Don’t be fooled by the mild-mannered disposition of Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin; this fleece vest-wearing Republican knows how to make a splash and hasn’t stopped since his upset win last year.
Riding the parental rights wave to victory, Governor Youngkin has been checking off his to-do list of promises to parents. But, unfortunately, one of his most recent actions has well-to-do Virginia liberals wrapped around the axle.
Recently the Youngkin administration published their new ‘model policies’ for public schools that require them to have students use bathrooms and locker rooms based on their biological sex. The ‘model policies’ also require students to participate in organized sports that align with their biological sex and require public schools to disclose information to parents about their children.
This action has school boards digging in, and parents are enraged yet again, guaranteeing that the parents’ voice will continue to be compelling politically.
But the big news is one Virginia Democrats’ terrifying counter-approach to the Governor’s policies.
Virginia Democrats to introduce legislation that would allow parents who don’t affirm their child’s “gender identity” to be criminally prosecuted. 1/pic.twitter.com/EO6HdXWmi5
— Ian Prior (@iandprior) October 13, 2022
Child Abuse
Virginia Democratic Delegate Elizabeth Guzman says she will introduce a bill to expand Virginia’s definition of child abuse to include parents who don’t “affirm” their child’s “gender identity.” In other words, if a child proclaims they are transgender, and the parents disagree, they could be guilty of a crime.
What could this mean for a parent? For example, let’s say a teacher or neighbor decides to report you for child abuse because you are not affirming your child’s decision to be the opposite gender.
According to Ms. Guzman, the result of the investigation could be:
“…a felony, it could be a misdemeanor, but we know that CPS charge could harm your employment, could harm their education, because nowadays many people do a CPS database search before offering employment.”
Think about that for a second. Ms. Guzman bluntly explains that the goal of this sort of legislation is to try to bully parents into accepting ideologies that perhaps don’t align with their personal beliefs.
VA Delegate Elizabeth Guzman has announced that she intends to reintroduce a bill that will deem not affirming a child’s “gender” to be mental abuse which would allow for a CPS investigation and removal of a child from its parents’ custody. pic.twitter.com/rd1IMNBL8F
— Moms For Liberty Loudoun Family Friendly (@Moms4LibLoudoun) October 13, 2022
RELATED: Thousands of VA Students Protest Policy Requiring Boys To Use Boy’s Bathroom
Common Sense
Governor Youngkin appeared on CNN’s State of the Union and accurately explained that his ‘model policies’ are “not controversial.” He went on to explain what was fundamentally flawed with the previous administration’s policy:
“The previous administration had had a policy that excluded parents and, in fact, particularly didn’t require the involvement of parents.”
And for those parents that do wish to affirm their child’s gender decisions, he explains that they still can:
“If parents actually want their child to be able to change a pronoun or their name or use a bathroom, if parents choose that, then, legally, that’s what the schools will do.”
Where the Governor does draw a hard line is with sports:
“I do believe that it’s unfair for girls to have biological boys play sports with biological girls.”
Stating the obvious, he goes on to say:
“…there’s a commonsense approach here to this. And I do think we have to respect girls as well here.”
Another leftist mom who thinks I’m hateful.
She got so confused when I said children are beautiful as they are. pic.twitter.com/N4fYyHoC56
— Billboard Chris (@BillboardChris) October 13, 2022
RELATED: Journalist Claims He Called Child Protective Services on GOP Candidate For Celebrating Columbus Day
Virginia Is Not For Parents
This state has been front and center of the parental rights debate for over two years, thanks to masking debates and school board drama.
So when news broke that a male student had sexually assaulted a female in the girl’s bathroom and that allegedly the Loudoun County School Board knew about it, parents across the country were floored.
As a candidate, I promised to investigate the scandals at the Virginia Parole Board and Loudoun County Schools.
As Attorney General, I am proud to say that the process has begun and the investigations are officially open. pic.twitter.com/02wvO85wbI
— Jason Miyares (@JasonMiyaresVA) January 15, 2022
Many parents in Loudoun County and other school districts across the state and country invoke this school board stain in meetings and debates around allowing gender ideology into the public education system.
Loudoun County is one of the school boards that hasn’t decided yet what it plans to do with the model policies. At their school board meeting, which I attended, they faced some tough questions from parents earlier this week. Questions that were left largely unanswered.
Fairfax County School Board isn’t planning to adjust its policies, which shouldn’t surprise anyone. The same district proposed punishing staff and students if they “misgendered” another student. Punishment would include possible suspension.
Interesting how those on the other side of the parental rights movement seem to hang their hat on punishing parents and children if they don’t conform to their ideology.
RELATED: Largest Teachers Union Promotes Extremely Graphic LGBTQ+ Sex Ed Website for Teenagers
Coparenting
Governor Youngkin’s recent release of his model policies goes back to his promise to back parents, stating:
“This is about restoring power to parents.”
Some claim that the Governor doesn’t care for children’s needs. However, I would argue wanting to keep parents involved in what is happening with their children is caring for them. As he says:
“…when a child is wrestling with this kind of decision, a parent should absolutely be the primary counselor adviser and help her in wrestling with this decision.”
The left’s desire to remove the parent from the child’s life is disturbing and cuts to the core of most of the disputes between parents and school boards in this country. As the Governor rightly proclaims:
“And let’s just be clear, children do not belong to the state. They belong to the families.”
.@Moms4Liberty co-founders @4TiffanyJustice and @TinaDescovich joined TPI’s @BrettRSmith76 and @KatBeauVic to discuss how parents across the country are fighting back against “woke” education. Watch the full episode here https://t.co/hhdX20bXAm pic.twitter.com/LmdeYhgx1V
— ThePoliticalInsider (@TPInsidr) September 2, 2022
The Parent Movement
COVID-induced remote learning allowed parents to see what their children were being taught and, perhaps most importantly, were not not being taught in school. Add to that the boldness of the left and special interest groups’ attempt to shut parents out of their children’s lives, and a new political beast was born.
The parent movement helped Governor Youngkin, Lieutenant Governor Winsome Sears, and Attorney General Jason Miyares sweep the state election. No easy feat, given that Virginia is more blue than purple.
As Moms For Liberty founders Tina Descovich and Tiffany Justice say, we don’t co-parent with the government. Governor Youngkin gets it; Governor DeSantis gets it; will Democrats ever get it?
— Moms for Liberty (@Moms4Liberty) September 24, 2022
All signs point to no. We shall see how that turns out for the Democrats come election day.
It’s generally not a good idea to mess with Americans’ money or their kids. And the Democrats seem to enjoy doing both.
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