The Suffolk School Board will meet in May to review proposed changes to policies for transgender and nonbinary students, which would align with those introduced by Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s administration in 2023.
LGBT community advocates fear doing so will be detrimental to gender-nonconforming students’ mental health and put them at greater risk of bullying and violence.
Suffolk implemented its current policies in 2023. Superintendent John Gordon said during a recent school board meeting that they were crafted to balance students’ and parents’ rights, calling them a “mixed blend” of Youngkin’s and former Gov. Ralph Northam’s policies.
Changes proposed by the board's policy committee for the 2025-26 school year would require students to use pronouns that align with their gender assigned at birth unless a parent submits a written request. They also specify that school employees cannot be compelled to use a student’s preferred pronouns.
The policy updates also do not allow records on students’ gender identity to be concealed from parents; removes students’ ability to object to counseling requested by their parents and specific discrimination protections based on gender identity; mandates athletic participation and bathroom use to follow a student’s gender assigned at birth; and strikes out most terms defined in the policy, such as gender and gender identity, leaving just three: “parent,” “sex,” and “transgender student.”
The proposed revisions maintain prohibitions on Suffolk from reaching out to parents when there is “imminent risk of suicide related to parental abuse or neglect.”
Members of the school board’s policy committee did not respond to phone calls when WHRO reached out. Committee member and board vice chair Sean McGee, in a Facebook post, said he’s heard from teachers and administrators that the current policy is being abused and believes parental involvement is non-negotiable.
“We, as parents, have the right to be informed and involved in every service or conversation being offered to our children in public schools,” he wrote. “This is about safety, transparency, and respect.”
McGee also proposed that schools offer gender-neutral restrooms for transgender and gender-nonconforming students.
“This creates a safe, respectful option for them, while still ensuring all other students can feel secure as well,” he wrote.
Gordon said during a recent school board meeting that parental involvement is a part of the current policy, but that students’ rights and safety are considered when sharing information about their identity or offering counseling. He said that the administration has not received complaints about the policy from staff or transgender students.
“That’s not to say there haven’t been conversations at the building level,” Gordon said.
Gordon did not respond to questions about the number of transgender students in Suffolk schools. He replied in an email that he will not have any comments until the board makes a final decision on policy revisions.
The School Board will hold a first reading of the revisions on May 8 and might vote on May 22.
Julie Snell, who oversees youth services at the LGBT Life Center, said Suffolk's implementation of the policy revisions as proposed would be a step backward. She called the current policy “arguably progressive, particularly for what is a more rural area.”
“It’s basically saying that your identity and your safety is not a priority to us,” Snell said. “We have to protect the kids, but we’re arguably saying that we’re going to protect certain kids and not all kids.”
Snell said the policy change may also signal to students that they now have a “license to bully” their gender-nonconforming peers. She expects this will worsen the mental health of transgender and nonbinary students.
“It's going to impact how these kids perceive them as people,” Snell said.
According to the Trevor Project, a leading advocacy group for LGBT youth, nearly 50% of all transgender people ages 13-24 in Virginia considered suicide in 2024. Anti-transgender laws cause transgender and nonbinary youth to attempt suicide at significantly higher rates. These rates fell for transgender and nonbinary youths when their schools affirmed their identities and taught students about LGBT issues and suicide prevention.
Suffolk Public Schools is a member of HRETA, which owns WHRO’s broadcast license.
