ACLU Fights Virginia's Transgender Policy — and the Unscientific 'Assumption' That There Are Two Sexes

When liberties are in conflict, whose are more important? The science-minded American Civil Liberties Union has an answer.

In Virginia, Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s 2022 Policies on the Privacy, Dignity, and Respect for All Students and Parents in Virginia’s Public Schools has caused quite a stir. It puts authority in the hands of moms and dads where the guidance and co-mingling of their kids are concerned.

From the plan:

Schools shall respect parents’ values and beliefs: Parents have the right to instill in and nurture values and beliefs for their own children and make decisions concerning their children’s education and upbringing in accordance with their customs, faith, and family culture. …

Schools shall defer to parents to make the best decisions with respect to their children: Parents are in the best position to work with their children and, where appropriate, their children’s health care providers to determine (a) what names, nicknames, and/or pronouns, if any, shall be used for their child by teachers and school staff while their child is at school, (b) whether their child engages in any counseling or social transition at school that encourages a gender that differs from their child’s sex, or (c) whether their child expresses a gender that differs with their child’s sex while at school.

The plan quotes the Supreme Court in its assessment that “a parent’s right to raise his or her child as ‘perhaps the oldest of the fundamental liberty interests recognized by this Court.'”

As noted by The Washington Free Beacon, the governor’s blueprint will “preserve sex-specific sports teams, locker rooms, and bathrooms.”

The American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia (ACLUVA) isn’t impressed. Therefore, it released a September 29th statement:

These Model Policies are contrary to state law and their adoption will result in rampant violations of the rights of students, parents, and school personnel, and will inflict serious harm on transgender and nonbinary students.

Hence:

ACLUVA demands that the administration retract the 2022 Model Policies.

According to the Union, keeping biological males out of girls’ locker rooms and allowing parents to decide their children’s sex-related particulars is counter to the educational process:

The 2022 Model Policies will not create a learning environment that is safe for all students. Instead, they will result in school district policies that threaten transgender students’ identity and basic humanity, ostracize them, and deprive them of the same opportunities afforded to cisgender students.

Furthermore, the polices are founded on mere “assumptions;” the ACLU subscribes to science:

The 2022 Model Policies are premised on the assumptions that “biological sex” is a binary and that one’s “biological sex” can be easily ascertained, but those assumptions are not rooted in science.

Moreover, the plan will kill kids:

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) recently noted that suicide is the second leading cause of death for people in the U.S. aged 15 to 24. … Researchers found that “gender minority students had significantly higher rates of depression, suicidal ideation, and suicide attempts relative to cisgender students.”

Due to the special needs of youngsters who identify as the opposite of their sex, it seems, government schools are the rightful decision-makers for America’s underaged. Parents must relinquish their age-old rights — or, some might say, liberties.

So asserts the American Civil Liberties Union.

All people can’t have all liberties; some cancel others. The ACLU appears to have made its preference clear. Judging from legislation across the country, an increasing number of politicians — and not just Democrats — agree.

In Virginia, Democratic lawmakers voted on Gov. Youngkin’s plan Monday. To the tune of 5-4, they struck it down.

Even so, the Free Beacon notes it’s somewhat symbolic:

The commission’s vote was largely formal. The model policy…will be finalized by Virginia’s Department of Education and does not require legislative approval.

And it certainly doesn’t call for confirmation from the ACLU. Will the organization see the state in court? Time will tell.

In the meantime, America sits embroiled in two very big battles: Sex vs. Gender, Government vs. Parents.

Headlines hint at which ones are currently winning:

"Nebraska Eyes Teaching Kindergarteners Gender Identity While Eleven-Year-Olds Study Pansexuality and Demigenderism"https://t.co/PpLpwfdExX pic.twitter.com/k8K5kFiBe9

— Alex Parker (@alexparker1984) March 24, 2021