Virginia is attempting to roll back major protections for school students who are transgender, according to the latest set of guidelines announced by the state’s education officials.
The state’s department of education announced on Friday that it had rewritten a number of policies around the treatment of transgender students, issuing guidance for school districts to follow that ease up accommodations from the previous administration.
Under the Republican governor, Glenn Youngkin, the policy reversal would require students to use bathrooms and locker rooms that match their biological sex, the Associated Press reported.
The new policy also makes it more difficult for students to change the names and pronouns that are used for them. Students who are minors must now be referred to by names and pronouns listed in official records unless a parent gives their approval.
The most recent guidance will go through a 30-day public comment period, which will begin later this month. Afterwards, the state’s education department will go through comments and submit a final version approved by the state’s superintendent, according to the New York Times.
The proposed policies are a stark contrast from protections passed under former Democratic governor Ralph Northam’s administration. Last year’s policies told schools to call students by names and pronouns that reflected their gender identity without “any substantiating evidence”, the AP reported.
The previous guidelines also allowed students to participate in any programs or facilities that matched their gender identity and cautioned schools to consider a student’s safety and health before sharing information with parents.
But many school districts did not implement Northam’s more LGBTQ+ friendly policies, with no state enforcement mechanism if school districts failed to comply, the Virginia Mercury reported.
A representative of Youngkin’s office has said that the adjusted policies are about preserving parental rights, but advocates have criticized the new guidance as harmful to transgender students.
Anthony Belotti, a 22-year-old queer and trans college student who attended high school in Virginia, told the Washington Post that during his time attending Stafford county schools, he was banned from using the men’s bathroom, having to wait hours to use the restroom at home. As a result, Belotti now has chronic kidney and urinary tract infections.
Belotti warned that rolling back protections will be especially harmful for transgender students who have gotten used to previously established accommodations.
“This is going to mean less protections from bullying,” Belotti said. “It’s going to be especially devastating for students who know what it is like to have access to support and respect, and now have that taken away from them.”
There is also confusion on how much power Youngkin has to enforce certain provisions in the updated school guidelines, particularly given federal protections for transgender students that mandate they access the bathroom that matches their gender identity.
In the past year, states across the US have passed or proposed legislation targeting trans minors, inside and outside the classroom.
The Republican governor of Texas, Greg Abbott, told the state’s child protection services to investigate parents providing their children with gender-affirming care, calling those actions “abuse”.
In March, the Republican governor of Iowa, Kim Reynolds, signed a bill into law that banned trans girls and women from participating in high school and college sports, despite critics saying that the bill was discriminatory.
Louisiana’s governor, John Bel Edwards, allowed a similar legislative ban to become law by not vetoing it despite also not signing it. Edwards is a Democrat, but Louisiana’s legislature is controlled by Republicans.
