Virginia Students At Nearly 100 Schools Announce Walkouts In Response To DOE Draft Transgender Policy Guidelines

UPDATE: You can leave a public comment for the Youngkin administration here.

Check out the following press release from the Pride Liberation Project, which describes itself as “an entirely student-led LGBTQIA+ advocacy organization based in Virginia with over 500 student members.”

Virginia Students At Nearly 100 Schools Announce Walkouts In Response To DOE Draft Guidelines

FAIRFAX, VA – On September 16th, the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) released its revised model transgender policies. Passed in 2020, the model transgender policies were intended to protect Queer students against discrimination. These new revisions betray the original intent of the law, instead attacking LGBTQIA+ students across Virginia.

“As a closeted student, my friends and I are terrified that we won’t be able to come home if these proposed guidelines go through. We just want to be ourselves at school, without worrying about whether we’ll be subject to abuse or harassment,” said one Virginia Queer student impacted by these changes.

In response to these draft guidelines, Virginia students at nearly 100 schools across dozens of school districts intend to walk-out on Tuesday, September 27th. Students are asking the Department of Education to revoke these draft guidelines and for individual school districts to reject these proposed changes. A full list of schools participating in the walkout is available here:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1L47FmHxu-V–bRShS10cTyvqS2_iTx3Kto-drDTZ
6Vc/edit?usp=sharing

…The Pride Liberation Project is a 500+ member student-run group of Queer and allied students in Virginia who advocate for the rights of LGBTQIA+ students. Representatives of the Pride Liberation Project have testified at School Board meetings and the General Assembly, and the organization continues to lobby local and state governments to promote the interests of LGBTQIA+ students.
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