State Del. Marcus Simon, who represents Falls Church in the Virginia State Legislature, issued the following statement today in response to the controversy ignited by Gov. Youngkin’s change in state’s response to transgender issues in the schools:

“As the Chief Patron of HB145, the bill that mandated the Department of Education issue model policies for the treatment of transgender students, I can tell you the policies proposed by Governor Younkins Department do not meet the letter or the spirit of that law. The policies, if enacted, would not only violate the civil rights of trans students, they would be extremely harmful to their mental health and physical well being. 

“Today, in light of the now 10s of thousands of public comments, the overwhelming majority of which are in opposition to replacing the exiting model policies, I have called on the Governor to rescind the 2022 guidance document and encourage him to leave the model policies adopted in 2021 in place. 

“I hope that the Governor will realize his mistake and reverse course. 

“The model policies his Department of Education have published are not evidence based, are not best practices, and are not in compliance with state and federal law. Rather, they are a cynical political ploy intended to keep a small and vocal element of his far right wing base animated and motivated going into the 2022 mid-term elections. 

“I stand in solidarity with the thousands of students who walked out in support of their trans and gender expansive schoolmates today. We can not allow Virginia to be pulled backward.”