The following press release is from Equality Virginia, in response to Glenn Youngkin’s remarks at yesterday’s inaptly named “Parents Matter” rally in McLean. As Equality Virginia explains, at that rally, Youngkin “expressed his belief that school personnel who discover that a student is transgender and/or nonbinary should share that information with the student’s parent, even without the student’s consent, before taking any steps to affirm that student at school.” In response, Equality Virginia declares that “It’s time that Governor Youngkin stops using trans students’ lives to gain political points at the expense of their safety and well-being.” We couldn’t agree more!
Equality Virginia Condemns Transphobic, Forced Outing Remarks by Governor Youngkin
RICHMOND, VA- On Wednesday, August 31st, Governor Glenn Youngkin hosted a “Parents Matter” rally in Fairfax County, where he made remarks about trans youth in Virginia public schools. Among them, he expressed his belief that school personnel who discover that a student is transgender and/or nonbinary should share that information with the student’s parent, even without the student’s consent, before taking any steps to affirm that student at school. Additionally, Gov. Youngkin expressed a fundamental misunderstanding of gender identity and restated his favor towards a ban on transgender youth in school sports.
Equality Virginia released this statement in response:
It’s time that Governor Youngkin stops using trans students’ lives to gain political points at the expense of their safety and well-being. Transgender and nonbinary students are not going anywhere, and we need to treat them with the respect and care that they deserve. The Governor’s administration needs to hear and really listen to what transgender youth in our schools have to say about their experiences, and ensure that there are policies in place to protect them. By instead making open threats to their rights, the administration is failing transgender students in Virginia and contributing to hostile school environments for our youth.
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