Following Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s release of model school policies on transgender students, the Virginia High School League said it would not change its rules on athlete participation.
Photo illustration by Kyle Talley
The model policies, which took effect July 19, ask school boards to adopt similar rules under state law. The policy claims that “practices such as compelling others to use preferred pronouns [are] premised” on ideological beliefs that “many Virginians reject” and therefore run afoul of First Amendment protections. Youngkin’s policy also calls for increased parental notification and involvement in health matters that include gender identity, as well as the ability for parents to opt their children out of using bathrooms and locker rooms that trans and nonbinary students are allowed to use under state or federal law.
Youngkin contends that guidelines released in 2021 by Gov. Ralph Northam had “promoted a specific viewpoint aimed at achieving cultural and social transformation in schools” and “disregarded the rights of parents.”
In a statement, Narissa Rahaman, executive director of the LGBTQ+ advocacy nonprofit Equality Virginia, said the change is a “dangerous, politically motivated decision” that would “create learning environments that are unsafe, hostile and dangerous.”
The Virginia High School League, which sanctions athletics and other competitions among public high schools, says the Youngkin guidelines will not affect league policies regarding trans athletes. They may compete if they have “undergone sex reassignment before puberty” or those who have had “surgical anatomical changes” and have gone through hormone therapy “in a verifiable manner and for a sufficient length of time to minimize gender-related advantages,” according to the league. The policy was enacted in 2014 and was also unaffected by Northam’s 2021 guidelines.
The Associated Press reports that 38 trans athletes in Virginia filed appeals to compete between 2014 and the 2022-23 school year, with 34 granted. “I am recommending the league stay with the current policy, which has served us well,” VHSL Executive Director Billy Haun wrote to school leaders in July. “We certainly will respect the decision of any school division as they address their policies and will continue to review this matter as we move forward and the new school year begins.”
