The new “Don’t say gay” law in Virginia – Daily Kos

In the past week, Virginia Governor Glen Youngkin released a new set of transgender and non-binary model policies for k-12 schools. These new discriminatory policies include restrictions on which bathrooms students use, pronoun usage, and what sports teams students can participate in. You can read more by clicking here.

This action violates the Virginia Human Rights Act, specifically section 2.2-3900. This law, which was passed with bipartisan support and signed into law by then Governor Ralph Northam, protects people from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity, including in educational settings. You can read the full law here. Several Virginia lawmakers have called Youngkin out for overstepping, but Youngkin has not backed down.

Far-right school board candidates are celebrating these new policies. Carolyn Weems, a Republican Virginia Beach School Board Member up for re-election, said at a candidate forum recently that she supports these new policies and attacked transgender students by saying that kids who hide their gender identity from parents are deceptive and up to no good.  

The stakes for these local school board elections just got a lot higher. As a member of the LGBTQ+ community, a 2020 graduate of Virginia Beach Public Schools, and the son of an educator, I will not allow transgender and non-binary students to be targeted by extremists. I hope you’ll join me in my fight to protect our students in Virginia.