Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin reverses protections for transgender students

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin is reversing course on how the state deals with transgender students — issuing a requirement that they use bathrooms and locker rooms based on their biological sex.

The Republican rolled back changes made by his predecessor, which affected everything from bathroom usage to pronouns.

The rewritten rules, which will go into effect after a 30-day public comment period, also say that minors must be called by the names and pronouns listed on their official records — unless a parent give the OK for something else.

The “2022 Model Policies on the Privacy, Dignity, and Respect for all Students and Parents in Virginia’s Public Schools” was posted online Friday by the Virginia Department of Education.

The new policies stand in contrast to changes which took effect last year that allowed kids to use names, pronouns and bathrooms that aligned with their gender identity and urging schools to decide on a “case-by-case” basis whether to share information about student gender identity with their parents.

Critics slammed the Youngkin policy shift, with Democratic delegate Mike Mullin tweeting that the new rule “calls for the misgendering and outing of children in schools where they’re supposed to be safe. Absolutely shameful.”

The changes are “an outright violation of Virginians’ civil rights,” Senate Democrats said in a joint statement.

The new policy also urges educators to “respect” students.

“School division policies shall therefore implement the requirements of the Act in a manner that ensures no student is discriminated against or harassed on the basis of his or her sex. To this end, local school division policies shall implement the requirements of the Act in a manner that demonstrates respect for each student,” according to the document.

With Post wires