Sai Kulkarni '23
Production Editor
If things have gotten to the point that I, of all the people on this newspaper, have to talk about a serious issue, it has gotten bad. I don’t enjoy talking seriously on this paper for the sole reason that it is my escape. I hope to provide that for some of you with my humor. But right now, I am pissed. Straight up pissed. Very few people have seen me genuinely angry, and this subject has elicited that from me. So, now to the point. We are politically divided as a school and as a country. I wish I could say the one thing we can agree on is that protecting school kids should be our first priority. But it has become increasingly clear that this is not the case. This week’s proof of this comes from the self-titled “moderate” Governor of Virginia, Glenn Youngkin. In his latest action, he has spit on the progress his predecessor made for no reason but to be cruel.
In the latest “Model Policies” from the Virginia Department of Education, Governor Youngkin set clear boundaries.[1] All students must use the locker rooms, restrooms, and facilities of their assigned sex at birth. Teachers are only able to refer to students by the pronouns associated with their assigned sex at birth. Legal name and sex can’t be changed through parental consent forms, only through a court order. But guess what? Teachers don’t have to call students who go through that process by their preferred name if they feel it would violate their “constitutionally protected rights.” What absolute bullshit in a policy.
In what world does someone think that legislating or regulating young children’s bathroom usage is a good use of their time? Only 5 percent of the adult population is trans or nonbinary.[2] Five percent. Does anyone think that this percentage is significantly higher among youth? Governor Youngkin and his cronies really want to demonize this 5 percent? Cis people cannot begin to understand the pain of living in a body that doesn’t fit who they are or of complying with rules of gender presentation that are just wrong to them. So, there’s internal pain, and there’s also external pain. Here’s the thing: Kids are already cruel to one another. Bullying is everywhere, and creating in- and out-groups is how we all survived in grade/high school. These kids have it hard enough. Period, end of sentence. They are probably feeling ostracized, and this set of executive actions won’t make that any easier.
These kids are so brave to come out before they are out of the home and the K-12 system. They are so strong; certainly stronger than me. My heart hurts for these kids. But do you know what the worst part is? The regulation regarding names. Names are so personal. It is your identity, how you introduce yourself, and part of how you define yourself. And the dumbest part is: None of you, my professors, or ANY of my friends since I was fourteen have called me by my legal name. It was so easy; I said, “Actually, I go by Sai” when called on during attendance checks, I introduced myself as Sai, and that’s the name I write under. It’s so easy, no one even thought twice. To have so many hoops for these kids to go through to get that same recognition from some teachers who have malice in their hearts because these kids are out is ridiculous. And beyond that, they may not even get that recognition after jumping through all of those hoops because it could “violate a teacher’s constitutional rights”? Give me a break. Let’s be real here—it’s so-called religious liberty interests. So, point me to the passage in the Torah, Bible, Qur’an, Gita, or any other holy book where the demonization of children is sanctioned! You can’t, because all these holy books preach protection of the innocent.
I’m not trying to get on some religious soapbox here, because I’m not nearly smart enough for that. But at the end of the day, so many of my most religious friends were able to accept a new trans girl in their midst recently, without batting an eye.[3] I only wish that these kids get that support, too—now or soon. So much cruelty abound in this policy. Here’s the legal argument to tie it to the Law School: This regulation could possibly be disputed under the Virginia Human Rights Act. There is a public comment period that will become available later this month.[4] But all of that is not my point here. I am focused on the fact that this policy exists in the first place. I have seen in the last month that people in this state, including devout conservatives, have been able to accept a newly out trans person in their midst without losing a step. My only hope is that by shining a light on this issue here in Virginia, there can be some degree of understanding about the hundreds of miles left to be tread on the issue. It’s policies like this that will keep more kids in the closet for longer. And it helps no one for a kid to be hiding who they truly are for ten or more years before they let themselves be free.
---
omk6cg@virginia.edu
[1] The main source in this article is the following NPR link. This is not a law review article; I won’t cite every claim individually, when most of them come from here. https://www.npr.org/2022/09/18/1123697784/virginia-transgender-students-public-schools-glenn-youngkin
[2] https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2022/06/07/about-5-of-young-adults-in-the-u-s-say-their-gender-is-different-from-their-sex-assigned-at-birth/
[3] And that love is felt every day.
[4] Found here: https://townhall.virginia.gov/L/Forums.cfm.