Target: Delegate Scott Wyatt
Goal: Protect transgender students’ rights to be recognized by their gender identity in school.
Schools may soon be granted the ability to deprive transgender students of the most basic right: their gender identities. A bill that would end requirements for schools to follow rules that protect transgender student rights is making its way through the Virginia General Assembly. House bill 988 was introduced by Scott Wyatt. It directly contradicts a 2020 bill that requires schools to adopt policies inclusive to non-binary and transgender students. This allows students to use locker rooms and bathrooms that align with their gender identity, along with allowing the use of their preferred pronouns and names.
Students have spoken up against Wyatt’s bill. One student even stated that it would endanger kids rather than keeping them safe. The bill is also opposed by the Virginia ACLU. Sign below and demand that transgender students’ rights be protected.
PETITION LETTER:
Dear Delegate Scott Wyatt,
House bill 998 is dangerous for many reasons. Transgender and non-binary students already feel outcast and the changes you are proposing would even further push that feeling. Your argument that each school should have the right to decide takes away the students’ right to exist openly and honestly. Students’ gender identities are not choices, and they must be respected. Transgender and non-binary students deserve to feel safe in their schools in all aspects.
This rhetoric can be seen as hateful to the LGBTQ+ community. Please think about the students and how this bill will be harmful for them.
Sincerely,
[Your Name Here]
Photo Credit: Ted Eytan
269 Signatures