Debate Over Virginia’s New Transgender Student Policies Highlights Parental Rights Battle

"Parents rights first": Fairfax County resident Lin-Dai Kendall protests at a rally outside Luther Jackson Middle School before a Fairfax County Public Schools board meeting, in Falls Church, Va., on Sept. 15, 2022. Terri Wu/The Epoch Times

FAIRFAX COUNTY, Va.—More than 20,000 comments—containing both strong support and objections—were registered during the first two days of the public comment period for Virginia’s new transgender student policies. The new guidelines, released on Sept. 16, overhauled the 2021 version by ensuring parents’ consent to their children’s name or gender identity change and requiring school bathroom use according to students’ biological sex.

In addition, a student LGBT advocacy group—the Pride Liberation Project—organized walkouts in about 100 schools across Virginia on Sept. 27, asking the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) to revoke the new guidelines and their school districts to reject the VDOE model policies. The demonstrations mainly concentrated in Fairfax County, where the student group is based, and the remaining northern Virginia counties: Loudoun, Prince William, and Arlington.