I support the new policy, but don’t hate those who have a differing opinion
I am appalled at some of the comments submitted in this forum. Each side hating the other will never resolve anything. Where did civil discourse go? Where has the American value of diplomacy gone? If each side would honestly listen to the other, and have a true American spirit of respect and love and finding a win-win solution, or at least the closest thing possible, perhaps we could get somewhere in our society. I am grateful for Governor Youngkin's wisdom and decisive action on these issues. Schools should be a safe environment for everyone on every side of the issues.
The issue of encouraging teachers and staff to let parents know about a student’s change of gender or name/pronoun reveals a deeper issue. What are the beliefs surrounding the role of parents in a child’s life? What is the purpose of a family? Why are some using our school culture to encourage students to keep secrets from their parents? I understand that not every child finds themselves in a relationship with their parents that is favorable. If such a relationship exists that a child feels uncomfortable with their parent finding out about their sexual orientation, then the real need is for the parent-child relationship to become more secure, open and to be healed. Understanding that this is easier said than done, perhaps efforts could be made to strengthen family relationships and foster understanding and trust between parent and child, rather than cater to the fear-based idea of keeping a child’s life secret from parents, or the unsound idea that children should be protected from the influence of a parent. Of course, there is no place in the home for abuse, and those who abuse will be held accountable by a Higher Power. But it is wrong to automatically assume and act as though all parents will resort to abuse upon becoming aware of their child’s choices regarding gender orientation. It is not fair to the majority of families, who do have compassionate parents who care very much about their children feeling accepted and receiving the best mentoring possible for their development and growth into a happy human being.
Parents ought to be given a chance to be the mentor their children need in their search for truth and understanding about who they are or anything else they struggle with. If public schools won’t respect their self-evident right to do so, then parents should reconsider to whom they are delegating the responsibility of educating their children. Parents have the right to decide how their children should be educated and should be much more involved in the decisions about the daily environment their children are in.
The family is the fundamental unit of a healthy society. Even if you don’t believe that God exists and that God put us into families for a reason, no parent I know can deny the absolute joy and love that overwhelms you when you have a child. The connection and deep desire to protect and love them is real. How about we work on resources for families to learn how to heal their relationships, find common ground and truth and to love and accept one another, instead of pitting children against parents and modeling divisiveness, secrecy, and hate?
Concerning the bathrooms - experience has shown how unsafe it truly is for those claiming transgender identity to be allowed into the bathroom of their choice. Bullying doesn’t disappear just because they are allowed to go in the bathroom of their choice. If any children in schools are afraid of bullying by their own schoolmates in any way (regardless of the bathroom they use), then there is a problem with the Character Education of the schoolmates. Focus on teaching acceptance, love, and tolerance, diplomacy, respect, etc, instead of making the majority of children uncomfortable by allowing anyone in any bathroom at any time. Bullying has been a problem for a long time, not just because of transgender issues.