Dozens of students staged a walkout over a gendered bathroom policy in Loudoun County, a progressive Virginia county that became a hotbed of protests over the issue after a student was sexually assaulted in a girls’ room by a man in a skirt.
Students at Woodgrove High School in Purcellville walked out of their classrooms Wednesday to express their opposition to Policy 8040, which allows transgender, non-binary and gender-fluid children to use the bathroom and locker room of their choice.
Loudoun County’s school board voted 7-2 to adopt the rule in 2021 — but students say they still want a return to women’s and men’s bathrooms, WJLA reported.
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin on Friday praised “a large group of students” for “standing up, saying you have no respect for our privacy and security” — something he wants those with a vote to take note of.
“The entire Loudoun County school board is up for election on Tuesday and I encourage the voters of Loudoun County to get out and make your voice heard, because it’s time to elect a new school board in Loudoun County,” the Republican told Fox News.
“I have a real feeling that they don’t listen to anyone but their friends on the progressive left,” he complained of the current leadership.
“Just 24 months ago, Virginia was completely controlled by the progressive left and the state was lost. And in a short period of 24 months, I believe common sense conservative policies have allowed it to be found,” he said.
Many of the students who walked out also insisted that the majority of children in the district’s schools are against current bathroom policies that make them feel unsafe.
“In the dressing room in the morning it’s an invasion of privacy, as I said because when men and natural born men are in our dressing room and they shower in the morning, natural born women can go in there as they please,” a male student told the outlet.
“And that’s not OK. And it is against what we believe,” he added.
Students at Woodgrove High School in Virginia staged a ‘walkout’ to protest the district’s policy on transgender bathrooms. 7News
Another male student told WJLA: “I want to be able to when I get out of football practice and go put my towel down and change [to] don’t feel uncomfortable with the other gender there watching me.”
She added: “I feel that girls feel the same way about the situation. How would you feel if you were a woman swapping with a man?”
A female student said she stopped using the bathroom because of the policy, calling it a “massive safety risk” that the district is “doing nothing about.”
“We expressed these concerns and they ignored us and treated us as right-wing lunatics,” he told WJLA.
Loudoun County school board adopts Policy 8040 in 2021.7News
“We are not crazy. We just don’t want to be in danger every day in this building. I think it’s people who finally step up and just get sick of it. We are sick of being here and just being completely ignored. I stopped using it [the bathrooms] because I don’t know what will happen to me there. And people can say, ‘Oh, that’s paranoid,'” the student said.
“I’m telling you right now half the women in this building feel the same way. We didn’t use the bathroom. We can’t pee until we can’t. I mean, there are girls in PE [physical education class] who are still changing clothes at the bathroom stall there because they are afraid of who can enter,” he told the outlet.
Dozens of students walked out of school to voice their objections to the policy. 7News
A student said everyone should participate in the protest.
“But there are a lot of people who are afraid to speak out against it, so they stay inside because they don’t want to see the backlash,” another student told WJLA.
Meanwhile, a small group of counter-protesters waved Pride flags across the street.
“I’m here to support all children, no matter who they are. You, me, everyone,” said one of them.
When asked if the superintendent would reverse the policy, the district told the outlet: “The Loudoun County School Board continues to follow the process set forth in the latest Model Policy revision issued by the Virginia Department of Education.
“Policy 8040 is being reviewed along with the new Model Policy, by the Student Services Committee,” he said in the statement.
Loudoun County was the site of some of the angriest protests over the issue, most notably the arrest of father Scott Smith when he angrily accused the school board of covering up the sexual assault of his then-ninth-grade daughter by a boy wearing a skirt. .
The boy was just 14 at the time and attacked another girl at the school he was transferred to — while wearing the ankle monitor from his first attack.
Despite his legitimate grief over his daughter’s plight, Smith’s arrest was used as an example of an unruly parent being equated with a domestic terrorist. The father was eventually pardoned by Governor Youngkin.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
