Trans Rules Fairfax Schools

It’s remarkable how a tiny minority can wield the power that transgender advocates enjoy today.  A few years ago we hardly heard of transgenderism; today it is the “woke” cause de jour.  Some institutions are ignoring the rights of the majority in order to make a miniscule minority feel more comfortable.  Nowhere is this more true than in the Fairfax County public school system.

As discussed in the last post on this site, Fairfax County teachers are being taught that they should hide a child’s gender dysphoria from parents if the child expresses discomfort about revealing his or her feelings to them.  See “Fairfax Parents Excluded from Kids’ Gender Issues,” August 31, 2022.  But this isn’t all.  In the name of “transgender rights” the Fairfax County School Board has adopted other harmful policies as well, and more are being considered.

Many citizens probably aren’t aware of the facts.

(Terminology note:  A variety of terms have been created to describe variations in gender identity, including transgender, gender-fluid, gender queer, pansexual, asexual, and others.  For simplicity, this article will use the single term “transgender” to include all of these identities.)

Fairfax County School Board Policies

Adoption of Lingo and Assumptions of Transgendersim

Transgender advocates claim that a person’s sexual organs are a poor indicator of his or her “true” gender.  They say that when a newborn is called a girl or a boy, it is no more than an arbitrary label chosen by the delivery room personnel — a “sex assigned at birth.”  The School Board has embraced this terminology in Regulation 2603.2, entitled “Gender-Expansive and Transgender Students.”

A “Guidance Document” pushes the concept further.  It defines “gender”  as “a socially constructed system of classification,” thereby suggesting that gender is not a reality but rather a concept “constructed” by social customs.  Further, “gender identity” is described in the Guidance as a person’s sense of his or her gender, which can be “different than the sex assigned at birth.”  “Gender expression” is defined as how a person presents their identity to others by their clothing, etc.; this can “change over time and from day-to-day and is not necessarily related to the person’s gender identity.”  And “gender fluidity,” according to the Guidance, refers to a person who “may feel they are a girl some days and a boy on others, or a combination ….”

There is little doubt that a small percentage of people have a lasting disconnect between what their brains tell them about their gender and what their sex organs indicate.  But does this mean that the entire concept of male and female genders is no more than “a socially constructed system of classification,” bearing little or no relationship to reality?  To the “woke” among us, the answer may be “yes,” but to the rest of humankind, the answer is “no.”

A copy of Regulation 2603.2 is HERE, and the “Guidance Document” is HERE.

 

Affirmation and Support of Transgender Status

Regulation 2603.2 provides that Fairfax County public schools “shall accept a student’s … assertion of … gender-expansive or transgender status.”  This is not qualified by the age of the student, by the definitiveness of the student’s assertion of such status, or by any other factors.  Thus, if twelve-year-old Sam tells a teacher that he thinks he is really a girl, this statement “shall” be accepted by the school system as an established fact.  Moreover, if the student is reluctant to reveal his or her gender dysphoria to his or her parents, the school system is required to keep it confidential from them.

When a student tells a teacher about transgender feelings, the regulation requires the school to offer a “support team,” which can consist of teachers, administrators, and school counsellors, psychologists and/or social workers.  The support team is directed to develop a student-specific “support plan.”  Among other things, the plan will refer the student to outside resources if he or she isn’t getting support from home.  Also, the plan should develop “a timeline to support student transition from one gender to another, if applicable.”

Although I am not a psychologist or sociologist, my reading, personal experiences with others, and common sense indicate that the feelings, questions or doubts of a pre-teen or teen about his or her sexuality do not always represent permanent reality.  Some kids who sense that their biological gender doesn’t represent their real selves may continue to feel the same way as they mature, while others may not.  Gender dysphoria can occur for a variety of reasons, and, in some cases, proper counselling, care and the passage of time might resolve the issue one way or another.

But the Fairfax County School Board’s regulation and guidance document do not seem to recognize this possibility.  School personnel are directed to accept a child’s statements as definitive reality and to support transition from one gender expression to another without ensuring that the student will receive professional counselling, much less guidance at home.

Participation in Sports

Section X of the School Board’s Regulation 2603.2 governs participation by transgender students in intramural sports.  (It does not govern participation in sports sanctioned by the Virginia High School League, which has separate standards.)   The regulation permits transgender students to compete within the school in accord with their declared gender.  No questions asked; no exceptions or qualifications. Thus, a seventeen-year-old biological boy can freely compete in girls’ intramural basketball, regardless of hormonal status, so long as he/she asserts that he/she is a girl.

Restrooms and Locker Rooms

Should a student who feels that he or she is transgender be allowed freely to use the dressing/undressing facilities of his/her choice?   This question pits the interests of one individual against those of a much larger group.  A biological boy who feels he is a girl might feel comfortable undressing and showering with a group of girls, but all or most of the girls might be deeply offended by this, feeling that their privacy rights are being infringed.

School systems around the country have dealt with this issue in a variety of ways.  Some have sought middle ground, such as by providing separate, private-use changing areas to transgender students.  How about Fairfax County?

The Fairfax County School Board has decided to allow transgender students to do whatever they want, and all others must accommodate themselves to the desires of the individual.       

Specifically, Regulation 2603.2 provides:

“Gender-expansive and transgender students shall be provided with the option of using a locker room or restroom consistent with the student’s gender identity.

“Any student who has a need or desire for increased privacy, regardless of the reason including gender identity, shall be provided with a reasonable, non-stigmatizing alternative such as the use of a private area (e.g., a nearby restroom stall with a door, an area separated by a curtain, or a nearby health or single-use/unisex bathroom), or with a separate changing schedule (e.g., using the locker room that corresponds to the student’s gender identity before or after other students).  Such alternative options will minimize impact to instructional time to the extent possible.

“In no case shall a gender-expansive or transgender student be required to use a locker room or restroom that conflicts with the student’s gender identity or be limited to using only a private area, single-occupancy accommodation, or other single-use facility as described in this section.”

What this means is that if a transgender biological boy wants to dress, undress and shower in the girls’ locker room, he/she has an absolute right to do so, and if some or all of the girls desire privacy from him/her, they must each request separate accommodations.  Thus, if a gym class or intramural sporting event includes twenty girls and one transgender biological boy, the transgender youth can use the girls’ locker room and the twenty other students must use restroom stalls or private areas elsewhere in the school.

In sum, the desire to make one individual feel comfortable displaces the privacy rights of everyone else in Fairfax County Public Schools.

Travel Accommodations

School-related activities occasionally require students to stay overnight in a hotel or motel.  In these situations Regulation 2603.2 provides that “students may be assigned to a room consistent with the student’s gender identity.”  This short, ambiguous statement raises several questions, most of which aren’t answered by the Guidance Document.  The Guidance says:

“Any student uncomfortable sharing a sleeping area, shower, bathroom, or any sex-segregated facility shall, upon request, be provided with a designated, safe, non-stigmatizing alternative.  Fairfax County Public Schools staff shall not require a student to stay in a single-occupancy accommodation when such accommodations are not required of other students participating in the same event.”

These questions aren’t addressed:  If a transgender biological male is to be assigned to a room with a biological female, will she be informed ahead of time?  With sufficient time for her to object?  What about her parents?  What if none of the other students, male or female, feel comfortable sharing a bedroom with the transgender student?

Acceptance of Chosen Names and Pronouns

The English language, like its linguistic antecedents, is based on the fact that, with rare exceptions, humans are divided into two genders, male and female, not multiple genders.  Thus, the language contains two personal pronoun sets, one for males (he, him, his) and one for females (she, her, hers).   This has been accepted for millennia.  Now, however, the language is under assault because a small minority would prefer to use pronouns other than the ones “assigned to them at birth.”  The issue is sometimes addressed by grammatical distortions, such as by using plural, non-gender-specific pronouns in language about individuals, as in “Sue left their backpack on the table.”  Others experiment with newly-coined pronouns of their own creation, as illustrated in a memoir called Gender Queer.

The Fairfax County School Board has responded to this movement with a complex set of rules.  Under Regulation 2603.2 and the Guidance Document, here are the basics:

• If Sam says he/she now wants to be known as Sue, school personnel must use the new name when speaking to him/her, as well as by the student’s chosen pronouns.
• If the student wants to be Sue in one school setting (e.g., a student club or small group) and Sam in other settings (e.g., the classroom), school personnel must differentiate in accord with the student’s wishes.
• If parents are unaware of the new name and pronouns, and the student doesn’t authorize disclosure to them, school personnel must use the legal name and “at birth” pronouns when communicating with the parents, and the new name and pronouns in class.
• Unless a student has gone through the process of legally changing his or her name, the “at birth” name must be used in certain records (e.g., permanent scholastic records, diplomas), but duplicative records with the student’s chosen name may also be provided (e.g., for diplomas).

In the recently-begun school year, students are being given forms to fill out, asking them about their preferred pronouns, sometimes in more than one classroom.  I have received reports of this being done in middle schools and high schools, but I don’t know if this is now a universal practice or a school-by-school phenomenon, or whether it extends to elementary schools.  In any event, why is this necessary or appropriate?   It forces all kids to focus on transgenderism, and it suggests that transgenderism is a common phenomenon that must be addressed with everyone on day one of the school year, when in fact none of the kids, or only a tiny fraction of them, may have ever considered the possibility that their “real” gender differs from their “at birth” gender.  The student handbooks already inform students of their right to change their “preferred pronouns,” so it seems an unnecessary intrusion to force all students to answer questions about their gender when the school year begins.

Penalties for “Deadnaming” and “Misgendering”

In June 2022 the School Board adopted a regulation making it an offense, potentially punishable by suspension, for a student to maliciously “deadname” or “misgender” another student.  “Deadnaming” refers to using a previous name for a person who has decided to use a new name, e.g., if Sam now wants to be called Sue but is still called Sam by another student.  “Misgendering” refers to labelling a person with a gender that “does not match their ‘gender identity’,” e.g., if a biological boy who now identifies as a girl is referred to by others as being a boy (either directly or by using pronouns that the transgender student rejects).

An offense occurs only if the deadnaming or misgendering is “malicious,” which means that the school would need to prove that the alleged offender intended to harm another student.  However, the regulation can, and likely will be, used to coerce compliance with distortions of the English language.  For example, if Student A repeatedly refuses to use the plural pronouns “they” and “their” when referring to Student B, who prefers that terminology (as in “Sue left their backpack on the table”), it is easy to see how Student A would be accused of “malicious misgendering.”  But is this malicious, or merely a stubborn insistence on proper use of the language?

The regulation creates opportunities for reverse bullying, empowering a tiny minority of the population to restrict the First Amendment rights of the majority.  Lawsuits have been filed in various jurisdictions around the country to challenge similar regulations of other school systems.

Co-Ed Sex Education

The latest addition to the transgender agenda is to throw boys and girls together in the same sex-ed classes in Fairfax County schools.  Most of these classes have traditionally been conducted separately for the two sexes, for the obvious reason that boys and girls feel more comfortable in segregated discussions of sexual subjects.  Current policy permits transgender students to choose which class to attend, but this apparently isn’t satisfactory to them — they want all the kids to be taught together so that the student with gender dysphoria doesn’t have to choose.

A proposal to integrate the sex-ed classes was on the School Board’s agenda in the 2021-22 academic year, but it was postponed until later.  It’s unclear whether it will be shelved indefinitely, re-proposed this year in its current form, or amended and then re-proposed.  If it reappears on the Board’s agenda, it will be analyzed on this site.

Discussion

Formulating a reasonable transgender policy isn’t simple.  Although transgender students are a small minority of the student population, they do exist.  They should be treated with respect and should be protected from bullying and harassment.

But respect and protection can be given without pretending that male and female genders are nothing more than “a socially constructed system of classification.”  It is wrong to teach impressionable children that they should question whether their “true” gender differs from their biological gender.  It is wrong to ask children to reexamine the pronouns they have used since they learned to talk.  It is wrong to teach them that transgenderism is a common phenomenon.  It is wrong for a school system to assume that any expression by a child or teen of transgender feelings is a real, lasting condition that must be nurtured.  It is wrong to assume that a child’s parents should be excluded from counselling their child whenever the child expresses reluctance to share his or her feelings with them.

The School Board has also failed to acknowledge that non-transgender students have rights that should be balanced against the demands of the transgender minority.  Girls have a legitimate interest in competing in girls-only sports, protected from unfair competition from biological males.  Girls have legitimate privacy rights in restrooms and locker rooms.  Children of both genders might be best served by segregated sex-ed classes.  The Fairfax County School Board, in enacting policies that enshrine the rights of a tiny minority as paramount over the rights of the majority, has exercised it powers badly.

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