Youngkin’s Parents’ Rights Victory

When we founded 1776 Action last year, then-candidate Glenn Youngkin was one of the first people to sign our ‘1776 Pledge to Save our Schools.’ In the final months of the Virginia governor’s race, parents’ rights and the fight against CRT became major issues – eventually helping Youngkin triumph last November.

Since taking office, Governor Youngkin has been a tireless advocate for parents’ rights. On day one of his administration, he signed an Executive Order banning CRT and other divisive ideologies in classrooms. He also ended mask mandates and ensured that schools would be open for in-person learning. 

Now, Governor Youngkin has delivered another major victory for parents’ rights by reversing a disastrous policy regarding how schools treat students who claim to be transgender.

Under the old policy – passed by Virginia Democrats in 2020 – schools would have to let students use restroom and locker room facilities according to their self-identified gender, not their biological sex (meaning that a biological male claiming to be a girl could use female facilities). Schools were also ordered to allow self-identified transgender students to share bunks with students of the opposite sex during overnight school events.

In addition, schools were ordered to be “LGBT+ affirming.” In practice, this would mean requiring teachers to refer to students by their “preferred pronouns” and offering “gender-affirming” therapy for students who “might” be transgender – all without informing parents. 

Needless to say, all of these policies fly directly in the face of parents’ rights, and in fact actively work to keep parents out of the loop.

Governor Youngkin’s new guidelines require schools to keep parents informed, and for teachers to use a student’s legal pronouns and name unless a parent gives permission otherwise. 

The dishonest mainstream media is trying to spin Youngkin’s decision as somehow “harmful” to kids – but the exact opposite is true. Parents should be informed about EVERY decision regarding their children – particularly if a school plans to “socially transition” them. 

Governor Youngkin is continuing to set the standard for what follow-through on the 1776 Pledge looks like, and his lofty approval rating shows that voters are grateful for it.