Thousands of Virginia high schoolers walked out on school to protest the rewriting of what is called the “Model Policies on the Privacy, Dignity, and Respect For All Students and Parents in Virginia’s Public Schools.” Over 100 schools had students who participated, holding up signs and calling for trans rights as they walked. The policies were under a 30-day public comment period during the protests.
These policies, which include stipulations that students may not use a different name or pronouns than the ones they were assigned at birth without parent permission, and students must use the bathroom of the gender they were assigned at birth, are incredibly anti-trans. This policy not only attempts to discourage trans kids from being themselves, it also encourages teachers and staff to out children to their unsupportive parents. The policies are a direct violation of trans rights. Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin claims that these new rules are meant to protect queer and trans students, not to harm them. Many students are calling the new policies tone-deaf due to this hasty claim.
Student Casey Calabia says about Youngkin, “I am scared of this man. My friends are scared of this man. How can he stand there and say he loves this country and loves this state if he wants to hurt us?”
Calabia and many other students organized the protests with the Pride Liberation Project, a student-led organization advocating for LGBTQ rights. Many trans kids do not live in supportive families, and even more are bullied and face a higher risk of suicide because of an unwelcoming environment. Some kids have school as their only safe space. Policies such as the newly rewritten Model Policies aim to take that away from trans kids.
Unsafe environments for young LGBTQ people create trauma and higher suicide rates, something that is already disproportionate in the LGBTQ community due to constant oppression. The Trevor Project says, “LGBTQ youth are not inherently prone to suicide risk because of their sexual orientation or gender identity but rather placed at higher risk because of how they are mistreated and stigmatized in society.”
