1232g FERPA and Virginia code § 22.1-287.1. Parent and community relationships are a hallmark in high performing schools with a healthy culture. The National Parent Teacher Association states, “ Parents know that they play an important role in their child’s success. But traditional family engagement practices don’t always meet the needs of each and every family, nor treat them as equal partners in ensuring their child’s success. Family-School partnerships often focus primarily on academic success, but whole child development i s also an essential part of the conversation. Parents must be informed albeit delicately and with a trusted counselor present if a child has asked to be referred to as a different gender than registered. According to the research completed by the Institute of Education Services on family and school partnerships, “ Parent and community engagement depends on strong, trusting relationships…part of developing such relationships is building a bridge between home and school cultures”(Gorinski & Fraser, 2006). In addition, The Toolkit for Engaging Families and Communities as Partners in Education goes on to state that trust is defined as “an individual’s or group’s willingness to be vulnerable to another party based on the confidence that the latter party is benevolent, reliable, competent, honest, and open” (Hoy & Tschannen-Moran, 2003, p. 189). If families are to trust teachers and other educators, they must believe that school personnel are qualified, fair, and dependable, and have their child’s best interest at heart (Bryk & Schneider, 2002). To do anything else is divisive and subverts that parent’s authority in the child’s life. Interactions between the school staff and the families are based on trust and mutual care for the student. Knowing that LGBTQ students often have increased thoughts of suicide and depression, it would make sense that Virginia follow it’s current policy of reporting to parents if a student is at imminent risk for suicide per § 22.1-272.1. Parents have a legal right to inspect all educational records per FERPA 1974. If a student makes a request to affirm their gender identity this must be shared with the parent. Additionally, the concept that the name/pronoun a student asserts at school would not be disclosed to a family is counterintuitive to the most basic provision of FERPA “ Schools may disclose, without consent, "directory" information such as a student's name,”  FERPA calls for schools to disclose this directory information to parents,  “However, schools must tell parents and eligible students about directory information.” The section Student Identification the proposed policy states: “Schools shall allow students to assert a name and gender pronouns that reflect their gender identity without any substantiating evidence.” This should be revised to state:  School staff shall, at the request of a student with the consent of the parent in writing, address the student using the asserted name and pronoun that correspond to their gender identity. As a name is a basic requirement for enrollment in all school districts in the state per every district website that is supplied with substantiating evidence, a paper or electronic form can be used to document the student’s preferred name and pronoun with parent consent. Forms are required for most declarations regarding sex per Virginia code §32.1-6. There can be nothing more damaging to the trusting relationship between the school system and a family than withholding mental and physical wellness information about a student.  All Virginia families will concur that the parent has moral authority over the student until 18, and has the responsibility to influence their student’s identity until the child reaches the age of majority per Virginia state code §1-13.42 . Consequently, children must defer to parents for guidance during this period of time. References Goddard, R., Tschannen-Moran, M., & Hoy, W. (2001). A multilevel examination of the distribution effects of teacher trust in students and parents in urban elementary schools. The Elementary School Journal, 102(1), 3–17. http://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ637784 Goodwin, L., & King, S. (2002). Culturally responsive parental involvement: Concrete understanding & basic strategies. Washington, DC: American Association. www.NPTA.ORG


Stuck on Stupid

Males are males, females are females, regardless of their "orientation".  There is simply no other way, rational, scientific, religious, or otherwise, to see it.  Virginia is stuck on stupid.


Strongly opposed

As a father of four, I strongly OPPOSE transgender recognition; it only contributes to confusion, depression, anxiety and often suicide.


Stick to the basics

With school curriculum being halted and disjointed due to the Covid Pandemic, my children and students’ needs are NOT being met.  Adding additional topics of opinion into the curriculum will only take time away from the children learning about reading, writing, mathematics, science and social studies. The education of topics like endorsing special interest groups including transsexual topocs belongs at home and should be taught by the parents.


LGTBQ Guidelines for Schools

Oppose !!! Once a male ALWAYS a male. Once a female ALWAYS a female. Quit abusing children and don't mutilate them !!!!!


Parent of 3 daughters in Virginia Public Schools

Oppose- disregards privacy and safety of girls and erases achievement of female athletes

This policy sets in place the special interests of certain students as more protected than others. When girls who follow their biological gender are required to share their safe spaces (school bathrooms, changing rooms) with those who identify as female but are biologically male, their rights are disregarded and their personal safety is compromised. It also clearly discriminates against female student athletes who follow their biological gender and will now be competing against student athletes who identify as female gender but are biological males. This completely disregards the distinct physical differences between a biological male and a biological female in regards to physical capacity, strength, etc. Simply compare any elite biological male and biological female who compete in similar events (ie: 100 meter freestyle, 400 meter races).


Strongly Oppose

Strongly oppose! No protection for teachers, families and students with Biblical beliefs.


Transgender school policy

Here is another example of government over reach. This time deep into our families. It condradicts natural law, goes against what even small children understand about boys and girls, and even seems to have the goal of forcing teachers to comply by participating in something that goes against all that makes sense. Can't we love children who are having difficulties without destroying all else?


Strongly oppose

Strongly oppose


Strongly oppose transgender guidance in schools

I oppose school interference in transgender matters.  Psychologists say that children often change their minds about this major decision, which, if pursued medically, can be irreversible. To require identification labels makes sexual identity the prominent issue in school, instead of learning.  Also, regulations about sexual identity may violate a family’s sincerely held religious beliefs. Why has the education system pivoted from traditional subject matter to political issues, especially since the quality of American education doesn’t compete well with other countries?


Strongly Support Model School Policy

As a local church pastor and educator I strongly support the model school policy for the treatment of transgender students in Virginia's public schools.


Strongly Support

I strongly support these model policies for the treatment of transgender students.


Strongly oppose

I oppose school interference in transgender matters.  Psychologists say that children often change their minds about this major decision, which, if pursued medically, can be irreversible. I would not want to see my girl in the same change lock room with the transgender, nor to see them in the sport competitions.


STRONGLY OPPOSE

We are confusing our children and teaching them to be SCIENCE DENIERS.  Pretending isn't science!


Transgender policy in public schools.

I am strongly opposed to this legislation. This policy is unfair to the other students at school and would expose them and put them at risk.


Brian Kilpatrick, MD. Liberty University College of Osteopathic Medicine

Transgender bills that are not rooted in classical genetics are flawed at the core.

I am a board certified Internal Medicine and Pediatrics physician.  I have been trained in biology and genetics.  There is no science that supports the transgender movement as opposed to a classical understanding of male (XY) and female (XX).  One’s “maleness” or “femaleness” is fixed by genetics.  You can argue against this and/or pretend it is not true, but any deviation from this fact is only based on one’s psychological state, which can change over time.  One merely needs to look at the data on how many younger people change their minds over time and ultimately abandon their transgender feelings.  The other major flaw in the transgender movement is that the scientific data on outcomes is horrible with so many patients worse off and committing suicide after all of the procedures that are done.  So to enshrine in legislation facts about transgenderism (that it is a good that needs to supported and encouraged) is so far off base as to be abusive, especially to minors. It is one thing to offer true informed consent to those over 18 but to restrict parental input in decision-making for minors is tantamount to the promotion of child abuse by the state.


I oppose this strongly on both moral and religious grounds!!!!!

This is contrary to our belief as Christians and our moral belief as fellow citizens.


I strongly oppose ..schools teaching.

I strongly oppose this.  This is up to the parents to talk to their kids about this.  Why confuse the child more?  Crazy..the government needs to stay out of this.


ABSOLUTELY STRONGLY OPPOSE Model Policy for the treatment of Transgender students

This is a deceptive policy dividing parents and children through deception.  This will not unify or foster cooperation in any realm between the schools and families.  Children do not need to be prodded by the school in any direction towards gender identity.  These policies are wrecking havoc is families already.  My grandson was assaulted by an older teenage boy who's been influenced that it is "cool" to be transgender and was "experimenting."   This is absolutely wrong and will encourage more assault.   I absolutely abhor this policy. As well as having transgender boys, who are almost men, in high school girls locker rooms is a disaster waiting to happen.   This is total stupidity being presented.


Strongly support

This is an excellent way to ensure everyone is treated in a consistent manner,  regardless of the location


Support

I support the guidance.


I strongly oppose this bill!

Strongly oppose this bill.  The responsibility for children in this area is with the parents and we do not need government dictating policy - particularly in this area.  I fine it interesting that legislators would vote for such a bill and cause it to appear that this is the opinion of the majority of those that they represent - this is absolutely not the case.  This bill can have an adverse impact on many lives of children that do not have an identity problem but will very possibly have one that is created by this law.  The legislatures that are in favor of this bill should be ashamed of themselves and should be exposed and voted out of office when their seat is up for re-election.


Strongly Oppose Transgender Education Programs in Schools

I strongly oppose any laws or policies that enable school staff to have authority for the health and moral instruction of minors,  Parents are best qualified to support their children and guide them according to their moral standards.  Granting the authority for a child's well being to someone other than the parent or legal guardian is a serious violation of parental ' rights and an unsafe practice. My opposition applies not only to transgenderism but to any issue regarding a child's sexuality, health, or morality.  Teachers and school administrators should focus on educating children in the basis, and leave sexuality, health, or morality to parents. Personally, I will remove my children from the public schools if this is enacted. Very truly yours, KWC


Public education that presents false or immoral guidelines to children is subject to prosecution.

Public education must be worthy of public trust. The presentation via materials, leadership oversight, faculty, must be based on the moral standards on which the founders of America, and the first established educational institutions of higher education, and the charters and constitutions of the states is enshrined. Immorality is not enshrined in those doctrines. Anti-Christian doctrines of rainbow stripes have always existed, although at the whim of recent anti-American mobs, these perversions have been thrust forward as useful. These perversions are not useful, and our children must actually now be protected from the damage and intrusion of cruel and abusive actors in this arena now legally labeled "child abuse and corruption." Therefore, as a strong moral society, we demand the removal of homosexual, lesbian, pedophile materials from our schools- and those who push for them- or legal action to do so will be forthcoming.


Strongly Oppose

Educators need to focus on one thing: teach the meaningful subjects like reading, writing, arithmetic, geography and history that will enable children to function in a civil society, obtain a good job and provide for themselves.  The government and socially conscious educators need to stay out of the business of parenting other people's children.


Oppose

We do not need a special mandate for this.


These draft policies undercut parents’ involvement in the life of their children

[ https://www.familyfoundation.org/blog-posts/problems-with-statewide-school-transgender-policy?eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=f2df4ce7-fe5d-49ff-b013-c275cacde662 ] Question: What’s wrong with a policy for schools to avoid discrimination and harassment against transgender students? Answer: I agree with you that every single child—including and especially those struggling with sexual confusion—should be protected from harm and harassment. There is no question of that. And Virginia has a good anti-bullying law. But this new, proposed policy goes way beyond prevention and crosses the line into mandatory promotion of politicized, sexualized ideology. Considering that scientific studies and medical experts make clear the majority of children outgrow gender confusion by the time they reach puberty—it’s, at best, irresponsible to push involuntary promotion of gender confusion in a public education setting—and, at worst, actually damaging to kids who are still developing. (See statements about most kids outgrowing gender confusion in this Psychology Today article , as well as in this study and this one .) Question: But how exactly would this policy promote gender confusion in schools? Answer: It encourages schools to implement across-the-board promotion of the concept that gender is “viewed as a gender spectrum” and can be “something in between or outside the male/female binary.” It declares that sex is arbitrarily “assigned” to babies at birth, rather than an innate part of God’s design and gift to human beings. If you think about a little girl or boy who still thinks the opposite sex has cooties, that is a very confusing, potentially damaging message for young kids to process. Not to mention that the scientifically false statement that people are just arbitrarily “assigned” a gender when they’re born—sort of like affixing a branding label to them at the store—totally divorces gender instruction from any reality whatsoever in basic DNA science and biology. It’s also important to note that the draft policy makes clear the Virginia Department of Education wants this radical thinking reflected in every operational part of the school—even advocating for schools to incorporate “educational content that is transgender affirming into the general education curriculum, such as history, literature and science.” Question : I keep hearing people say this policy threatens parental rights—but isn’t it just trying to protect students from abusive parents? Answer: Let’s be clear: We all agree that parents should unconditionally love, nurture and protect their children regardless of the circumstances—and abuse is always wrong for any reason. The disturbing reality, though, is that this policy opens the door to defining Christian, Bible believing parents—or others of faith—who aren’t deemed to fully embrace or comply with transgender politics as “abusers.” For instance, it states that in situations “when their families are not affirming,” the school should “be prepared to support the safety and welfare of transgender students” and then encourages schools to report abuse concerns to Child Protective Services immediately. This begs the question, exactly how will “affirming” be defined and who will define it? Plus, the policy encourages schools to outright deceive parents:  It says schools should “respect” students if they don’t want their parents to know about their new transgender identity. The suggested plan for implementing this “respect”— and the policy specifically spells this out—is that, in cases where parents are not embracing or facilitating their child adopting a new gender identity (like using a new name, pronoun, etc.), then teachers can use the child’s new identity at school, but in the presence of the parent use the original legal name and so forth. Encouraging kids to lead a double life and hiding vital information from parents that could make a life-saving difference in kids’ lives is clearly not wise or safe. (There are already disturbing controversies like this happening in Wisconsin and Utah .)


Strongly Support

Strongly support. This is a life-saving measure and should be a no-brainer. Everyone deserves to be able to go to school safely and without fear.


I am against the transgender policies.  It jeopardize the bodily privacy and safety of our children.

Let's use some common sense.  Boys/men are different than girls/women in more ways than physical.  They have no need to use women's facilities.  And FOR SURE they should not be competing together.  Why in the world have women fought for their own sports & now have all that destroyed for a very very small percentage of individuals looking for an easy win.  Let's grow up and do the right thing for the women & girls.


Strongly oppose

STRONGLY OPPOSE!!


Gender promotion/transgender

Government officials do not have a public mandate to enforce gender promotion in all taxpayer funded schools and jeopardize the bodily privacy and safety of our children. I am against this effort. It is very dangerous ground you want to promote.


Strong Opposed

Strongly opposed


Strongly oppose

I strongly oppose the proposed changes to the transgender school policy.  Schools should not come between parents and their children by assuming they know what's best for the students and deceiving the parents in communications with them.  With all the national discussion about following the science re. Covid and climate change, it is being completely ignored in this discussion.  To say that gender is a social construct and is assigned at birth instead of being biologically determined is completely anti-science. I urge you to not adopt these proposed measures.


STRONGLY OPPOSE VDOE DICTATES

As a parent of school-aged children I am outraged at the VDOE's attempt to usurp parental rights in an effort to dominate children into their way of thinking. They advocate thought control - forcing speech that goes against nature and science and reality: our gender is written in our chromosomes! I am outraged at the totalitarian re-education regime that is bullying innocent children into forced speech.  Black is white, up is down, and male is female.  This is insanity.  The emperor has no clothes, people. Wake up! Children who make a "mistake" and use the wrong pronoun will be disciplined for using pronouns as they have been used throughout the millenia of human history - pronouns that match each person's biology, down to the chromosomal level.  It is basic science.  Parents will not know when and how their children are disciplined. This legislation is an attempt to bully, coerce and rob loving parents of their rights to raise and educate their beloved children in the way they see fit for their earthly happiness and mental wellbeing, and more importantly for their immortal souls.  One has only to search for 'gender dysphoria' or 'detransitioning' to find numerous examples of formerly transgender adults, who regret their use of hormones and body-mutilating surgeries, that now do not allow them to be able to have children of their own. To deceive children in this way is mental child abuse. Almost as bad is that religious concerns are completely ignored.  As Americans - and we are Americans, right? - this nation was founded to escape religious persecution.  Here it is in a new form, again.  This legislation upends all precedent against religious persecution, ignoring and not even considering the deeply held religious beliefs of individuals who due to poverty or other circumstances are forced to attend public schools.


Strongly OPPOSE Transgender Policy

Focus your efforts on getting kids back to school and stop the transgender nonsense. Stop wasting taxpayer's money. Kids are confused enough without promoting gender dysphoria, and quite frankly this is not the business of the Department of Education or local school boards.


Educator in Support

As an educator, I strongly support these model policies for the treatment of transgender students in Virginia’s public schools. I affirm the notion that the guiding principle of all policies should be that all children have a right to learn, free from discrimination and harassment. I look forward to all local school boards developing and adopting policies that ensure all students, including transgender students, have safe, supportive, and inclusive school environments. These model policies are well-researched and thoughtfully formulated. I appreciate the attention paid to the safety of transgender students in all manner of scenarios. The model policies help point the way to an education system that encourages all students to thrive, which is as it should be. Thank you for your work in this area.


transgender policy

I am not in agreement with the transgender policy. Students should have the right to privacy. Science has proven from  biology, male or female. Mental health is another issue entirely. Please don't force this on all students.


Strongly oppose Transgender policy

I do not approve of the VDOE’s proposed guidelines based on radical theories that eradicate all distinctions between male and female and indoctrinate our school children. While there are plenty of reasons I oppose these guidance policies, here are TEN reasons: Failure to use a student’s new “preferred pronouns” – which can change from day to day and even defy basic rules of grammar (“ze/hir/hirs”, “they/them/their”) – would be “harassment” and “discrimination”, for which both faculty and students would be subject to disciplinary action. “For transgender students, acts of verbal harassment may include the intentional and persistent use of names and pronouns not consistent with their identity.” “A school administrator may need to direct school staff to abide by the wishes of a student on their asserted name and pronoun. A school employee’s intentional and persistent refusal to respect a student’s asserted name and pronoun is considered discriminatory.” “Complaints alleging discrimination, harassment, or bullying based on a student’s actual or perceived transgender status shall be handled in the same manner as other discrimination or harassment complaints.” Schools will be permitted to help a student explore, facilitate and make decisions regarding their gender expression of sexual identity while at school, without a parent even knowing! “School divisions will need to consider the health and safety of the student in situations where students may not want their parents to know about their transgender status … There are no regulations requiring school staff to notify a parent or guardian of a student’s request to affirm their gender identity...” The definition of “Gender identity” is completely subjective to each person claiming it, hence it cannot possibly be known by anyone except that person. Since it cannot be tested or ascertained by any objective method, nothing could prevent any student from constantly “changing” their “gender identity” to exploit many situations. “Gender Identity: A person’s internal sense of their own identity as a boy/man, girl/woman, something in between, or outside the male/female binary. Gender identity is an innate part of a person’s identity and can be the same or different from the sex assigned at birth.” Parents who encourage their children to embrace their God-given sex would be at risk of being reported for child abuse or neglect by the school. “School staff should be prepared to support the safety and welfare of transgender students when their families are not affirming. … Whenever school personnel suspects or becomes aware that a student is being abused, neglected, or at risk of abuse or neglect by their parent due to their transgender identity, they should report those concerns to Child Protective Services immediately.” Students will be allowed to claim to be either a biological male or female (or both, neither, or something else entirely) for any duration of time, without providing any evidence to a teacher or administrator, making it impossible for teachers to comply with these policies. “A student is considered transgender if, at school, the student consistently asserts a gender identity different from the sex assigned at birth… it does not necessarily require any substantiating evidence nor any required minimum duration of expressed gender identity ...” “Schools shall allow students to assert a name and gender pronouns that reflect their gender identity without any substantiating evidence.” Schools would be prohibited from notifying parents if a biological male is using the same changing facility as their daughter that was designated for girls. “In addition to adhering to all legal standards of confidentiality, school personnel shall treat information relating to a student’s transgender status as being particularly sensitive, shall not disclose it to other students and parents, and shall only disclose to other school personnel with a legitimate educational interest.” All students will be allowed to use any bathroom or locker room they choose, without being questioned by any school administrator or faculty, eliminating privacy and safety of students in states of undress. “Access to facilities such as restrooms and locker rooms that correspond to a student’s gender identity shall be available to all students.” “School staff should not confront students about their gender identity upon entry into the restroom.” The requirements for schools to maintain gender-neutral dress code standards will cause disruptions and distractions, permitting boys to wear skirts and girls to go topless in activities where boys can – such as swimming activities or teams. “Students have a right to dress in a manner consistent with their gender identity or gender expression. Schools shall administer and enforce dress and grooming codes consistently across the student body, regardless of actual or perceived gender identity or gender expression. Requirements for attire for school-related programs, activities, and events shall be gender-neutral.” Parents will not be notified that their child is being interrogated by school officials for allegedly violating these policies, or have the opportunity to intervene on their child’s behalf, UNLESS the complaints are not resolved “at the school level.” “Any incident or complaint of discrimination, harassment, or bullying shall be given prompt attention, including investigating the incident and taking appropriate corrective action, by the school administrator. …The [School Division’s Designated Contact] shall be available to hear concerns from students or parents when complaints are not resolved at the school level.” The policies provide absolutely no exceptions or accommodations for a student or teacher whose religious faith, conscience, or understanding of biology and sociology prevents them from being able to go along with the “transgender” ideology and policies. These troubling policies proposed by VDOE are totally unworkable and will force all students, faculty and administrators to comply with an empirically false view of sex and gender, even if it directly conflicts with their own fundamental beliefs.


Strongly oppose


Strongly oppose Transgender policy in our schools

Strongly oppose Transgender policy as currently proposed in our schools.  The rights and privacy of ALL students must be protected.


Transgender school policy

I am strongly opposed to the proposed  "transgender" policies.


Strongly Oppose


Strongly oppose this regulation.

This regulation is an attack on the family, an attack on science and is an assault on children.   It is legislating the words used and is an infringement of the first amendment.    It is regulating state sponsored propaganda and should be completely opposed by every elected official.


Strongly support: All kids should be made to feel welcome

While I think it is sad that the need for such policies exists, I support this initiative. All children should be made to feel welcomed in society. School is their largest community, where they learn behaviors and how to work with people who are different. The younger we expose children to the idea that different doesn't mean damaged or dangerous, the better.


STRONGLY OPPOSE government mandated sexual policies

Please protect our children from government mandates that force sexuality on students.


OPPOSE

Strongly oppose. Protect the innocence of young children who have been wonderfully and beautifully made by God. No hormones to young children and stumping puberty that can bring life-threatening consequences in the nearby future.


I strongly oppose this policy.  It puts our girls at great risk!

I strongly oppose the transgender policy!  It puts our girls at great risk and takes away Women’s rights which we have worked so hard for a few boys/men who are confused about their male identity and need counseling!  It is biologically impossible for a male to be female!  We should not put our girls in a situation to have to share a bathroom or locker room with a boy, nor should boys be allowed to compete on sports against girls just because they are confused about the fact they are male.


PURE EVIL

How dare a school district disregard the reality before them! This is a monstrous ov erreach that will have vast implications. Laws, policies, and guidelines must be in response to truth. This nation is experiencing a looming social contagion like no other in history with entire friend groups suddenly claiming they are transgender. This is causing serious medical harm to this population. How many of you are over the age of 30? I suspect none of you went to school and had to worry about what to call someone or who you might need to undress in front of for gym class. Why? Because transgenderism was not shoved down the throats of Americans like the best thing since sliced bread. You should be glad your bodies are intact. How many of these poor children have been lied to by their medical communities and told they are terribly broken and must conform to this bizarre new ideology with no basis in reality? The suicide card is played over and over by activists and doctors hoping to line their pockets but in fact there is a 19x greater risk of suicide as evidence shown by the only long-term follow up of transgender patients. ( https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3043071/ ) How many of you are willing to address the suicides that are likely to be the ultimate outcome for these students? These children are paying with their lives and you are aiding and abetting their demise. Shame on you all! All comments claiming the suicide lie must be scrubbed. YOU need to understand what is happening and not listen to a bunch of lies. Will you be around to bury our children that die from a shortened lifespan (also evidenced in the above study) from the experimental drugs? Are you going to be around in 2,5,10 years form now when these children wake up and realize they were really a biological girl or boy all along? Will you be there to take care of the severe complications from these non-FDA approved drugs and experimental procedures? Detransitioners are fast becoming a significant population in the US and they need and deserve our respect. They are exposing how they were shuffled through a broken medical system for a delusion. Stop deluding our children! For all you men reading this, are you not glad you have a penis? For all you women, are not not thankful for your female organs and breasts, organs that perhaps nurtured a child or will some day? Do you realize transgender medicine sterilizes? You belong in the business of educating and not encouraging castration and sterilization of children. Please screw your heads on straight and get off the gender train. We parents want OUR children healthy and whole. Please familiarize yourselves with the Keira Bell case in the UK. The truth has been exposed now in the UK and it will eventually prevail here in the US as well. I am a father who has lost his oldest daughter to this lie while in college. It is a cult and she has been coerced down a dangerous path. I wish my family hell on no one. My younger children no longer attend public school in this country.


Absolutely  oppose. .

I at first had no words for this policy being pushed on our children. My mouth just hung open and I thought it was a joke. What has happened to the parent's rights and why does the government now know what's best for our children. Safety of children will be jeopardized. Confusion and mental health of children will occur. If children are questioning their gender then by all means get them some help but don't exclude the parents from the process. The suicide rate for this type of experimentation is high. Please reconsider to not implement this. If I still had children in school I would immediately take them out of public school.


Strongly Oppose

The proposed policies articulate views – such as the view that “Gender identity is considered an innate characteristic that most children declare by age five to six ” – that are far different from those of many parents. Through its blanket endorsement of views like these, the VDOE has gone far beyond the path the General Assembly prescribed. Schools have a duty to protect the bodily privacy and dignity of all students. No child should be forced to share showers, locker rooms, hotel rooms or other intimate settings with a member of the opposite biological sex. Many children would feel uncomfortable when they encounter a member of the opposite sex – particularly adults – in gendered facilities or when entering a shared hotel room as part of an overnight school activity. Children, particularly adolescents, can experience hypersensitive and traumatic reactions to these situations. Schools should not be accommodating the especially harmful view that youth is an appropriate time to be encouraging, in some cases, irreversible “gender transitions”. The model regulations infringe the First Amendment rights of parents to raise and care for their children. The Department’s proposed policies would pit children against their parents when it comes to important questions about sex and gender identity.


Read the science, we are born male or female and, male genitals don't belong in female bathrooms

Boys by birth do not belong in girl's bathrooms, locker rooms, shelters, etc. They have male genitals and the testosterone that goes with them. A dangerous mix in those surroundings. Target stores that have had this policy for several years now have had many dozens of complaints of people born male molesting girls, exposing their genitals to girls, taking photos of girls from the next bathroom stall, and even following girls in the store and photographing up their skirts. This policy brings out the worst in mankind. (I have a long list of these cases as evidence.) Even in homes, families don't approve of male and female family members using the bathroom to shower, change, use the toilet, etc. at the same time. How much more dangerous and inappropriate is it with strangers. This policy puts the proverbial fox in the chicken coop. How many thousands of incidents will we have when we enact this in our schools where boys in the middle through high school years are beginning to hit the peak of their sexual arousal. Think back men, we were all once that age and what was on our minds.


Dont jeopardize the bodily privacy and safety of our children.

No government officials you do not have a public mandate to enforce gender promotion in all taxpayer funded schools.


Strongly Oppose forced implementation of transgender policy in public schools

I strongly oppose implementing the proposed implementation of a so-called transgender school policy for all of our K-12, public schools.  This jeopardizes the bodily privacy and safety of our children, and undermines support for our public school system.


Transgender school policy

Concerned grandmother. What are you DOING to our innocent children?!


Strongly oppose policy

I am opposed to this policy being implemented in our schools.  I believe that girls should only be in girls locker rooms and boys should only be in boys locker rooms


Strongly oppose

Strongly oppose....


Support

A child in an environment that does not harbor a safe place for them to explore themselves, in this case school--a place they are in 5 days a week--does more harm than good. Not having a good policy in place will cause a child more damage psychologically. If the adults around them are saying that their gender identity/expression is wrong or unacceptable, then it create feelings of shame, doubt in one's self, and a hatred for something they honestly have no control over. This then leads to self-medicating with either drugs, self-harm, or other dangerous methods to cope with these negative feelings. Having policy in place to help educators and support staff in knowing how to work with transgender and gender non-conforming students is the right step in creating an environment where they can express themselves freely.


Strongly Oppose: Orwellian Policy Masquerading under the Guise of Inclusion.

This is an Orwellian policy. This is a sad day. Few people would have issues with a transgender person. But to elevate what a minority of advocates pushes for, this particular version of trans-gender rights, to a level of policy that threatens and undermines girls (especially) is sad and it obliterates decades of progress about women's rights. Ultimately, the designers reject the scientific fact that sex exists, that it is assigned at birth, and that human claims have limits. It is not up to us to just say something and wish it into reality. Humans can claim they are sheep, rocks, aliens, etc. That is no basis for policy. Additionally, this is extra Orwellian because it trumps parental and family rights. Society, or this is what this group of advocates thinks as society, has priority over parents. Parents and family matters, They are what keep our values alive. If we gut their rights, we are erasing all defenses against an amorphous society in which government and government-like entities  or private entities will exercise the power and obligations of families, Is this the world we're building for our kids?


Model Policies for the Treatment of Transgender Students in Virginia's Public Schools

I totally oppose the Model Policies for the Treatment of Transgender Students in Virginia Public Schools as they are harmful to children and undermine the rights of parents and families!  Science has demonstrated that gender is binary and determined at birth and not by how I feel today or what is socially popular at the moment.


Gender in Schools Bill

Let me be clear that government officials do not have a public mandate to enforce gender promotion in all taxpayer funded schools and jeopardize the bodily privacy and safety of our children.


Oppose this Strongly

I believe this legislation to open the door to the usurpation of parent's responsibilities and damaging to children.  Please do not move down this path to divide families and put our children at risk for the sake of a few.


Support

As a parent, and as an ally of several children in our VA school system that these Bills directly affect, I strongly support the guidance to School Boards to draft model policies for transgender and non-binary youth.


Support

I support this guidance because I know how important it is for transgender and nonbinary youth to have safe and supportive schools. I have many trans friends and they deserve the same privacy and care that every other student deserves. All youth, including trans and nonbinary youth, should have the same right to an education in our commonwealth. I am proud to support this guidance and I am excited to see Virginia take another positive step forward! Carrie Myatt clm9xx@virginia.edu Williamsburg, VA


Strongly oppose...STOP TAKING AWAY PARENT’S RIGHTS

As a parent, and teacher, I strongly oppose this bill. Too many times we have argued that parents need to be more involved in their child’s education when it comes to completing homework, or making the grade, but now we don’t want them involved with a much more important issue as gender identity? What are we saying is more important? Is it more important for parents to ensure their child does homework, or knows what gender they are identifying as? Parents are children’s first teachers, or should be. Children have parents or guardians who are responsible for their well being. They should be the first people to know if there’s any issue/problem at school. We’re slowly taking away parent’s rights and responsibilities. As long as children are their dependents, they should be informed of any and all discussions that take place at school involving their children.


Support Guidance

I support the guidance