North Tidewater News

On Aug. 24 Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares issued a legal opinion supporting Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin's model policies for transgender students, asserting they align with nondiscrimination laws, but the directive has triggered a heated debate as demands mount for compulsory adherence by school districts. This advisory opinion comes as school boards grapple with implementing the policies, causing divisions across the state. 

“These policies are fully compliant with the law, and school boards across the Commonwealth should support and implement them,” Miyares said in a statement, according to WTOP News.

Gov. Youngkin's newly introduced policies for transgender student treatment have received support from State Attorney General Miyares, who deems them compliant with federal and state nondiscrimination laws, WTOP News reported. Miyares stressed the importance of dignified treatment and parental involvement, however, the nonbinding legal analysis has ignited a debate as demands rise for mandatory compliance by school boards. As school boards across the state grapple with adopting the guidelines, which address various aspects of transgender student treatment, including athletics and pronoun use, divisions have emerged. Some are embracing the policies' rollback of accommodations from the previous Democratic administration while others are criticizing them, generating mixed reactions from different groups.

WDBJ 7 reports that school boards in conservative-leaning regions of Virginia have initiated the adoption of policies in line with Gov. Youngkin's guidelines for transgender student treatment, while those in predominantly liberal areas have expressed intentions to resist implementation. Notably, Fairfax County Public Schools, the largest district in the state, has issued a notice informing parents that it does not intend to alter its transgender student guidelines, which differ from those introduced by Youngkin.

Miyares issued his 10-page opinion on a Wednesday, made public the following Thursday, addressing several queries concerning the legal alignment of the transgender student treatment guidelines with the U.S. Constitution, state, and federal laws. The attorney general highlighted that the policies on athletics, which stipulate participation based on biological sex rather than gender identity, do not conflict with the Virginia Human Rights Act's prohibition of discrimination based on gender identity. Miyares clarified that the model policy treats trans students inclusively within the same sex classification as biological males and females, while the section regarding student identification and pronoun use defers pronoun choices to the student's parents, thus averting discrimination based on sex.