Two parents are suing their local Virginia school board for failing to implement new transgender policies that were enacted by Republican governor Glenn Youngkin this summer.
The statewide guidelines, otherwise known as model policies, require teachers to address students by their birth names and pronouns as seen on their records, although parents can instruct teachers to call students by their “preferred pronouns” if a written statement is provided. Additionally, school personnel cannot conceal private information about a student’s gender from their parents.
The policies also require transgender students to use sex-assigned bathrooms and locker rooms and to participate in sports based on sex as opposed to “gender identity.”
However, the Virginia Beach School Board has not been enforcing these rules, according to two mothers in the school district.
As reported by Forbes, the lawsuit states:
Plaintiffs . . . are both parents of Virginia Beach public school students who want to protect their children from being compelled to use biologically inaccurate names and pronouns, forced to use bathrooms and locker rooms with members of the opposite sex, or required to pretend during athletic competition that gender identity can override the enduring physical differences between boys and girls.
The plaintiffs alleged that the school board broke Virginia law by not implementing the state-approved, transgender policies and “ignored the rights of Virginia parents to make basic decisions about the education and well-being of their children.”
Youngkin, who ran on parental rights in education before becoming governor in 2022, enacted the guidance changes for Virginia’s school districts in July, overturning the previous transgender guidance from former Democratic governor Ralph Northam. Under Northam, schools were allowed to let students use names and pronouns that matched their gender identity without “any substantiating evidence” to the contrary.
Notably, the Virginia Beach School Board in August did not pass a resolution that would have enabled it to abandon Northam’s rules for Youngkin’s, per the Associated Press. Five members opposed the resolution while five members supported it and one abstained from voting, excusing the school district from enforcing it.
Despite the board’s vote on the matter, the lawsuit, which was filed Thursday, says the plaintiffs want a declaration that school boards must comply with Youngkin’s new policies and an injunction that requires the Virginia Beach School Board to adopt them. It also seeks the removal of districtwide policies that “threaten [students with] punishment for intentionally refusing to affirm gender transition” and that allow “biological boys who identify as girls to use the girls’ locker room.”
The school board, according to its released meeting schedule, convened Monday to discuss the state’s new model policies in the hopes of reaching a consensus. The board will also hold a public meeting on Tuesday.
The Virginia Beach School Board cannot comment on the issue to the media, owing to pending litigation.