Youngkin Blasts Anti-Parents Rights Bill

Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin – who became one of the first candidates or elected officials in the country to sign our 1776 Pledge last year – blasted comments from a Virginia state lawmaker promising to introduce a bill that would slap parents with a felony for not being “affirming” enough of children who identify as LGBTQ during a campaign stop earlier this week. 

Here are Governor Youngkin’s full comments on the legislation: 

“What we saw is a clear statement of what the progressive liberals believe. They believe if parents try to be parents they should be investigated… We saw Attorney General Garland out of the U.S. government investigating parents for standing up at board meetings. We saw my opponent last year stand up and say parents don’t have the right to see what’s being taught in classrooms.”

In an interview with a local Virginia news station last week, state delegate Elizabeth Guzman, a Democrat, pledged to introduce a bill which would make it a misdemeanor or felony if a parent does not “affirm” their child’s sexual orientation or gender identity. Under Guzman’s bill, a parent could be charged with abuse if their son or daughter begins identifying as the opposite sex and his or her parents refuse to provide so-called “gender affirming” care like hormone therapy and sex-change surgery. Guzman specifically called for police investigations in such cases in addition to a Child Protective Services investigation. 

As we shared with you last month, Governor Youngkin recently introduced new model policies regarding students who identify as transgender. Thanks to Youngkin’s changes, schools will now have to notify parents before they begin referring to students by pronouns that do not correspond with their biological sex. Schools also must notify parents before sending children to any “gender-affirming” therapy.

Guzman’s promise to introduce the bill – which was previously introduced in 2020 – came in direct response to Youngkin’s new model policies.

Governor Youngkin has repeatedly lived up to the promises he made in the 1776 Pledge, and Virginians can rest assured that he would never sign such a bill into law. However, stories like this reiterate the importance of electing parents rights advocates up and down the ballot.