LGBTQ+ youth are under attack again. The culture war has evolved from restricting her ability to use the restroom to match her gender identity to erasing any trace of her LGBTQ+ experience from the school.Bathroom Policy — Advocated by hate group Restricting queer children from using their preferred toilets, as in Alliance Defending Freedom, is an unwarranted attack that threatens them to express themselves and does nothing but alienate them from their peers. Above, parents were obsessed with Removal of adult content Many schools continue to turn to queer literature and erase LGBTQ+ narratives. These policies are harmful and infantilizing for young adults. Virginia must take action to protect the free speech and privacy rights of LGBTQ+ students.
of Hanover School Board is the latest region to enact policies to restrict student toilet access. This reflects Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s recent work at the state level. obsolete of LGBTQ+ students protection It aims to protect transgender students from harassment and protect their right to privacy, and was introduced under past administrations. The act of removing such protection shall severe institutional damage It will have a lasting impact on LGBTQ+ children during their most formative years. bathroom ban Create an environment where LGBTQ+ youth feel unwanted or unwelcome.
It is also important to remember that this law does not exist in isolation.Virginia is at risk of the same economic impact as North Carolina and other states faced Regarding the toilet ban. North Carolina’s House Bill 2 had serious financial implications.according to statewide banPayPal pulled a deal in Charlotte, Deutsche Bank put a deal on hold in Cary, CoStar moved to Richmond — they might consider doing it again — and the NBA and NCAA both state All of this put $5 billion at risk for the desire to target the incredibly small number of transgender youth in the state.Previous Governor Pat McCrory believed this would benefit the state, but supporters of the bill called it “common sense“The transphobic motives behind the bill have had only negative consequences. This is objectively bad for transgender children and bad for the Commonwealth. Economically .
As if the estrangement of not being able to use a proper restroom wasn’t enough, books featuring LGBTQ+ characters have also become involved in the fray over America’s schools. Parents are becoming increasingly concerned about what their children are taught. Yonkins No way important racial theories conspiracy. This has now extended to book bans. This is an archaic concept that we seem to have left in the past. The target at the beginning of this year wasmouse,” and other graphic novels,genderqueer‘ has also been attacked.Of further concern is the general attack on the book Including mature, albeit content that is a staple of high school English classes, such as Toni Morrison’s classics and relatively tame novels like John Green’s. These battles continue, but the battle behind them is relentless and becoming an alarming struggle for free speech.
It is argued that such novels “mouseand “Genderqueer” are inappropriate for middle school to high school audiences. First, these are children who are going through puberty and becoming adults. When we infantilize children undergoing hormonal changes and act like they don’t have access to thoughts and information about those changes, we fail them and we don’t encourage critical thinking in the slightest. Furthermore, it is a reckless adventure to ignore the reality of the world that children are in the process of becoming adults and should be respected as adults. Within the spirit of freedom in , we can see a multitude of perspectives and ideas about what life is really like. If you really believe no, then you live on another planet.
As bleak as it may seem, there is some good in the fight against book bans. not banned Because to do so would violate the First Amendment, from a bookstore in Virginia. There are also efforts by national institutions such as American Civil Liberties Union — doing its best to support citizens who oppose book bans. This support is invaluable, but more needs to be done. To demonstrate its commitment to free speech and equal rights, the Virginia Legislature has made sure that books are not banned in school libraries, and that transgender children are targeted for questionable grounds of attack with underlying hateful intent. Fighting against Youngkin’s move to hurt LGBTQ+ children is the only sane option. Silence and inaction are unacceptable, both morally and economically. The only choice is to protect the privacy and speech of LGBTQ+ youth, or face the consequences of failing to do so.
Ryan Lanford is a public opinion columnist who writes about politics for The Cavalier Daily. They can be reached at opinion@cavalierdaily.com.
The opinions expressed in this column are not necessarily those of The Cavalier Daily. Columns represent the views of the authors only.
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