Gender and sexuality
On his first day as governor, Youngkin signed an executive order directing the attorney general to investigate Loudoun County school officials’ handling of a case involving a teenager who was accused of sexually assaulting two girls. Authorities said the teen was wearing a skirt at the time of the first assault.
In September 2022, Youngkin turned his attention to transgender students by proposing several policies that school districts across the commonwealth will need to follow if they’re finalized.
Under the proposals, students would need parental approval to change their names, nicknames and pronouns. Schools also would need to inform parents if their child accesses counseling services or “expresses a gender that differs with their child’s sex” while at school.
Participation in sports and other activities—and use of bathrooms—must be “determined by sex,” Youngkin’s proposals say.
Youngkin’s positions are confusing school officials, said Bradley, the Latin teacher at Rockbridge High.
“My sense is, maybe the Youngkin administration was more interested in just putting it out there at the beginning. They don't really care about implementing it,” Bradley said. “But we're kind of left in limbo as to what the rules are. And I think our school system doesn't really know.”
Tori Lilly, 19, who graduated from Rockbridge County High School in 2022, says she enrolled in three classes during her senior year but rarely showed up. Lilly said she was uncomfortable with the school allowing transgender students to use the bathroom that aligned with their gender identity.
“There was so much with the genders and all of that, and just how they wanted to change the bathrooms and have both genders going into there,” Lilly said. “I mean, I love everybody. But that's just not for me. I just started doing all my stuff online my senior year because I was not getting into it.”
At Rockbridge County High, discussions about transgender students and their rights—to use the bathroom that aligns with their gender identity, to play sports on the team that coincides with their gender identity, to be called by the name and pronouns they prefer—have stalled.
Craft said high school administrators are waiting to see what happens at the state level.
“We're looking at our procedures,” the principal said. “We don't want to jump the gun, but we want to be prepared if [Youngkin’s proposals] should be implemented fully.”
McCown says parents just want transparency and clear language from the school.
“The average education level in the county is a high school education. And if you're not paying attention to what's going on culturally, you're not going to know what cisgender means,” McCown said, referring to the term that means that gender identity aligns with biological sex. “Parents wanted to know, can a biological boy and girl use the same facilities? Yes or no. And they weren't getting a straight answer.”
Instead, Rockbridge County administrators sent out statements drafted by attorneys, McCown said.
“I don't want to read a statement from an attorney,” she said. “I want the principal of the school to send a letter home saying these are the possibilities.”
SAGA and STAND signs on display at the high school. (Photo by Bri Hatch)
Bradley, the teacher who sponsors STAND and SAGA, says he’s seen an increase in students who are more open about their queerness and others with their allyship, or expressions of support from non-queer students and faculty.
“When SAGA has events, or advertisers to an event, we don't see their flyers being torn down. If they set up a table in the commons before school, they used to have kids making comments and heckling,” he said. “We don't see that as much anymore. You see lots of kids displaying pride symbols.”
Bradley said there hasn’t been any problems since Rockbridge County High School began requiring students to obtain a parental permission slip to engage in non-school sponsored clubs. Initially, there was concern among queer students that they would need to come out to their parents and could face consequences at home. He said all students who want to join SAGA or STAND have been able to.
Basuchoudhary says the policy is not always enforced because permission slips are not checked at every meeting.
“It's hard to deny someone entry into the club,” said Basuchoudhary, a co-founder of the non-discrimination club STAND. “You don't know who exactly has submitted the permission form and who hasn't, and you don't go around and check at the beginning of every meeting.”
But the policy was “an unwelcome signal” to LGBTQ+ students, Bradley said. Basuchoudhary agreed.
“In terms of being comfortable with your sexuality and gender, a lot of parents aren't on the same page as their children,” she said.