Strongly Oppose

Dear Virginia Commonwealth Representatives and Lawmakers, I am a proud Aunt of nine children, all of whom are under the age of 11 and reside in Northern Virginia. My two sisters are raising these beloved little ones and I couldn't be more proud. As I watch them grow and seek to nurture them to their full potential, I look into the future and have high hopes for each one of them. There is one barrier to my hope, however and that is the laws you are seeking to pass that I know and believe will only cause children insurmountable grief, confusion and anxiety. It is clear from the beginning of time that each of us are created either Male or Female. There is no in between. I do not understand how/why you would seek to confuse our children and young people to think or believe otherwise. I strongly urge you NOT TO PASS this law and impose such grief to children and families.


VDOE Child Transgender Policies - Awful, Ridiculous, No Support

You are trying to take parental involvement not only from the public education of our kids, but you are trying to take away parental involvement from their lives.  No one knows a child better than a parent and no one is more qualified to assist a child in any way more than a parent.


Oppose

Please create a policy that doesn't seek to incorporate a few while disrespecting the majority. And please recognize that parental authority, when it comes to their child and gender dysphoria, is what is best for each individual and unique child.


Strongly OPPOSE

As a parent of 2 biological girls in the VA public school system, I STRONGLY OPPOSE this bill for several reasons: 1. Parental rights. My rights as a parent DO NOT end when my children cross the school property line. Legal adult age is 18. Not elementary age or middle school age or even high school age unless a child turns 18 during his or her high school years. They cannot even legally sign a contract until they turn 18 and yet you're proposing allowing them to make MONUMENTAL LIFE CHANGING DECISIONS without parental knowledge, notification, or, most importantly consent. 2. Proven biological science. You cannot shout "WE BELIEVE IN SCIENCE" and then blatantly go against the very science you claim to believe and support. Biological science is proven -  chromosomes and DNA. Educational institutions denying scientific fact is mind-boggling. Feelings are not scientific evidence and have never been. That is until it somehow became politically motivated and expedient. Are you also proposing to stop any sort of classes where DNA, chromosomes, biological science, and reproduction are taught? Or are you going to add caveats and trigger warnings due to "feelings"? 3. Forced pronoun usage - Unconstitutional. Period. Read the 1st Amendment to the Constitution. As a governmental entity, you cannot force speech codes. Schools are not a country unto themselves. People do not lose their Constitutional rights when they enter school grounds. Also refer back to #'s 1 and 2. 4. Girls sports - By proposing to allow biological males to participate on sports teams of biological girls, you are effectively killing sports for biological girls and robbing those biological girls of possible sports scholarships. Biological women FOUGHT for Title IX to have and protect those teams and to have sports scholarships for biological girls and you are throwing it all away. It is scientifically, biologically proven that biological males have greater muscle mass, bone structure, and lung capacity than biological girls. This makes biological males stronger and faster and have greater endurance and stamina than biological girls. It does not matter if they take hormones. Those hormones DO NOT change their muscle mass or bone structure or lung capacity nor does it EVER change those things or their DNA. You are allowing biological males - with or without hormones - to completely take over and dismantle the world of sports for biological females. (I CANNOT BELIEVE I JUST HAD TO TYPE THAT IN THAT SPECIFIC WAY TO MAKE THAT BIOLOGICAL DISTINCTION!!) Refer back to #2. 5. Bathrooms and locker rooms - Biological females of all ages have a right to privacy. Period! Your proposal calls for no safeguards for biological females. None. Teachers and school administrators can't even question a biological male if he walks in one day and says he's now a girl and must be allowed to enter the biological girl's bathrooms and locker rooms. There are zero requirements that he has to meet. He doesn't have to have ever demonstrated that decision prior to that day, nor does he have to dress that way, nor does he have to produce any documentation that he's serious and is undergoing hormone therapy, nor does he ever have to demonstrate that choice after that day, nor is anyone allowed to contact parents to confirm what he says. This is a recipe for disaster! Biological girls are generally taught to be private with their bodies and to protect their bodies. "My body my choice" right?! And, yet, here you are telling biological girls that won't be the case anymore because, now, biological males will be allowed into their personal spaces - WHILE THEY UNDRESS - and they have no say in the matter. No accommodations made for the thousands upon thousands of biological girls in VA who have to dress out for PE with a biological male in the locker room with them unless they wait for him to leave and then risk being late for class and getting into trouble. No, the wishes of the biological male who has announced that he's now to be treated as a female comes first at the expense of the biological girls. What are you going to do if a biological girl is raped in the bathroom? Are you going to even address it? Are you going to notify parents? What are you going to do if the sexual assaults and teen pregnancy rate skyrockets in VA? Are you going to reevaluate this horrendous decision? Admit your mistake? Somehow, I doubt it. You are willfully blind if you don't think that hormonal driven biological male teenagers won't find a way to take advantage of all of this. You are literally making schools unsafe for the biological female half - 50% - of the population that attend public schools in VA. You are killing sports for biological females. You are trying to strip parental rights and Constitutional rights. The worst part is that you don't care and refuse to acknowledge actual biological science or even common sense, all to be politically correct for less than .03% - point zero three percent - three hundredths of a percent - .0003 as a decimal - of the population.


Opposed to Policy as Detrimental to Educational Mission

I am absolutely in support of treating every person without exception with compassion, respect and kindness. However, the Model Policies document goes well beyond the school system's educational scope and actively promotes undermining parental involvement.  Children have the best educational outcomes when parents are actively engaged in their children's education and this document promotes the idea that certain parents should be marginalized.  This is not in the best interest of any child.


OPPOSE!

We can all agree that bullying is unacceptable behavior from ANY child so let's teach our children about their inherent dignity as human beings instead of allowing fringe groups to hijack the truth with a dangerous agenda grounded in lies: *Children as young as 5 being told they can redefine their gender! *boys in girls locker rooms! *boys playing on girls sports team! *teachers and administrators being pressured to lie! *parental rights tossed to the wayside! *no more single sex events! Please oppose this insanity!


OPPOSE

The job of the VDOE is provide guidance and set policies related to academics and instruction. Who gave the board authority to provide medical guidance? This policy weakens the mission of the Department of Education. So is the medical profession going to take over the gaps left in the areas of academics and instruction by the VDOE?   I don't think so, they know their lane. The VDOE needs to get back to their lane.


Oppose

I strongly oppose this policy.  I feel that this policy will only fuel confusion for many.  Those who are struggling with gender identity, and those who are not.  Many will feel violated and angered by allowing those of the opposite sex into areas that they have deemed safe, such as restrooms and locker rooms.  Not to mention  the invasiveness that it forces upon those who may disagree, and yet have to comply or be penalized.  It is definitely not a topic that should be forcefully fed to our youth, or laid upon the shoulders of our teachers.


Oppose

I strongly oppose this transgender policy to enter into our Viginia Department of Education. At the very beginning of our education policy making here in this country, it began with the New England Primer which taught very clearly that the Bible is the standard from which all spheres of influence branch from...it is the very foundation and bedrock of our nation being one nation under God.  Once you leave this foundation, every other foundation will not flourish or succeed but will be sinking sand.  Let's not bring our children into deception and confusion of the very simple and true facts that we are all made in God's image, male and female, He made us..born to reflect Him through the design He gave each of us to walk out. We as those older than the children, K-12, whether parents, teachers or relatives, friends will be held in stricter accountability for how and what we teach them.


Lindsay Martin, Eastern Mennonite University

Support

I’ve worked in higher education for almost 10 years and I’m proud to support this guidance. Personally I have not encountered a transgender student until very recently. It has been a learning process to know how to support them. These students are incredibly brave and courageous to embrace who they are, but I know it is incredibly tough for them, with so many faculty staff and peers not knowing how to treat them with the full respect they deserve. This guidance would allow all schools to be equipped with the policies and procedures they need to confidently provide a safe and inclusive educational experience for all students, especially our LGBT youth.


Strongly support

RE: Model Policies for the Treatment of Transgender Students in Virginia’s Public Schools Thank you for the opportunity to review and comment on this proposal, and thank you for caring about our LGBTQ+ youth. I am writing to give my full support towards the proposal.  Let's love and support our children for who they are. Supporting policies around gender equality in our schools benefits everyone, regardless of their sexual identity. Thank you.


Strongly Support

I am a grandmother with children in the Virginia public school system.  I strongly support the guidance in this document.  The future of humanity rests with the children now in school.  Guidance and leadership must be all inclusive, not just passively, but aggressively inclusive. Every child counts, and every child should be honored for their inherent worth and dignity.


Strongly Oppose

I believe these policies will confuse ALL of our children. I believe these policies will only ENABLE , (not help) those children with “gender confusion” and possible emotional disorders and/or mental illness. Science verifies there are two sexes; male and female. What if a child believes they identify with a bird and tries to jump off of unsafe, high elevations? We would not encourage or embrace that thinking, we would seek to help the child. This is no different. It is a danger to encourage this thinking in a child. We are advocates for our children and need to protect them, even from themselves, if necessary. The schools should given the resources snd training to help these children, individually,  through this confusing time and not promote it by forcing their peers and school administration to enable this thinking and comply to these policies. Thank you for pausing to really consider these words and the words of so many others. Think about what really matters and is BEST for these children.


Opposition to Model Policies for the Treatment of Transgender Students in Virginia Public Schools

As a Virginia parent, I oppose the proposed Model Policies for the Treatment of Transgender Students in Virginia's Public Schools.  I urge the Virginian government to reject the proposal.  Any proposal based on the erroneous definition of gender as a set of "social, psychological, and emotional traits" as opposed to a biological fact is bound to be harmful for children of all sexual persuasions.  There are already ample laws on the books to prevent bullying of transgender children, from the Virginia Anti-Bullying Law and Virginia Values to the federal Civil Rights Act and Title IX.   The vast majority of Virginia public school kids will not be sexually active till the later years of high-school.  The "Model Policies" would force confusing discussions on children too young for sexual preference to be a material fact in their lives.  Childhood is difficult enough, especially with the Virginian government's failure to open schools during 2020 in a timely manner, without pushing a radical agenda on them, dressed up in the guise of promoting their welfare.  In addition, the "Model Policies" inappropriately erode parents' rights to be informed on major decisions taken about their children at school, and involved in those decisions, relative to their tax-payer funded public education of their children.  For these and other reasons, I oppose the "Model Policies", which are neither "model" nor necessary, given the many existing protections to transgender children already existing.


oppose

Regarding transgender policies in the public school: First Point:  As a retired math teacher, I remember working hard on the next days lesson.  I had to be sure I could do and explain all example problems, be sure I had any copying done for handouts and have a plan for the flow of the lesson, giving students time to ask questions.  What a hardship for a teacher to have to remember preferred pronouns too, as they may be subject to change. There are many ways to create a classroom environment that makes students feel cared for without pronouns. Second point:  If a student's gender identity is completely subjective and can constantly change what will prevent a male from self identify as a female just to go into a locker room to see girls in various stage of undress?  Nothing that I can see.  Where are the girls right to privacy? It seems that her rights have been coopted by another agenda that the public in general DOES NOT SUPPORT.


Treatment of Transgender Students in Virginia’s Public Schools

I am in strong opposition of the proposed guidelines base on radical theories that eradicate all distinctions between male and female and indoctrinate our school children with Marxist ideology.


VDOE Transgender Policies

I strongly oppose the VDOE draft Transgender Policy. I am for compassionate respectful  treatment of all people. ( Including all male and female individuals too). Stop the globalist influence and corruption of our children.


Strongly support

I strongly support this legislation--we need gender affirming policies in our schools to protect all children.


Strongly Support

All students deserve a safe learning environment. This includes those who are LGBTQ+. As a member of the LGBTQ+ community myself, I can say with confidence that bullying, harassment, and institutional and individual discrimination are extremely damaging to children - to their learning, their mental health, their physical wellbeing, their safety, and their lives. Transgender children deserve to be respected for their own identities, just as cis-gender children are. This policy is way overdue. In response to community members who have claimed that LGBTQ-supportive policy will "damage" their own children, I encourage them to really consider what that damage would be. Having views that differ from those of their parents is not damage. Treating their peers with kindness and understanding is not damage. Accepting others whose identities and ideologies differ from their own is not damage. But discriminating against LGBTQ+ individuals is unquestionably damaging. I support this policy with full conviction and enthusiasm.


support

I support this legislation--it is very important


Support

As a rabbi, I'm honored to support this guidance. This guidance would allow all schools to be equipped with the policies and procedures they need to confidently provide a safe and inclusive educational experience for all students, especially our LGBT youth. My tradition teaches that every child is made equally in God's image, and every part of our society -- especially our schools -- should honor every child's equal and infinite value, regardless of gender identity or sexual orientation.


Significant revisions/corrections needed

Comment on draft guidelines, "Model Policies for the Treatment of Transgender Students in Virginia's Public Schools" The undersigned Virginia residents urge the Department of Education (DOE) to make significant revisions to their draft guidelines establishing model policies for transgender students. We care deeply for all children in Virginia, and strongly support the draft guidelines’ guiding principle of providing a safe, supportive environment that promotes the success of all students. At the same time, the DOE model policies are deeply flawed, seeking to impose a single ideology of sex and gender identity that is inconsistent with biology and peer-reviewed evidence, and ignores other valid perspectives on this topic. We urge DOE to make significant revisions to its draft guidelines as described below. DOE should revise the draft guidelines to recognize that many parents and students have different, valid viewpoints on support for students who identify as transgender. The issue of transgenderism in young adults is one for which perspectives and evidence are evolving, particularly regarding early childhood development. The draft guidelines on p. 20 note “Students and staff each have their own unique religious and personal experiences, views, and opinions,” but they fail to protect those with differing views and opinions. Students, parents and school staff may hold different perspectives on this topic based on a number of factors such as available evidence, personal experience, and freedom of conscience. Individuals may express opinions that differ from those in the guidelines, but do not constitute bullying or harassment. For example, Virginia schools are increasingly likely to include students, teachers or parents who first identified as transgender at a younger age and who later experienced regret or detransitioned. In speaking to others at school, these individuals may wish to counsel caution and discuss potential negative health outcomes that can result from the gender transition process or interventions. Further, some Virginia students and parents hold the view that gender is not as malleable as assumed by the guidelines, and that attempts to override the biology of sex with the psychology of gender may do more harm than good for many young people. The guidelines fail to recognize and support these differing perspectives, instead enforcing a single viewpoint that conflicts with a significant body of medical and scientific literature. [i] [ii] Recommendation: We urge DoE to revise the guidelines to state affirmatively that: a)  many students, parents and school staff in Virginia hold viewpoints on how best to care for students who identify as transgender that differ from those in the guidelines, but are equally valid and grounded both in science and compassion for all students; and b) students and parents will not be penalized for expressing viewpoints that do not constitute bullying or harassment, but are different from those in the guidelines. The guidelines present an incomplete picture of available research, ignoring substantial evidence of potential negative effects of gender transitioning in young adults. The draft guidelines do not provide a comprehensive, balanced review of evidence, much of which would argue for proceeding with caution on gender transition in prepubescent children.  State law requires DOE to develop “evidence-based best practices” on this topic. The guidelines must be revised to include, at a minimum, the available research on: the increased risk of sexual offenses when mixed-sex changing rooms are employed [iii] [iv] the 11 or more published studies showing that the majority of children who identify as transgender before puberty eventually accept their biological sex after puberty. [v] the risk of harms of “gender affirming therapy” in children who identify as transgender, including from pharmacologic and surgical interventions. [vi] [vii] [viii] According to one recent report, long-term studies show that after transitioning to a different gender, individuals’ “quality of life deteriorates significantly and suicide rates rise,” and “the best quality studies show that transitioning leads to negative outcomes.” [ix] Recommendation: Given the substantial amount of evidence that DOE has failed to identify, the agency should, prior to finalizing the guidelines, hire an independent research consultant to conduct a more rigorous, systematic review of evidence. Further, the guidelines should make clear when they are referencing literature that is non-peer reviewed vs. peer reviewed, and include the strengths and limitations of referenced literature (e.g., degree of applicability to K-12 student age groups).   In addition, DOE should ensure the guidelines include an accurate presentation of available evidence as described above. The guidelines fail to protect students in school facilities who desire not to share facilities with individuals of the opposite biological sex. The guidelines acknowledge the need to protect all students but fail to address a range of significant issues that likely will emerge. Evidence indicates that use of mixed-sex changing rooms or locker rooms creates an increased risk of sexual harassment. [x] Many students who do not identify as transgender may desire accommodations to protect themselves from these risks and maintain their personal sense of security at school. The guidelines must include clear, specific practices to protect students in ways that minimize the risk of stigmatization. Recommendation: The guidelines should provide additional detail to ensure schools have clear policies on how non-transgender students who desire separate accommodations will know during the school year when such accommodations need to be requested. This should including best practices addressing the questions of: a) how schools can work to maximize the “full inclusion” of these students when policy will by definition subject them to some degree of exclusions, and b) how schools should balance competing student needs (e.g., protecting the privacy of a student while also respecting another student’s need for separate accommodations). The guidelines fail to protect students’ freedom to express differing viewpoints on how best to care for and support peers who experience gender dysphoria or identify as transgender. As noted above, many Virginia students, parents and school staff have views that differ from those described in the guidelines. A recent survey of students in Virginia showed students may disagree with the guidelines’ ideology based on available scientific research, their personal experiences, and/or as a matter of personal conscience or religious beliefs. [xi] Recommendation: The guidelines should make a clear distinction between speech or behavior that constitutes bullying or harassment, which are never acceptable, and speech or behavior that reflects views that are different from those in the guidelines but do not constitute bullying or harassment. Further, in discussing promotion of activities on p. 20, the guidelines should note that schools may support student clubs or other organizations with differing viewpoints, such as those focused on experiences of transgender youth who have detransitioned. The guidelines fall short in supporting all parents as partners who have primary responsibility for  their children’s physical, emotional and spiritual well-being. As drafted, the guidelines establish a separate class of parents deemed “unsupportive,” and would accord these parents a lesser status with reduced rights. Virginia schools have a responsibility to partner with all parents and guardians, not a subset who happen to share ideological alignment with public officials. Parents should not be penalized for seeking to care for their children in ways that are consistent with both their beliefs and a large body of rigorous evidence, but differ from the ideology imposed by the guidelines. We are deeply concerned that the policy would direct school officials to withhold important information about a child from parents deemed “unsupportive.” We see no scientific or legal basis for  granting schools the power to decide whether to share student information with a minor’s parents based on such a determination. For example, recognizing the evidence cited above, a parent may counsel their child to wait until puberty to decide if they are transgender, yet such a parent may be classified as “unsupportive” under the guidelines. We are also concerned that the guidelines set an exceptionally vague, subjective standard of “unsupportiveness,” yet describe no procedures or criteria by which a determination of “unsupportiveness” would be made, or how parents would be able to appeal such a determination (though we believe the language should be struck entirely). In addition, this proposed power likely conflicts with the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), which gives parents the right to view student records, [xii] and may conflict with standards for legally changing a minor’s name, which typically require parental consent. [xiii] Recommendation: Delete from the guidelines language purporting to give school officials power to establish a class of parents deemed “unsupportive” and reduce the civil rights of those parents by withholding from them information that is important to the education and well-being of their children, including information related to their name and gender identity or status as gender dysphoric. The guidelines do not provide an accurate description or comprehensive reference to key laws and public policies. We appreciate DOE’s inclusion of relevant laws and public policies informing the guidelines. However, descriptions of them are inaccurate or incomplete at several points. In addition, the guidelines should include relevant references to the Virginia Constitution and/or Statute of Religious Freedom. 1) Clarify the description of the First Amendment . The guidelines state that the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution guarantees freedom of “speech” and “expression,” but overlooks other important freedoms that are relevant to this policy. We recommend revising this language to state: “The First Amendment protects the free exercise of religion, freedom of speech, of the press and of assembly.” [xiv] We further recommend revising the second sentence -- “Schools may not prevent students from expressing their identity” – to more closely align with the requirements of the First Amendment in the public school context. We support the (presumed) intent of the statement, but it includes a term so broad it is unenforceable (“identity”) and overlooks other relevant speech that schools may not prevent. We recommend DoE revise this sentence to say “schools may not prevent students from freedom of expression, including speech or other forms of expression related to the student’s gender identity, religion, or conscience.” 2) As noted by the guidelines, the document holds important implications for freedom of religion. We recommend including reference to Virginia’s Constitution and/or Statute for Religious Freedom . Specifically, DoE should include in this section a paragraph stating: “Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom: The Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom states that all Virginians ‘shall be free to profess, and by argument to maintain, their opinions in matters of religion, and that the same shall in no wise diminish, enlarge, or affect their civil capacities.’” [xv] Similarly, we ask DoE to include language from Article I, Sec. 16 of the Virginia Constitution protecting the free exercise of religion. 3) Expand the description of FERPA. The description of FERPA in the draft guidelines omits a key reference to parental rights. We recommend DOE revise this language to align with U.S. Department of Education’s description by adding the italicized sentence below: Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA): This is a federal law that protects the privacy of student educational records. It gives parents and eligible students the right to review and request corrections to the student’s education records maintained by the school. It prohibits the improper disclosure of…”. [xvi] 4) Applicably of HIPAA to elementary and secondary schools : Our understanding is that for K-12 schools, particularly public schools, Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act privacy rules generally do not apply because records are considered “educational” and not “treatment” records. We recommend that DoE have this section reviewed by legal counsel and delete or correct it. [xvii] Conclusion We care for all students in Virginia, including students who identify as transgender. However, the guidelines over-reach in seeking to impose a single ideological perspective, failing to protect all students and to recognize and accommodate different, valid viewpoints held by many students, school staff and parents. As a result, DOE must modify the draft guidelines as recommended above. Signed: Kristen Allen Wendell Brown Burton Burkholder Randy and Jennifer Burkholder Ronnie and Sandy Downing Sherri Fosdick Mary Hazzard Anne Quinn Vell and Carmen Rives Todd and Beth Sedmak [i] “Responding to the Transgender Issue: Parent Resource Guide,” Minnesota Family Council, 2019; accessed Jan. 3, 2021 at https://genderresourceguide.com/ [ii] The Kelsey Coalition, petition to the U.S. Surgeon General, June 19, 2019, accessed Jan. 3, 2021 at https://www.kelseycoalition.org/pubs/Petition-to-the-US-Surgeon-General [iii] Paul Dirks, “Gender-Inclusion Policies and Sexual Violence: A Longitudinal Analysis of Media Reports at Target Stores,” January 29, 2018, accessed Jan. 3, 2021 at http://womanmeanssomething.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/A-Longitudinal-Analysis-of-Media-Reports-at-Target-Stores.pdf [iv] Andrew Gilligan, “Unisex changing rooms put women in danger,” The Times , London: September 2, 2018, https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/unisex-changing-rooms-put-women-in-danger-8lwbp8kgk . [v] In the 11 published studies on this topic, every one finds that a majority (61-98%) of children “outgrow” their gender dysphoria and come to accept their biological sex after going through puberty. The full list of studies, all of which should be included in the DoE guidelines, can be found in Appendix 1 (page 48) of the report “Responding to the Transgender Issue: Parent Resource Guide,” https://genderresourceguide.com/ [vi] Maiko A Schneider, et al., “Brain Maturation, Cognition and Voice Pattern in a Gender Dysphoria Case under Pubertal Suppression” Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, vol. 11, 528, (November 14, 2017), https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5694455/ . [vii] J. Macoveanu, “Sex-Steroid Hormone Manipulation Reduces Brain Response to Reward,” Neuropsychopharmacology , 41, no.4, (2016):1057-65 [viii] Christina Jewett, “Women Fear Drug They Used To Halt Puberty Led To Health Problems,” Kaiser Health News , February 2, 2017, https://khn.org/newConsensus Statement on the Use of Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone Analogs in Childrens/women-fear-drug-they-used-to-halt-puberty-led-to-health-problems/. [ix] Paul Dirks, “Transition as Treatment: The Best Studies Show the Worst Outcomes,” January 11, 2019. Woman Means Something , accessed on Jan. 3, 2021 at http://womanmeanssomething.com/transition-as-treatment-the-best-studies-show-the-worst-outcomes/ . [x] Dirks, “Gender Inclusion Policies”  “New Study Shows Gender-Inclusion Policy at Target Stores Associated with Increased Sexual Violence,” Woman Means Something , accessed Jan. 3, 2021 at http://womanmeanssomething.com/target-study-press-release/ [xi] In a 2019 survey of over 90 students in Arlington County, for example, of the 87% of students who opposed the policy, the most commonly cited reason (27%) was “conscience or beliefs” [xii] FERPA gives parents the right to “inspect and review the student's education records maintained by the school” and to request corrections. https://www2.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/fpco/ferpa/index.html#:~:text=The%20Family%20Educational%20Rights%20and,the%20U.S.%20Department%20of%20Education ., accessed Jan. 3, 2021. [xiii] Code of Virginia § 8.01-217 https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/8.01-217/ , accessed Jan. 3, 2021. [xiv] Transcription of the Constitution of the United States, https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/bill-of-rights-transcript#toc-amendment-i , accessed Jan. 3, 2021 [xv] Commonwealth of Virginia, Bill 82, passed 1785 at General Assembly. Accessed January 3, 2021 at https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/01-02-02-0132-0004-0082 [xvi] U.S. Department of Education, https://www2.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/fpco/ferpa/index.html , Jan. 5, 2021 [xvii] U.S. Department of Education, “Joint Guidance on the Application of FERPA and HIPAA to Student Health Records,” December 2019, https://studentprivacy.ed.gov/sites/default/files/resource_document/file/2019%20HIPAA%20FERPA%20Joint%20Guidance%20508.pdf , accessed Jan. 3, 2021.


Oppose

will home school my children before I allow my children to be around this. I raise my children to not see any differences in anyone. But why should my child even question there self if they see another child like this. It is mentally unstable. I believe there is 2 sexes. I believe in Jesus and he made us the way we are. And I will not allow my child to question which sex they are. They are innocent children. This should be the last thing they should be worrying about. I understand everyone has different views, but why should people with different views have to suffer. And also. I have rights to my children so I don’t agree with being able to kick parents rights out of the school. If we do anything with the transgender children it should be to make them their own dressing rooms and own bathrooms.


Strongly Oppose

I strongly oppose, as a parent with girls. Schools should protect children from harm, including (especially!) sexual harassment and rape. A school that allows boys in girls locker rooms and bathrooms is putting ALL girls in danger in order to make a couple students feel better. There are alternative ways to handle this without a mixing of the sexes. This legislation is completely lacking in common sense. Stop pandering to special interests and start protecting our children - ALL our children.


Strongly Support

I provide my strongest support for this policy. To community members who claim that this policy will allow for students to change their gender identity at will so that they can go into the girls bathroom/locker room and watch them undress or rape them - you are the same people who post about parental rights and your responsibility to teach your children. You can (and should) teach them that falsely changing their pronouns, taking advantage of a policy meant to help others, spying on women and raping women are WRONG. Why is it the responsibility of transgender individuals to remove this supposed "temptation" instead of the responsibility of these children who are actually committing inappropriate acts? This is a form of victim blaming. And to those who worry that teachers have enough on their plate without having to remember their students' pronouns: is it really that difficult? If a student's last name changes because their parent remarries, teachers can handle that change. If a student's favorite color changes, teachers can learn the new one. If their handwriting evolves or they begin an after-school activity that alters their schedule or they develop a passion for a new subject - their teachers can and do respond to these changes. Modifying pronoun use to respect a person's identity is a miniscule responsibility. Sure, it can be difficult to remember at first - any change is. But with repetition and care, I have full confidence that teachers can learn this change. LGBTQ+ individuals should not be punished so that those around them can avoid temporary (and self-proclaimed) "inconvenience" or "discomfort".


strongly support

Our children deserve policies that provide them the protection to be who they are in the place they spend the majority of their time.


STRONGLY OPPOSE!!!  These are NOT YOUR CHILDREN

Good morning, I am the mother of three Hanover County Public School students.  As a parent, I am outraged at the blatant disregard of parental input and exclusion of parental rights under this extremely controversial policy.  The changes proposed by this policy go against biological science and societal norms for all of history. I am raising my children under Christian values and a faith belief system that have been good and true since the beginning of time.  Now this policy is telling parents like me that if I encourage my children to embrace their God-given sex, I would be at risk of being reported for child abuse or neglect by the school?  I am their mother!  I have provided for and mentored and disciplined and raised them, along with my husband, their father, every day of their lives.  How dare you remove us from such a conversation and aim to deceive? “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.” (Recommended Standard, p.13) Yes, some young people have gender questions and go through uncertainties, but to rewrite common sense for the benefit of a very small few will undoubtedly bring forth untold emotional stress, grief, depression, and likely, abuse.  And at the hands of school administrators who have lost their way on RIGHT from WRONG! How can you really believe this is for the GOOD of young people?  You want to promote a student's choice to flip-flop from boy to girl to in-between as often as they feel like it?  They are young, easily influenced, lack life experience, their brains are not yet fully-developed, and we are going to serve these whims over our adult good sense?  What twilight zone are we living in?  This is NOT REALITY.  So much damage will be done. The language on page 18 pertains to restrooms and locker rooms: “Access to facilities such as restrooms and locker rooms that correspond to a student’s gender identity shall be available to all students.” (Draft Policy, p.18) “School staff should not confront students about their gender identity upon entry into the restroom.” (Recommended Standard, p.18) I cannot fathom what it will feel like for biological boys and girls to be in their normal private space but then subjected to the opposite sex coming in because they feel like it at the moment.  If this policy passes, 99% ( Gender dysphoria in adolescence: current perspectives (nih.gov) of our children/teens will have no defense, no recourse to this treatment by Administrators, and their parents will have no idea it is going on.  JUST UNBELIEVABLE! I represent THOUSANDS of like-minded parents in Hanover County and around the state that utterly REJECT this policy.  I urge you not to pass it. Thank you.


Oppose this policy

Strongly oppose this policy. There is no consideration for the children that will be offended when the opposite sex comes in to the locker room to change. Plus do not take the parents to court for their beliefs.


Education Reform

I do not approve of the proposed guidelines based on radical theories that eradicate all distinctions between male and female and indoctrinate our school children.


Strongly Oppose

I strongly oppose this policy. I think it is important to be sensitive to children who struggle with gender dysphoria but this policy oversteps the rights of parental authority. It also sidesteps the science behind the diagnosis and may actually hinder a child who struggles with this and how the family is embracing it. This issue is not the be placed into the hands of the public school system. This is not about ideology, it is about a family and their privacy on a sensitive issue that should have freedom to be handled by the parents and their doctors. Don't go down this bad policy road Virginia, you'll be hit with lawsuits because your ideology is not balanced with common sense.


Strongly support

Children need a safe place to be accepted fully as they are and we need to work on create that safety.


transgender policy

strongly oppose


Education Reform Guidance Document

I STRONGLY OPPOSE the proposed guidelines that eradicate all distinctions between male and female and indoctrinate our school children. It puts my children,(male and female), at a disadvantage


very strongly support

I am an educator and have seen first hand the very difficult position transgender students are put in when they are not respected in their schools. Difficult is actually an understatement, they are put in situations that can cause extreme mental and emotional distress every single day. That is no way for a child to feel when they are in school. We cannot let ignorance and fear mongering lead this conversation and instead let evidence based interventions and basic human rights be the guiding principles of this issue.


Let's go with science and reality, not with your fantasy

We are often told by some scientists and politicians that the gold standard for the formulation of public policy should be science.  Then, more and more, those same people go ahead and make public policy based on whatever they want to impose on the rest of us.  The most obvious example of this is denial by those who promoted and now defend legal abortion of the undeniable scientific fact that immediately upon conception a baby's DNA is a combination of its mother's and father's DNAs, and thus the baby is a new and unique human being, a person. In the same manner, the proposed Guidance Document ignores the science that whether a child is male or female is manifested not just in the child's external sexual characteristics, as has been obvious since the species began, but, as science has now determined, in the different composition of every cell of a person's body, depending on whether that person is male or female.  So a person with a male body who thinks that he is a female, or with a female body who thinks that she is a male, has thinking that is not in conformance with scientific reality. Where scientific reality and thinking differ, to go with the thinking instead of the reality is to enter into a fantasy world.  The Guidance Document aims to lay down rules that would require all of us to participate in their fantasy, even though, for nearly all of us, our thinking conforms with the science, with reality.  They want to make their fantasy our new 'reality', an impossible task, because it is not science, and an effort that is doomed to end badly, most especially for those poor souls who have the reality/thinking problem in the first place. To those who developed or are pushing for approval of the Guidance Document, I can ask no better question than to quote from a movie comedy, The Dream Team, "Why don't you accept reality as it is, rather than make it up as you go along?" Enough!


Strongly oppose!

This goes against everything I believe! ! It is God who creates us...it is totally abhorrent to me to “ change the rules” by going against His plan.


Opposed

Legislating transgender rights is beyond the duties of legislators.  It will only create confusion, chaos, fear and animosity.  The rights of a child should remain in the hands of parents.  Let them navigate with their transgender child the individual school in which they are residing.  Don't expose non-transgender children into this morass of morality issues that have no meaning to children.  They are too young and do not need to be exposed to this kind of behavior or lifestyle on a regular basis.


Strongly Oppose

As a new parent I strongly oppose this bill.  Does allowing members of the opposite sex to share locker rooms/bathrooms honestly sound like a good idea?  How will the school system handle it when this is abused?  How will the school system handle this if there's a sexual assault because teenagers of the opposite sex are sharing the same changing room?  3.9% of Virginia's adult population identifies as LGBT https://www.lgbtmap.org/equality-maps/profile_state/VA .  One has to assume that not all of that 3.9% would identify as transgender.  I couldn't find an actual number of Virginians that identify as transgender, but nationwide that number is .42% of the population according to the Williams Institute.  It makes absolutely no sense to pass bills that affect everyone based on .42% of the United States population.  If the concern is over these students being bullied, address that by cracking down on bullying.  Bullying in general is a much much bigger issue than transgender students being able to explore themselves with the help of the school system.  If you are so concerned with the extremely small percentage of school age students that identify as transgender, build them their own bathrooms and locker rooms.  Don't punish the rest of the students, the faculty, and parents because of .42% of the population, how is that equitable?


Strongly oppose

I strongly disagree. Doesn't sound safe for any of the children.


opposed transgender policy

I oppose the transgender policy. this does not make me feel safe for my child. I understand how the transgender community feels about equality but maybe we just let those select students who feel that way be called what they want or use which bathroom they want. we do not need to implement an entire policy for all students. if my child later decides she wants to be something else ok but I don't want her deciding it because you have shown her how. these decisions are personal and should be left with parents and family.


Full Support

I am extremely impressed with the depth of understanding, care, and evidence-based approaches outlined in this policy. This is so important for transgender students, but I was also struck by how so many of these policies create a more accepting, expressive, positive experience for cisgender students, as well. For example, when dress codes outline gender neutral basic standards of professional/appropriate attire, girls aren't made to feel overly sexualized. All in all, I am excited for Virginia to be pursuing inclusive, thoughtful policies like this. Very proud to be a lifelong Virginian and K-12 graduate of Arlington Public Schools.


Strongly oppose

Promoting the "confusion" that students with gender issues are experiencing will further damage them as the male or female they were at birth.  It will also promote confusion amongst fellow students.


STRONGLY OPPOSE Transgender indoctrination/policies in our schools. Use Faculty bathrooms!


Support

I support the guidance for the VDOE to create models to better support trans and non-binary students. It is paramount that we find ways to be more inclusive towards those who have historically been excluded. I personally have many friends who are trans and/or non-binary, and, growing up as a student in a Virginia public school, I saw how there was an utter lack of help for students questioning their gender identity - especially those who did not have an accepting family at home. Schools can provide an important foundation of support for these students.


Strongly Support Protections for trans students

All students should be protected and supported within an academic environment. Trans students are especially vulnerable and should be able to feel safe upholding their gender identities. Person opinions on belief in the trans experience are irrelevant. Science and best practices affirm the necessity of affirming gender identity. I strongly Support the suggested policies supporting trans students and protecting them from bulliy and discrimination.


Strongly Oppose

This is not Biblical, one day EVERY knee will bow and every tongue confess. Love does not condone sin, but rather comes along beside and helps people to understand God's will for us.


Strongly Oppose

I am opposed to this in our schools.


OPPOSE

I signed my granddaughter up for a music camp in the summer of 2019, pre-Covid.  She was 12 at the time.  The first day she attended, they asked her what gender she identified with?  She had no idea what they were even talking about......this is to say that kids become confused about things when you make this such a big deal to them.  Putting it in the classroom every days is just asking for kids who are not old enough to know what's what to make a life-altering decision.  VDOE needs to leave this up to the parents.  Hey, how about this....let's start saying the pledge of allegiance and have a morning prayer like I did when I was in school!  We did not have the issues we are seeing today.  Not one kid in all of my years up to college committed suicide!


transgender policies

Strongly OPPOSE


Strongly oppose!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am strongly opposing this change followed by science as scientifically there is only 2 genders and I don’t feel safe to have my kids getting this politically infused assumption indoctrinated by anybody!! Keep this out of our schools! Transgender politics do not belong in our class rooms!! A child is a child - there is a reason why you are not declared an adult until 18!


Strongly OPPOSE

So sad that are kids can't be kids anymore


Strongly OPPOSE

Enough is enough of the brainwashing... NO to boys in the girls locker rooms, and playing on girls sports teams. Why would we ever allow 5 year olds to make decisions without their parents knowledge? Our identity is in Christ and sex is a God-given gift. Please oppose now!


VDOE

STRONGLY DISAGREE 1111


Strongly Disagree

Strongly Disagree


STRONGLY OPPOSE!!!!

DO NOT DO THIS TO OUR KIDS!!


Treatment of Transgender students in school polcy

I support the model policy of transgender rights in schools.


Strongly oppose !

I find it incredible that VDOE deems it proper to hide or subvert a minor student's mental health status from their parents / guardians ! Gender dysphoria is a recognized mental health disorder and minor students should be given all the help they need from the school in conjunction with their parents. My goodness, when a student has any type of special needs or accommodations, if an IEP is proposed the family must consent to services. And, that includes mental health counseling. And, who is training the trainor, here in terms of measurable goals and objectives in regard to gender dysphoria and a student's gender identity? I strongly oppose this measure.


Gender is a social construct. Protect transgender students.


Support

I strongly support the VDOE model policies. The harm that transphobia does to the wellbeing and safety of trans children is obvious and well documented. These policies will help decrease this harm, making Virginia schools safer and healthier for our students. These simple policies seek to allow children to exist in public schools and be safe regardless of gender identity, a goal that we should all share. I hope that these policies will be adopted throughout Virginia to make our state a healthier and more supportive one for all children.


STRONGLY OPPOSE!!!!

This policy is reprehensible and forces both faculty and students to follow the whims of popular ideology rather than empirical evidence.  The thought that faculty are going to circumvent parental rights, and follow the ideology is extremely frightening!  This ideology is terribly confusing and harmful to so many, and children deserve so much more than this policy.  Allowing and encouraging confusion DOES NOT HELP!


Teacher

Strongly oppose!! While I want all students to feel accepted, safe, and loved at school these policies have too many holes in them. Parents not being included is a huge risk to the school and staff. There aren’t enough guidelines for who this would apply to and how and how the rest of the student population is protected from a student taking advantage of this. Teachers aren't protected either. As a current teacher I would feel EXTREMELY uncomfortable implementing any of this for fear of something going wrong. Also as a teacher of young students, I know that young children aren’t developed enough to be in situations where they are making decisions about these things. It is one thing to discuss it at home or in a classroom. It is a whole different thing entirely for it to be practiced at a school and then not have to inform parents. It is a major safety risk!


Strongly Oppose

Confusion about sexual identity takes away a foundation that has been secure since Creation.  "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them."  Gen. 1:27 Allowing the minority views to control the majority of people who do not agree with this policy is wrong and will lead to tension and more confusion and misunderstanding.  Every culture from the beginning of time had a moral code--The Norse, Babylon, Islam, Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism, and more.  All believe that we are to care for the poor and not hurt others and treat others as we would want to be treated.  We want to be loving to those who are gender confused.  Loving them is giving them boundaries.  We do not love our children when we let them do whatever they want.  We all know that limits actually give freedom. In a classroom, we don't allow a child to change his name each day.  That would be chaos for a teacher in her record keeping on their papers, much less the classmates being able to address, and remember, their new name. The absurdity of this policy is great.  It must not be put into effect.  Wonderful, caring, confident teachers will leave the public schools, so will any families who can afford to.  The public sector will be left with all poor, needy, and very confused people.  How could we consider letting this happen? Let's encourage parents to help their children find their identity as parents have been doing all throughout history.  Let's remember to pray for teachers, families, and schools.


Oppose

The government should not have the ability to take away the rights of parents regarding this topic, nor overrule a decision made by parents.  Under these current proposed policies, victims are going to be further victimized.  Under these policies, a boy could decide that he wants to be a girl (when he truly isn't suffering from these feelings) just to have access to the girls locker room.  Regarding overnight field trips, how can you allow boys and girls to share the same room? The amount of students who truly suffer from gender dysphoria are a very very small percentage.  Why not just treat each individual situation with respect?  After confirming with a physician that the student truly does suffer from gender dysphoria,  allow the student to wear the clothes they want, be called what they want and use a gender neutral bathroom. Encouraging students to question their gender is NOT the role of government.


Strongly support the Protection of Trans and Gender Non Conforming youth

We need to do all we can to support and protect all of our kids and that starts with the most vulnerable. Trans and gender non conforming youth need to know that we support them and see who they truly are. Discrimination against the trans and gender expansive community leads to increased suicide rates and increased violence. It is important to have policies in place to support and protect them.


STRONGLY SUPPORT -- save teen lives

Keep trans kids safe and allow for as close to a normal high school experience as possible. I often say, mostly joking, that the worst part of being trans is the paperwork. Just reading this document was a relief. Trust me when I say that being a high school student in this situation is a nightmare. It's disheartening. This document is a step in the right direction. The loons who strongly oppose this document won't be affected in any way shape or form by it, and they have no clue about the people it will help.


Strongly opposes!

I strongly oppose any legislation regarding transgender in public schools!  Anyone that supports this type of legislation will get a NO vote from me in upcoming elections!


Policy for guidlines on transgendered students

I DO NOT approve of the proposed guidelines based on radical theories that eradicate all distinctions between male and female and indoctrinate our school children.


STRONGLY Oppose this!

I strongly oppose this! What kind of society have we become where being born a biological male or a biological female makes you the outcast? Why are we catering to this ignoramus idea of letting young children decide which gender they want to be. Not to mention allowing this would put children in serious danger, of bullying, depression, and or suicide.


Strongly Support!

Using kids correct pronouns and chosen name are easy and simple steps you can take to actively reduce issues such as bullying, anxiety, depression, and suicidal thoughts. Trans and gender non conforming kids are not a threat to anyone. All they want is to be seen as themselves. The same thing anyone wants. By supporting these kids we will see them grow and flourish instead of withdrawing into themselves.


Opposed to this proposal

This policy exhibits an obviously dismissive attitude to the rights of parents and interferes with their ultimate responsibility for their children and issues of sexuality with which their children might be dealing.  This is not the school's responsibility.  Also, for the school to hide from parents issues that involve their child is patently wrong. Transgender students should not disrespected but the rights of non-transgender students are being ignored as they are being forced into situations that can be uncomfortable and are wrong. This whole proposal will place a harmful burden on administators and teachers and our overall education system. It will be to the harm of ALL students and staff. We are adamantly opposed to this proposal and believe it needs to be rejected.


All of the Virginia school reform on the table regarding transgender and gender identity

I am strongly opposed to an and ALL issues in the table regarding a push to talk to our public school students about gender, transgender,etc.! I am the parent! Do not tell my child that it is ok to say what gender SHE wants to be. Don’t push this disgusting and disturbing agency on our children who have no choice but to attend public school. A girl is a girl and a boy is a boy. DO NOT, please, DO NOT pass this legislation


Fully Support

I absolutely support the protection of transgender and non-binary children in VA schools. I have a MS son who attends a very accepting school and it is good for him to meet different kids and learn to be inclusive of those who are not necessarily just like him.  Children should feel safe at school and supporting choices like these that have NO impact on others but are so important to the individual child serves to promote good mental health and a compassionate society.


Strongly Support

This proposed document supports best policies for transgender and non-binary students. What we know is that such protections make a huge difference in the lives of trans and non-binary students and do not negatively impact the educational experience of their cisgender peers. Supporting this will put Virginia on the right side of history. The comments reflected opposing this document mirror the prejudiced arguments seen when schools were being desegregated. Thank you.


Strongly oppose, this should be a parental decision

I am strongly opposed to this proposal.  Sexuality and gender should be decided by the parents and family of the student.


I OPPOSE the legislation

Although I support the right of ALL children to be treated equally, this legislation goes beyond that and offers SPECIAL treatment for children identifying as transgender.  It also REMOVES the parental role in decision making for their child.  The below provision is an example of the school interfering in the PARENTS right to determine how this is dealt with.  Usurping the parents control is unacceptable and the State has no right to do this.  Please reconsider this and provide an alternative narrative for discussion other than the one sided presentation of this issue provided. I n the situation when parents or guardians of a minor student (under 18 years of age) do not agree with the student’s request to adopt a new name and pronouns, school divisions will need to determine whether to respect the student’s request, abide by the parent’s wishes to continue using the student’s legal name and sex assigned at birth, or develop an alternative that respects both the student and the parents. This process will require consideration of short-term solutions to address the student’s emotional needs to be affirmed at school as well as the long-term goal of assisting the family in developing solutions in their child’s best interest. For example, a plan may include addressing the student at school with their asserted name and pronoun while using the legal name and pronoun associated with the sex assigned at birth when communicating with parents or guardians.


Strongly oppose. Not in schools

Not in the school system....this is between the kid and the parents.


Strongly Support. Disappointed by the bigotry.

All I can do is echo some of the responses by others who have articulated this well: All students deserve a safe learning environment. This includes those who are LGBTQ+. As someone who has friends in the LGBTQ+ community, I can say with confidence that bullying, harassment, and institutional and individual discrimination are extremely damaging to children - to their learning, their mental health, their physical wellbeing, their safety, and their lives. Transgender children deserve to be respected for their own identities, just as cis-gender children are. This policy is way overdue. In response to community members who have claimed that LGBTQ-supportive policy will "damage" their own children, I encourage them to really consider what that damage would be. Having views that differ from those of their parents is not damage. Treating their peers with kindness and understanding is not damage. Accepting others whose identities and ideologies differ from their own is not damage. But discriminating against LGBTQ+ individuals is unquestionably damaging. I support this policy with full conviction and enthusiasm.


Strongly opposed to proposed policy

In reviewing the proposed policies regarding transgender students, we have several concerns: Nowhere in the document does it enumerate the percentage of supposed transgender students vs. the percentage of supposed cisgender students. It is stated in the proposed policy that neither a student of school employee may challenge the status of a student.  How would the Board propose to address the feelings or protect the safety of a female student should a transgender female wish to use the female locker room / bathroom? Nowhere in the document does the Board address the potential cost of addressing potential privacy concerns presented by these policy changes.  Will the state bear these expenses or will this be left up to the localities? Although it is stated that athletic competition is not addressed in these policies, surely the VHSL will be under extreme pressure to conform to these changes at a later date.  We feel that transgender females being allowed to compete with the girls would be an extreme injustice and potentially present a dangerous environment for the girls. In reviewing the personnel makeup of the committee, it appears that there is a great lack of parental involvement. In the event that these changes are adopted, what is the vehicle for reversing these changes should they prove detrimental to the student population as a whole? In summary, we believe that these changes are an invasion of the privacy of the vast majority of cisgender students and in the long run, would be detrimental to the education of all students.


STRONGLY OPPOSE-pure evil

This bill is pure evil. Has no place in our education system. Shame on you for even considering.


Strongly Support- Support Saves Lives

Parents, educators, and a society who love their kids need to listen and help kids become their best selves.  Kids who hear hate from their families are twice as likely to try or commit suicide.  Support saves kids lives.


Strongly Oppose ALL Transgender HB 145 and SB 161 Policies

I strongly oppose ALL Transgender Policies being imposed on children in school.


I oppose this ungodly and idiotic legislation

I do not approve of their proposed guidelines based on radical theories that eradicate all distinctions between male and female and indoctrinate our school children.


transgender in schools

gr-daughter w/Crohns disease/Oppose transgender bathroom use/God made M/F of all species


Absolutely No!

Remember, we are talking about children... When does it end? Seriously, where is the line? No, absolutely no to this!


Transgender policy

I strongly oppose!!  As a father of two girls that have expressed their concerns I feel it should be up to the parent/ parents. My kids should have protections also from having a male enter their locker room or bathroom!!!


Opposed

As a parent, I strongly oppose this legislation. While everyone should be treated with respect, promoting gender confusion to students and undermining parents is not ok.


I strongly oppose these guidelines for treating transgender children

These guidelines are anti-family and anti-child. Parents should be fully informed of any matters related to the well-being of their child. Educators should inform parents when their child demonstrates gender confusion in school. Parents have the right to help their children and obtain medical and psychological treatment for their children when they are experiencing gender dysphoria. Under no circumstances should children be allowed to use bathrooms or locker rooms that are dedicated to those of the opposite God-given sex. While children experiencing gender confusion should be treated with compassion, telling them that they can chose their sex is a lie and is harmful to the child in the long run. These guidelines are radical and dangerous and should not be adopted.


Absolutely not!

A child will go through many changes in their life before they finally figure out what/who they want to be. Allowing them to identify as the opposite sex is their choice, by all mean, but that doesn't give the right for them to impose on others privacy or bodies. Allowing a male into a females bathroom is asking for trouble, and visa versa. My daughter will not be made to share the bathroom/locker room with a male because he "thinks" he is female. My son will not be made to share a bathroom/locker room with a female because she "thinks" she is a male. My children will not be made to think it's okay for the opposite sex to impose on their privacy. You are taking only a handful of children into your account, and not giving a crap about anyone else. You are asking for lawsuits, criminal charges, accusations, etc if this happens. I cannot even begin to list all the things that could and will happen, unfortunately.


Strongly Oppose ALL Transgender Policies In School: House Bill 145 and Senate Bill 161 Policies

I Strongly Oppose ALL Transgender Policies being Infiltered into our schools.


oppose

lack of parental involvement lack of rights for cisgender safety and cisgender student feelings please make proposal safe for all students


Transgender Policy

Fully support and deeply dissapointed in those who don't.


I strongly oppose

I strongly oppose this measure. Not appropriate for this to be handled at school


Support

Strongly support!


STRONG SUPPORT

I read the Model Policies with my son, who is transgender and attends public school in Virginia.  WE FULLY SUPPORT the “Model Policies for the Treatment of Transgender Students in Virginia’s Public Schools.” Guidance on how to best serve and understand our transgender and gender non-conforming children is critical for their development and education. These policies help to create a safe and welcoming space for transgender youth and are necessary to ensure equity, equality, and respect for all students. Thank you to VDOE and the committee that worked to bring these guidelines forward. They are essential for the health and well-being of our students.


STRONGLY OPPOSED!!!

This is unacceptable and should not be enforced EVER!


Strongly Oppose

Stop using our children as pawns to advance a progressive and misguided agenda.


STRONGLY SUPPORT

I support the draft guidance provided by the VDOE.  I think that in the not too distant future the people who oppose such compassionate and reasonable guidance will be viewed in the same manner as people who opposed integration in decades past.  We know several transgender kids - despite the fact that they live in a supportive area, the world is not a supportive place for such kids, as evidenced by too many of the comments here.  Frankly, many of the comments I've seen cement the fact that VDOE needs to take the lead here and enact the guidance to protect these vulnerable kids.  It's clear that bullying and fear of the "other" doesn't stop at childhood.  Please protect our children and not focus on the bullies. For those who fear the "repercussions" of such treatment of transgender kids, I'll share that our community has treated them with respect, compassion and support.  My kids have learned to "be a buddy, not a bully," for all kids.  Having transgender kids treated the way that they have here has taught my kids so much - and they would never condone the bullying and awful comments seen here. I urge VDOE to do the right thing, lead the way, and protect our kids!


STRONGLY SUPPORT!  School should be a safe place!

School should be a safe place for all!  I'm so tired of transgender kids being the latest population to be bullied.


Strongly Advise against this!

So does this mean a dog can


Strongly Oppoose

We are beginning to get involved way too early in issues which permanently affect a child's entire life.  It would be far better if we were to support and affirm the biological sex of a young person, rather than enhance or encourage actions which could seriously and negatively impact their future life and careers.


Eugenia V. Colon, Colon & Associates, LLC

Support VDOE Model Policies

As a lifelong champion, personally and professionally, of civil and human rights, diversity, equity and inclusion, I am proud to support this guidance. This guidance will equip all schools with policies and procedures by which to confidently provide a safe and inclusive educational experience for all students, including our LGBT youth. All children and youth should equally enjoy supportive, positive educational experiences and environments that are free of discrimination and harassment.


Strongly Support

This seems to be a big step in the right directly of the protection of children - definitely in protecting their physical safety, but also taking into consideration their mental and emotional well being.  This is the right thing to do.


Strongly Support!!

ALL students should feel safe in school and be able to receive the support and services they need. The proposed policy is crucial in making schools safe spaces for trans students, and all students for that matter. Being able to show up, as you are and know that you will be supported and advocated for is huge and could be a life saving for some of our students. As a future school counselor, I know how important it is to advocate for all of our students and make schools safe places for learning and growing.


I believe that my daughter, who is 6, should not be forced to use a restroom with a biological boy.

I believe that every child’s rights should be protected, but not at the cost of negatively impacting another child to accomplish it.


Strongly oppose.

This policy needs to be rewritten to protect the minority of individuals without infringing on people's First Amendment Rights on two accounts, the Freedom of Speech, and the Freedom of Religion.


Va Dept. of Education Transgender Policy

Strongly OPPOSE


STRONGLY OPPOSED

I am strongly opposed.


HB 145 and SB 161

As a parent of 8 successful children, I'm frankly aghast to even have to write concerning this despicable bill being put forth to control students & parents??!!  People certainly have the right to choose their sexuality & there are plenty of appropriate anti-discrimination laws on the books to defend that right, but to attempt to restrict a parents rights as it pertains to this topic, is blatantly wrong & communist in nature.  And to force people/teachers to use what you have coined "gender identity" pronouns, is just plain stupid.  Please use some common sense & reject this nonsense.


Transgender policies and parental rights

As a grandparent I hate to see parents losing more and more of their rights. As for transgender recognition and the policies proposed in Virginia I strongly oppose based on: 1: Schools have a duty to protect the bodily privacy and dignity of ALL students, not just transgender identifying. 2. NO child should be forced to share showers, locker rooms, hotel rooms or other intimate settings with an opposite biological sex. 3. The proposed policies articulate views that are far different from those of many parents. Through endorsement of views  regarding gender identification, etc. the VDOE has gone far beyond the path the General Assembly prescribes. 4. Schools should NOT be involved with gender identification and promoting it. 5. The Department's proposed agenda and policies would pit children against their parents when it comes to sex and gender identity. 6. The proposed agenda and policies infringe on 1st Amendment rights of parents to raise their children as they see fit and to teach them as they see fit.


Strongly support transgender rights

It may well be time to take a more civilized approach to bathrooms in general.  If the stall doors actually blocked the view of the toileting individual, and went from floor to ceiling, then all bathrooms could be unisex.  A simple screen around the urinals would suffice to protect the eyes of the girls.  There is no reason they cannot all share the sinks.  This is standard practice across Europe.  Maybe it's time we get out of the stone ages.


Extreme and dangerous; this is not right or just. Vehemently oppose.

These polices are not right or just. School systems are entrusted with the welfare of these children... under the guise of equality, we are doing a great dis-service to them, that can have a life long impact on how thy identity ourselves in this world. We can be kind and loving without being extreme. This goes against Christian belief that gender comes from God, and that he made us male and female, in his his image and likeness. This is a slap in the face of every Christian in the school system. I would pull my children out of public school if these policies were put into practice.  This is not equality. This is not advancement.


Protect Students but let parents be in charge

All students should be treated with respect to one another. Harassment, bullying, etc. should never be tolerated must be dealt with in any circumstance. However, schools are not the ones to be having the discussing with students in this topic. Parents should be allowed to instruct their children on matters such as this.


Full support

I can’t believe we are even discussing this. It’s basic human decency and clearly the right thing to do for these children. If you disagree, you have too much time on your hands and too much hate in your heart.


Strongly oppose this insanity.

If I choose to be a dog do I have a right not to pay taxes? Dogs don't pay taxes. Now this may sound crazy to you but that's how I view this insane policy of yours. It is not natural for a boy to be a girl and a girl to be a boy. It is not natural for me to be a dog. You are also taking over the role of the parents by hiding things from them if a child doesn't want their parents to know. Then there's the bathroom problem. Its going to create a lot of turmoil there. Girls will be paranoid about going to the bathroom. I would never send my children to a crazy school like that. Suppose a child wants to be a "he" one day, then a "she" another day, then an "it". If the teacher doesn't use the right pronoun then the student can claim discriminatory behavior by that teacher. A child who wants to be transgender needs some counseling and love. They are really messed up in their head. To promote foolish policies like this is going to create more problems than it solves. What a person feels is not what is right many times. Over time feelings change. What if the school reinforces a transgenders person perceived identity?  Years later that person finds their true biological identity and is angry that the school took advantage of them when they were young.  Young people that age go through identity confusion. Do they have the right to sue that school?


Strongly oppose the proposed transgender policies.

The state is intervening where it does not belong. Parents should be informed, involved, and empowered in their children’s welfare and not excluded and challenged by the state. Current, popular, “woke” liberal agendas should not be forced on children or their parents. This liberal agenda does not belong in the schools in ANY manner beyond a discussion in sex ed classes and making sure transgender students have a private bathroom or locker room.


I love this policy. Be prepared for the Catholics from St Raymond to rant.

I wholeheartedly approve, and those individuals that have come from church website to tear down this ruling. Should be ashamed of themselves because not the christian way.


Melanie Meren, Fairfax County School Board

Supporting trans/non binary youth model policies

Hello. I strongly support the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) to draft model policies on the equitable treatment of transgender and non-binary youth in schools. All youth deserve to be treated with respect and equity. Please make these strong model policies for all jurisdictions to look to for guidance. Thank you.


Strongly Support Transgender Students

Please support requiring policies of all VA school districts to support the human rights of transgender and other LGBTQ students without bias or questioning of their dignity, respect for their gender or sexual orientation. This is ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY for these students mental health and wellness.


VDOE TRANSGENDER SCHOOL POLICY

STRONGLY OPPOSE THE VDOE TRANSGENDER SCHOOL POLICY


proposed transgender legislation

I strongly oppose the legislation to let boys compete in girls' sports and use girls' locker rooms just because they want to become a girl.  Children and teens should not be put under this kind of pressure to have to decide if they are a boy or girl.  Girls should not have to worry that there is a boy in their dressing room who is going to compete with them or against them in sports.  Boys and girls are different in their abilities athletically and should compete with their same gender.  This gives an unfair advantage to the boys who join girls' sports. This is why the sports have been separated by gender.  Girls compete with girls only and boys against boys only.


STRONGLY AGAINST

The fact that this is even up for comment is appalling.   People are either male or female..jus reference their birth certificate for their sex.


Are you all nuts?

How about just getting the teachers to teach and let the parents parent.   This is a bad step


This is insidious and a moral assault on parental/religious rights

I strongly oppose this attempt by radical leftists to indoctrinate our children.  This is a direct attack on the fundamental beliefs and teachings of Christians, Jews, Muslims, and every other faith community.  We do need to promote the dignity of all children and lovingly help those struggling with confusion and mental disorders.  But for the state to indoctrinate children with novel and highly controversial theories is a direct assault on religious liberties and a parent's prerogative to instruct their kids in religious values. Regardless if what the State does, I will teach my children Biblical truth and ensure they know that gender is not fluid, but biological and determined by God's soverign work.


Strongly support transgender protections

I strongly support guidance to protect the civil rights agenda privacy of of transgender students.


Disagree

I strongly disagree with everything in this policy that you are trying to quickly pass through before too many parents, grandparents, teachers, students and administrators are able to think clearly on what these policies will actually mean. You will be definitely putting our daughters and granddaughters at serious risk. This entire policy goes against our rights and  the safety of all our children that we send to school expecting them to be in a safe environment and they are not. Who is watching out for our children and their rights when just because a few have the idea all of a sudden they want to change their gender ????


Strongly oppose.  The emperor has no clothes. Just sayin’.

First amendment hasn’t been repealed (yet).  Foolish not to preserve religious exception.  At the very least the state will be wasting valuable taxpayer money defending an unconstitutional and harmful (to the gender dysphoric) policy.


Strongly oppose. These policies are harmful/dangerous to children, and remove parental control.

I am opposed to blocking parents in any way from remaining in charge of the mental, spiritual, physical and social development of their children. Those important developmental areas belong to the parent, NOT the schools or government. Also, there is no accommodation recommended for parents who opt out of this policy due to religious or other reasons. In addition, the transgender policies proposed are confusing and downright dangerous to children. These policies are WRONG, they promote deterioration of family relationships, faith based morals, and give schools/government control they do not legally have under our constitution.


Schools have an obligation to create a safe learning environment for all students. It is a basic human right.


Strongly oppose

What right do you think you have to take this conversation and insert your own narrative?! It's the parents that should be choosing what to teach their children anout sexuality and NOT the schools so that they can lead the narrative with their own radical agendas!


Extremely OPPOSED!

I am opposed to educators taking on this issue.  Only trained professionals should be involved with the parents; secrecy and hidden agendas are never healthy for anyone. This issue is for a small percentage of our population and all this focus is unnecessary. There are so many issues that need attention, with transgender issues as one of many. Too much else to focus on to meet the needs of our next generation without intentionally trying to confuse and scare our children.


Support

As a faithful Catholic Christian and antiracist organizer committed to advancing and defending human rights, I believe that all residents of Virginia (regardless of gender, sexual orientation, race, religion, disability, financial means, documentation status, etc.) have a right to public education in a safe, supportive, and welcoming environment (free of discrimination, harassment, violence, and harms physical or emotional), including equitable and full access to facilities, activities, and resources necessary to their health, growth, and human development (e.g. classes, guidance, health services, food, bathrooms & locker rooms, sports & extracurricular activities, etc.). This includes transgender, nonbinary, and intersex students no less than binary cisgender students; queer students no less than straight students. We Virginians need and deserve schools in which administrators, faculty, and other school staff are fully committed to the safety, wellbeing, and thriving of their students as well as their education, and especially students who are socially marginalized, such as transgender, nonbinary, and intersex youth. School employees should be committed, for example, to correctly identifying students according to the names & pronouns those students use for themselves, protecting students’ privacy and sensitive information, preventing and correcting bullying and harassment from any source (staff, students, parents), etc. I believe, as it is often said, that injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere, and that none of us are free until all of us are free. Where marginalized students (such as transgender, nonbinary, and intersex students) are treated well and thrive, all students thrive. Where marginalized students endure harm and live in fear, all students suffer harm. The health and safety of all students depends on the health and safety of the most vulnerable among us. This is an issue very near to my heart, as many of my friends and family members are transgender, nonbinary, and/or queer. As a disabled queer woman, I have experienced marginalization on the basis of gender, sexual orientation, and disability. Everyone, without exception, deserves to be treated with dignity and respect. I support the guidance. Cat Clark Alexandria, Virginia


Model policy for treatment of transgender students

I am opposed to this bill for transgender students. I am a parent of a child in public school it's is my right for my child not to learn or be exposed to this


I strongly oppose this! What are you smoking to even consider this change?

i strongly oppose this change.


Strongly oppose - undermining parents and children's safety

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.


Transgender Policy

I AM STRONGLY AGAINST


Stop This NOW!

As a parent of a young child about to enter Kindergarten, I am overwhelmingly OPPOSED to this hideously subjective policy regarding transgender/gay identity nonsense.  This proposed rules change will not encourage freedom or equality.  It carves-out special rights for a tiny minority group which deserves Equal, NOT EXTRA, consideration under the law!  These policies are poisonous to individuals and society as a whole.  They are an attempt to legislate thoughts and beliefs, as well as behavior, which are the exclusive province of individuals and families to choose, teach and adhere to according each's own conscience.  The state has no right, nor any authority to dictate what a child says, what they believe, nor how they think anymore than it has the authority to dictate such to an adult.  Our children are Citizens, too!  To interfere with the raising of another's child is a taboo offense in our society for a reason.  We are obligated to protect all of our children, not force them to conform to a radical "universal" standard that cripples their ability to think critically and make their own judgements about themselves and one another.  Children should not be cudgeled into behaving "properly" through fear, intimidation and threat and that is EXACTLY the system that this proposed policy would force on every child in our Commonwealth's schools.  I'm not even going to get started on the outright ugly unconstitutionality of this policy in regards to 1st Amendment Freedoms including Speech and Religion...those are patently obvious on this face of this abortion of a proposal.  So, NO, I do not support the brainwashing of our children through fear.  I don't believe anybody should be discriminated against.  I have suffered bullying and mistreatment in public schools as a youth myself for all 12 years that I attended them.  But there are already adequate rules regarding curbing and addressing the mistreatment of ALL public school students in Virginia with REAL equality...we don't need to invent a special "protected class" of schoolchildren.  I will teach my son to be Loyal, Honest and Kind.  That is MY responsibility and his Mother's.  The state can stay the Hell out of my child's head!


Strongly Oppose the proposed standards regarding transgender students

There is so much wrong with these proposed standards, I barely know where to begin.  But these two points rankle the most: 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. I remember high school restrooms.  There wasn't much privacy, but there was some.  The locker rooms were another story.  There you were, expected to change out of your Phys Ed clothes, take a shower, change back into your street clothes, all in front of the other girls. It was excruciatingly embarrassing for a developing, self-conscious teenager.  Imagine how it would feel if there were guys in the room as well.  Well, I would have to skip the shower altogether.  They may "feel" like they are female, but they are still guys.  I would feel violated in such a situation.  Are the feelings of a non-trans student worth nothing? 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. This part of the guidelines is stunning in its audacity.  Parents are supposed to encourage their children to become well-adjusted adults.  The state has no business interfering in the normal, natural development of children within a responsible household.  Lots of children dress up as the other sex.  It's called role-playing.  It's part of a healthy childhood.  The idea that a child can "know" he or she is the opposite sex, and that's their final answer, is preposterous. The idea that the state can arrest the parents for thinking it's preposterous is monstrous. This legislation is bad law, based on subjective feelings that cannot be proven or that may even be ephemeral.  Students who believe they are transgender should not be bullied in any way, and they can be treated with kindness and respect without any legislation at all.  By the same token, non-transgender students and their parents must not be bullied either.  For this reason I strongly oppose it.


I support trans rights and protections

As the mother of a trans/gender non-binary young adult, I solidly support these measures.     Please, we need them!


VDOE Draft Guidance

I support the draft guidance provided by the VDOE. Young people deserve a supportive, respectful learning environment.


No! No! No! NO!!!!

As a father to 3 young girls I am extremely adamant in opposition to this fiasco of an idea. For obvious reasons to most people with any common sense whatsoever,  this could cause major problems if things take a wrong turn. And if you think we will take that news sitting down you really are as confused and misguided as I fear you are. DO NOT put us in this situation. The fact this is even being considered is beyond maddening I do not even recognize my country anymore.


Model Policies for Transgender Students

Great idea!  Take the vast majority of right-thinking students comfortable with the gender "assigned" to them at birth and traumatize them by allowing members of the opposite birth-assigned gender to walk in to their locker rooms and bathrooms at will.  How do you spell "state sponsored voyeurism," which, last time I checked, was a crime? § 18.2-130 I look forward to the state being sued for emotionally traumatizing our youth and violating their innocence.


Transgender

This is government trying  to take control over the children of this country to take them away from their parents and family and God.   This is socialism and should not be pass.


Oppose Transgender Proposed Policy

I oppose the proposed policy to allow transgender persons to violate the privacy of either gender by deciding which gender they are today and using the common facility of that gender i.e. biological male using ladies room or shower, biological female using mens room or shower. If a person with gender euphoria wishes an accomodation, please allow that person to use a single use bathroom/shower only. I strongly oppose biological males being allowed to compete in girl's/women's athletics.


Statewide transgender policy

This proposed policy almost defies reality. I vehemently disapprove of this heinous draft model and pray to God to help parents and children in this frightening time. Parents, not schools should be responsible for their children’s upbringing.  This policy must not be allowed to be implemented.


Just plain wrong

So what you are offering is that any student that desires to enter the opposite gender bathroom or sport has to do is say "I am Transgender" then be aloud to accompany them into bathrooms/locker rooms etc. without supervision.. THIS IS WRONG!!! IN SO MANY WAYS!! AND TO THINK YOU WERE ELECTED TO REPRESNT US/ME YOU DO NOT ON THIS!!! DO NOT PASS THIS IN ANY LIFETIME!!


Transgender education

Strongly oppose


Model policies violate privacy rights!

Let those confused about their gender identity or having decided against their assignment at  birth use private facilities. In this way, you will not be violating the rights to privacy of the great majority of those not confused or happy with the gender they were assigned at birth.  It's also a good idea to ask, "Who did the assigning at birth?"


Strongly opposed

I think that we already have done great damage to our children with all this confusion about identity.  This is what happens, when you try to put a square peg in a round whole more confusion.


Opposed to proposed transgender School policy

This policy is discriminatory against anyone who opposes your unscientific notions of gender. It’s form of Child abuse. Spend your time and money improving education.


Transgender Policy/Fairfax County Schools

This is not a workable policy for school-aged children and the school system as a whole. Children who are not "transgender" definitely are treated as the ones who need to adjust to having their sports teams and their restrooms drastically changed.  The entire school "experience" will be changed and not for the good.


STRONGLY SUPPORT KEEPING STUDENTS SAFE

Schools must prioritize student safety and model respect. Schools should be a safe place for students to learn, where they are respected and appreciated for who they are, and where they are taught to treat others and themselves with respect and kindness. Trans kids (and adults!) need protection from violence and bigotry. Those parents who are uncomfortable can be engaged in dialogue to express their concerns and hear the concerns of this trans kids and those who love them. But their concerns should not be given precedence over that of vulnerable children. Public schools are for our entire diverse community, not special interests who want to repress children who don’t fit the dominant (white heterosexual cisgender) mold.


Strongly support this fair, reasonable, and flexible policy

As a Virginia parent I strongly support the VDOE model transgender student policy. It is well-informed by experts, it is very reasonable, it is flexible in allowing local control and encouraging community participation in development of local plans. This model plan would greatly reduce bullying in schools. It supports the fundamental principle of an appropriate public education for all students, free from harassment and stigma. Please adopt this plan.


Support! Love thine neighbor.

Thank you for caring for the marginalized. Like Jesus did. Gratefully, An athiest


I do not agree with this:

While I believe in treating all people fairly and kindly, this would be creating a violation of the rights of people of faith.  I recognize the desire for our society to be completely equal; however, we are not all created the same.  We are not all equal.  If we were all equal, there would be no developmental disabilities or learning disabilities, everyone would pass everything all the time, and we would all be superstar sports players.  That is not the case.  The passage of this would result in making a very small portion of the population feel good while a large portion of the population feel uncomfortable with an uncontrollable, human act that requires privacy.  Also, again, this would violate the rights and beliefs for those of religious faith!


Equal Education for LGBTQ+ Youth

This is very simple to me.  All people should be treated with respect.  All have inherent worth and dignity.  All should be treated equally and equitably.  This holds regardless of their gender assigned, gender identification, non-gender identification, who they choose to love and so on.  Othering people is wrong and harms all of us.