The Youngkin administration has released a controversial proposed policy that would strike down the ability of transgender students in Virginia public schools to use names, pronouns, and school facilities that reflect their gender identity.

The proposal from the Virginia Department of Education would require school personnel to refer to children only by their legal name and the pronouns corresponding to their sex assigned at birth — unless a parent submits legal documents that show their child’s “change of sex.” It would require schools to notify parents “before counseling services pertaining to gender are given” to students, and it would limit student participation in sports and other gender-separated activities based on the gender reflected in their official school record. Under the proposal, students would also be forced to use bathrooms according to their gender assigned at birth, though it does recommend that schools offer single, non-gendered bathrooms for anyone to use.

The model policies, which will ultimately be used to guide school districts in creating their own, are not yet finalized. A 30-day public comment period for them will open on Sept. 26. Residents can submit their thoughts here.

The goal, according to the draft, is to honor and uphold parental rights in education, a now-common conservative rallying cry popularized by Gov. Glenn Youngkin on the campaign trail in 2021.

“Parents are a child’s primary and most important educator,” the draft emphasizes. It suggests that parental involvement is a key to student achievement, and provides lists of research citations on the subject.

But the effect of the Youngkin administration’s proposal, critics say, would be to make schools less safe for transgender and nonbinary students — particularly those whose parents are not supportive of their lived gender identity — and to make it extremely difficult for students to socially transition at school.

The proposal, which was quietly released on Friday, comes as Republicans across the country mount increasingly pointed political attacks on the rights of LGBTQ+ people, particularly in school settings. Those include passing “Don’t Say Gay” bills in multiple states and campaigns to ban transgender students from playing on athletic teams or using bathrooms according to their gender identity.

“These revised guidelines will only hurt students in a time when students are facing unparalleled mental health challenges, and are a cruel attempt to politicize the existence of LGBTQIA+ students for political gain,” reads a statement from the Pride Liberation Project, a Northern Virginia-based LGBTQIA+ student advocacy group. “We call for the VDOE to revoke its draft revisions and for school boards to affirm their commitment to protect all students by rejecting these bigoted proposed guidelines.”

The Youngkin proposal is an about-face from the Model Policies for the Treatment of Transgender Students in Public Elementary and Secondary Schools, adopted in early 2021 and created by the Northam administration after the General Assembly directed the education department to develop guidance on how schools should treat transgender students.

The 2021 policies directed schools to affirm transgender and nonbinary students’ gender identity, prevent bullying and harassment, and generally “minimize social stigmatization for such students and maximize opportunities for social integration so that all students have an equal opportunity to attend school, be engaged, and achieve academic success,” the 2021 version states. Schools were required to adopt policies that affirmed a student’s right to participate in class and activities according to their gender identity, and they were also expected protect transgender students’ rights to privacy and confidentiality, particularly in cases where they could experience bullying, harrassment, or other consequences if their identity was made public at school or to unsupportive family members.

“School divisions will need to consider the health and safety of the student in situations where students may not want their parents to know about their gender identity, and schools should address this on a case-by-case basis,” the 2021 guidance says. “If a student is not ready or able to safely share with their family about their gender identity, this should be respected.”

The Youngkin administration’s 2022 update retracts the 2021 policies and criticizes them for “[promoting] a specific viewpoint aimed at achieving cultural and social transformation in schools” as well as “[disregarding] the rights of parents.” Republican arguments against LGBTQ+ inclusive practices in schools often include accusations that schools are indoctrinating students or even encouraging them into gender transitions.

The original law passed by the General Assembly — which resulted in the 2021 model policy document — required that school divisions adopt their own versions of gender-inclusive policies. The education department’s new 2022 proposal also includes language suggesting that school divisions will again be expected to develop their own policies in-line with the new state model.

But there are legal questions around whether the Youngkin administration’s action complies with the General Assembly’s original directive.

“In Virginia, we have a law that says our schools will protect transgender and gender expansive students. Full stop period. That’s what the law says,” Fairfax County School Board member Karl Frisch told WAMU/DCist. “The governor can’t just decide he doesn’t like the law and put out some new guidelines to reverse the law.”

“I know that many school board members across the state have asked their general counsel to look into the issue and let them know what options are available,” Frisch added. He pledged that protections for transgender and nonbinary students in Fairfax County Public Schools would remain in place. Schools in Fairfax, Arlington, and Alexandria have said publicly that their protections for non-cisgender students are unchanged.

Others, including Del. Danica Roem, a Democrat and the first openly transgender person to serve in the Virginia legislature, suggested that the Youngkin policy could be vulnerable to a challenge under state human rights law. Protections from discrimination in the state include “gender identity” and extend to “places of public accommodation, including educational institutions.”

The local implementation of the 2021 policies wasn’t without controversy. The process was particularly painful in Loudoun County, where angry parents protested the schools’ adoption of gender-inclusive naming and bathroom policies at multiple school board meetings. A Loudoun teacher sued the school division over a suspension that came after he said he’d refuse to use correct pronouns for transgender or nonbinary students — with some success. The teacher contends that being required to use students’ pronouns and names runs counter to his Christian faith and is a First Amendment violation.

Two years after the original order from the General Assembly — which lacked a specific enforcement mechanism — only 10% of school divisions have actually complied and adopted policies in-line with the 2021 model policies, according to a tracker from Equality Virginia. Most Northern Virginia school divisions have complied.

Local conservatives hailed the Youngkin proposal as a win. The Independent Women’s Network, a Koch-linked advocacy group that has fueled the education culture wars in Northern Virginia, said in a statement that 300 of their members had sent letters to Youngkin begging for a change to the 2021 version.

Meanwhile, local students, educators, elected leaders, and advocacy groups pushed back against the proposal over the weekend. Many called out the impact the possible restrictions could have on LGBTQ+ students, who disproportionately experience bullying and harassment and are especially vulnerable to homelessness and poor mental health.

“LGBTQ+ students already experience much higher self-harm & suicide rates because of the discrimination they face,” tweeted the ACLU of Virginia. “This will only make matters worse.”

“As a closeted student, I wouldn’t be able to come home if my parents found out that I was Queer. I am terrified that these draft regulations will take away one of the few places I can just be myself,” said a Fairfax student with the Pride Liberation Project.

“We know that transgender youth are far less likely to ever hurt themselves or attempt suicide when they are supported and affirmed. This policy does the exact opposite,” said Frisch. “It’s almost as if the cruelty is the point.”

The fight over transgender student rights in public schools has already been a topic of discussion on the midterm campaign trail in Virginia. In a back-to-school rally in Fairfax County with Northern Virginia congressional candidates and Lt. Gov. Winsome Sears and Attorney General Jason Miyares, Youngkin specifically singled out Fairfax County’s privacy protections for non-cisgender students who are not out at home.

“These same progressives in Fairfax County actually believe that they should lock parents out of their children’s lives. They think that parents should have no right to know what their child is discussing with their teacher or their counselor: what’s their name, what pronoun do they use, who are they going to express their gender,” Youngkin said. “This is a decision that bureaucrats in Fairfax county believe they should be able to make without telling parents.”

Democrats have pushed back on the new Youngkin administration proposal. Rep. Abigail Spanberger, the Democratic incumbent running for reelection in the 7th District, tweeted that the move “will out kids, require their identities not be respected, and hurt them in the very places where they are supposed to learn and thrive.”

Frisch noted that the move comes as speculation over Youngkin’s presidential ambitions intensifies.

“He’s just far more about competing with Ron DeSantis and Donald Trump for primary votes in New Hampshire and Iowa than he does for looking out for students and families here in Virginia,” he said.

This story has been updated with information from local school divisions.