My kids are Virginia elementary school students and they have two moms. I'm terrified that some bigots are trying to codify that acknowledging my family's existence is somehow "sexually explicit" or that it is so awful that it is something that children should be shielded from. I can't believe I'm even having to come here to say that us just living our lives and being a family is not a threat to anyone. What is actually deeply harmful is stigmatizing being LGBTQ+ because we know that around 7% of students are going to grow up to be, like me and my wife, a part of that community. That means at least one or two kids in every class, statistically, would be receiving the message that what they are is so shameful it can't even be discussed. This is how I grew up in Tennessee in the 90s and let me tell you, it's deeply harmful. I am so discouraged to find that that we have not come as far as I had believed.  Kids today aren't safe from adults who would be more comfortable with kids miserably in the closet than happily living their lives. 

Please do not put my kids in a position to feel that they can't mention their family at school in case they get a teacher in trouble. Please don't put a teacher in the position of having to silence and shame them for existing in a family with two moms. I thought everyone losing their minds about Ellen coming out when I was in my formative years was bad enough but this is so much worse. I hope my kids never get word that this was even being considered. It's bad enough that some kids are aware of what is happening in other states. 

We are not able to closet ourselves for the comfort of bigots and the state should never pass laws attempting to force us to do so. My liberty depends on your doing the right thing, so do the right thing. Vote no.