As a youth educator of over ten years, I am deeply opposed to these new policy recommendations by Governor Youngkin. Trans and non-binary students are not new to the schools of Virginia, and rather than introducing anti-bullying policies, these policies condone the creation of school environments that are unsafe, unwelcoming, and detrimental the health and well-being of students.
While the policy states that bullying will not be tolerated, it simultaneously reinforces teacher’s power to use names and pronouns for students that do not respect students’ experiences and felt identities. This is humiliating to teens and detrimental to mental health.
I have met so many incredible parents in VA that will go through every hoop and jump and redtape of the school system to advocate for their child and will continue to do so in the face of transphobic policies. Sadly, not all students have this support in the home. Queer and trans teens make up the largest percentage of teen homelessness. In fact, research found in the Journal of Adolescent Health has shown that those who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or questioning (LGBTQ+) have a 120% higher risk of experiencing some form of homelessness.Family conflict is the primary cause of homelessness for LGBTQ+ youth, which is disproportionately due to a lack of acceptance by family members of a youth’s sexual orientation or gender identity.
These policies carry no guarantee of privacy or support to trans and non-binary students, instead it creates pathways for students to be outed to unsupportive family members, teachers, and school administrators. Rather than supporting students and families, the policy creates unnecessary division and discrimination on the basis of sex assigned at birth. When sex assigned at birth is only ONE aspect of one’s biological sex makeup (not just the genitals, but also hormones, secondary characteristics in puberty, gonads, and genetics!). This policy also assumes that there are only two biological sexes, when in reality 1 in 100 births is born an intersex child. This is not ideology, this is fact. Both biological sex and gender identity are extremely diverse and cannot be fully understood in such narrow terms.
Let our teens be who they are as they learn and grow, and give them the support they deserve - not this crappy legislation!!