No child should be harmed or harassed for gender dysphoria. But this proposed policy pushes mandatory transgender political policy onto schools, teachers who disagree, children, and families. This is not about protecting kids from bullying. It is about bullying kids, teachers, and parents into promoting transgender policy against their wills and against their religiously informed consciences. 

This is bad policy for all Virginia's children. Children are highly moldable. This policy will convince many children to go with the crowd and have sometimes irreversible things done to their bodies before they are old enough to understand the lifelong repercussions. It also inserts the state in between the parent and the child.

This is bad scientific policy. It contradicts basic DNA science and biology and encourages boys and girls to reject their own bodies. Boys and girls differ genetically in 6500 ways. Encouraging them to reject their genes is not good science or social policy. 

This policy is bad for Virginia's teachers. Thousands of them have conscience objections to this policy. This policy would force them to choose between serving as an educator or finding other work. We cannot afford to lose thousands of teachers at once. This is also a First Amendment issue. How much money does Virginia want to spend defending an indefensible policy when thousands of teachers sue?

This policy is bad for families. Parents who love their children unconditionally yet disagree with this policy could be labeled as abusers. What happens then? Will the already overloaded state family services come in and remove the children from those homes?

This policy creates an atmosphere of distrust between parents and schools. Schools are required to use the pronoun of the child's choice, despite the parent's wishes. How are parents supposed to trust teachers and administrators if they know they are required by law to lie to them? Hundreds of thousands of parents will pull their children from Virginia schools rather than subject their families to such conditions. 

This policy would put every biologically female student in Virginia schools in danger of sexual assault and subject adolescent girls to intolerable psychological harm as they begin to experience their periods. My three daughters graduated from Virginia schools. Boys will do ANYTHING to get sexually close to a girl, including identifying as trans. This policy will encourage sexual assault and rape. Further, no girl or woman wants a biological male--no matter how he identifies himself--in the bathroom with them when they are menstruating. And young women who try to use the boys restroom are putting themselves more at risk for bullying and rape, not less. 

On behalf of boys and girls, teachers and administrators, parents and families in all of Virginia, including the ones who believe they are protecting gender dysphoric children, please reject this proposed law. 

Respectfully,

Dane Skelton

Pastor, Faith Community Church

South Boston, Virginia