Ær Queen
"....the Department hereby withdraws the 2021 Model Policies, which shall have no further effect."
This is a direct quote from the newly released Virginia Department of Education's 2022 Model Policies on the Privacy, Dignity, and Respect for All Students and Parents in Virginia's Public Schools: effectively a retraction of the previous model policy. The previous model policy was titled Model Policies for the Treatment of Transgender Students in Virginia's Public Schools.
If the titles themselves don't clue the reader in to the fact that these are two vastly different policies, the covers of each policy are starkly different. Not that the design choice has an impact on the policy, but the ominous and drastic difference is noticeable.
Outside of the cover designs for the policies, it truly is the content that matters, especially the statement that I began with- everything in the 2021 policy will no longer be in effect after the 30-day comment period beginning September 26, under the guise of "parents' rights."
"The 2021 Model Policies also disregarded the rights of parents and ignored other legal and constitutional principles that significantly impact how schools educate students, including transgender students...the Department hereby withdraws the 2021 Model Policies, which shall have no further force and effect..."
It is important to me that anyone who is able - especially cisgender accomplices - read the entirety of the new model policy, which I will link with the previous policy at the end. Reading it is important to doing the work to stand against it, and for standing with trans and nonbinary students.
What exactly does the model policy say?
Here are some important parts to know from the new model policy, with some of my own commentary included in the blue text.
Schools must defer to parents for all things related to:
the name, nickname, or pronouns "if any" can be used by teachers during the school day.
whether a child can engage in social transition at school.
whether a child can express a gender that differs from their assigned sex This is something that at the outset effects more than just transgender or nonbinary students. There are cisgender students that go by nicknames all the time: Christina might go by Tina, or Richard might go by RJ. Under this new policy will "no nicknames for cis students" also be enforced? Gender expression is something that can truly only be determined by an individual and is unique to each person. Wearing skirts is not just a "girl thing" just as short hair is not just a "boy thing." Binary thinking of this nature is harmful to everyone. Students who are learning what fits them or what they like will no longer have the space to do that in school: historically where children have been encouraged to discover who they are and where they fit in. This type of forced-binary policy also excludes anyone from a culture or country where gender is expressed differently than what has come to be the expectation in colonized Western-European based society. This policy is not just anti-transgender, it is racist and xenophobic as well.
"Schools shall keep parents informed about their children's well-being"
"...school personnel shall keep parents fully informed about all matters that may be reasonably expected to be important to a parent"
"related to their child’s health, and social and psychological development." Parents are definitely important, and no one is denying that at all. This policy, however, creates the expectation that teachers will need to "out" their students to parents. Anecdotally, almost all queer, trans, and nonbinary students do tell their parents that they have a different identity, but that is a conversation that the student should be able to approach in their own way, in their own time. The implementation of this policy actually forces schools to be involved in private, family conversations. Another aspect of this is that a typically "male-presenting" student might come to school with nail polish on (as an example) and will a teacher, counselor, or administrator take it upon themselves to decide that the nail polish is a representation of a child's gender identity, and call home to the parents to inform them without additional information or informing the student? As teachers, our number one responsibility is to do everything we can to keep the students in our care safe. If a student were to disclose that they were getting abused or neglected at home, it would be inappropriate for a teacher to call the parents to verify or inform them of the disclosure. In the same way: if a student shares their gender or orientation and also shares that they don't feel comfortable with their parents knowing yet, we need to respect that. Students are autonomous human beings too.
Schools serve all students
Schools should take the needs of individual students into consideration, with sensitivity to the needs of other students
"Schools should attempt to accommodate students with distinctive needs, including any student with a persistent and sincere belief that his or her gender differs from his or her sex"
"Single-user bathrooms and facilities should be made available in accessible areas and provided with appropriate signage, indicating accessibility for all students." Absolutely, schools do serve all students, including transgender and nonbinary ones! The only part of this particular part of the policy that I find harmful is that the "sensitivity" of other students plays such a heavy role in the ability of teachers to fully affirm our transgender and nonbinary students. This section goes on to say that granting "accommodations" to students [in relation to their transgender status] should not infringe on the rights of other students. Being transgender is not a disability that requires accommodation and treating transgender students in an appropriate and affirming way is not and has not ever been a means to diminishing the rights of other students. There is definitely more that I can say on that and will at a later time; but the brief version is: equitable treatment is not the same as equal treatment because every individual has different needs. Eliminating equity under the guise of equality is not the correct course of action, and more rights for a historically underrepresented and purposefully marginalized group does not mean that the groups that are historically represented will get fewer rights than they have enjoyed up until now.
Parents are the most important educator; teachers, admin, etc. "also play an essential role" I don't have too much to say about this, except this is a continuation of the anti-teacher rhetoric that is all too common from our current governor.
"Schools shall respect all students"
"All children in Virginia have a right to learn, free from unlawful discrimination and harassment."
No one should be discriminated against on the basis of sex All students still includes transgender students, however this attempts to rewrite established non-discrimination policies that include gender presentation and sexual orientation. By purposefully removing that language, and by not naming transgender students as protected, this grants permission to discriminate against children based on their transgender status.
Terminology
sex: "biological sex"
transgender student: "a public school student whose parent has requested in writing, due to their child’s persistent and sincere belief that his or her gender differs with his or her sex, that their child be so identified while at school." This automatically precludes students who do not have support at home or who have not shared with their parents yet. This also assumes a level of language acuity that accepting parents may not have, especially if they are English Language learners themselves.
Basis in the First Amendment
"Practices such as compelling others to use preferred pronouns is premised on the ideological belief that gender is a matter of personal choice or subjective experience, not sex."
"Many Virginians reject this belief." This is pure rhetoric, and it is incredibly harmful. We know that pronouns are not preferred, they are required. We also know that it is not a personal choice to be transgender, it is a personal choice to come out. Being transgender or affirming of transgender people is not and never has been an ideological belief. Many Virginians still believe that the Confederate traitors were the true winners of the Civil War, and many Virginians still believe that segregation and other racist policies and practices are the right way to live. Just because they believe those things does not make them true or correct, and while the first amendment might give people with these bigoted ideas permission to believe them, it does not grant those people permission to infringe on the rights of others.
Where do the model policies come from
consultation with educational stakeholders
"parents of children in our public schools." Transgender people can be and are also parents of children in our public schools, and transgender and nonbinary people are also stakeholders in other ways too: we are teachers, administrators, and counselors. I am certain that parents and educators from a background that does not reflect the students in question in this model policy - transgender people - were not consulted or included in this process. Even if I believed that this policy was written in good faith, there should be nothing about us without us.
What can we do now?
Read the new policy and become as familiar as you can be with the text.
Share the new policy with other people and encourage them to read it as thoroughly as they can.
Pay attention to local groups and organizations for news about actions.
Continue to support your transgender students in visible and vocal ways.
Read the 2022 Model Policy here
Read the 2021 Model Policy here
Read Code of Virginia § 22.1-23.3. Treatment of transgender students; policies. here
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