Virginia's transgender students worry they'll be outed under the Youngkin administration's new school guidelines. Some fear becoming homeless.
Still, a handful of teens, most female, wrote to say they are pleased with the guidelines. They wrote they will feel more comfortable in bathrooms and locker rooms limited to students assigned female at birth, especially when dealing with menstrual periods.
Just before ninth grade, which was in-person, Ace switched to a different school in Chesterfield County Public Schools. Ahead of the school year, he convinced his parents to sign a form so the district would change his name and pronouns in school records. He emailed teachers to request they use his name and pronouns in class. He also started taking testosterone, which deepened his voice.By the beginning of this year, things were going well.
Ace’s thoughts strayed to dark places. Before this year, Ace said, he has attempted suicide three times, most recently in November, because he was miserable over the wave of anti-transgender legislation appearing across the country. More than 300 bills restricting trans rights have been proposed nationwide,Since the Virginia guidelines’ release, Ace said, he has felt the impulse to harm himself.
A 15-year-old boy wrote he is relieved he no longer has to think about girls entering the boys’ bathrooms and locker rooms. Under Youngkin’s policies, he wrote, he will no longer face harassment for refusing to use other students’ requested pronouns.A 16-year-old wrote the new guidelines will make locker rooms and bathrooms feel safer. The teen wrote she finds it stressful when members of the opposite sex walk in while the teen is changing or using the restroom.
“It will get the guys out of the girls’ locker rooms and bathrooms and make girls’ sports competitions more fair,” she wrote. “I’m a strong ally and believe everyone has equal value, and love is love, but this change is necessary for safety and fairness.”In Arlington, two trans teens are trying to figure out just how much the new guidelines will alter who they are.
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