Teacher cries as she quits in front of Virginia school board considering more inclusive transgender policy

The Loudoun County Public School Board in northern Virginia heard hundreds of speakers on Tuesday as it prepared to vote on its new transgender policy following the passage of new state laws.

The board postponed its vote until Wednesday evening after listening to more than 150 members of the public for more than four hours on Tuesday.

One of the speakers, Laura Morris, said she had been a teacher for 10 years, five of those in Loudoun County, and quit her job in front of the school board ahead of the vote on the new transgender policy.

The policy states that transgender students should be allowed to “use their chosen name and gender pronouns that reflect their consistently asserted gender identity” and that staff should use those names and pronouns as well.

“Staff or students who intentionally and persistently refuse to respect a student’s gender identity by using the wrong name and gender pronoun are in violation of this policy,” the new guidelines state.

Students should also be allowed to take part in “interscholastic, co-curricular and extra-curricular activities … in a manner consistent with the student’s gender identity”.

Under the policy, students will also be allowed to use bathrooms and changing rooms that “correspond to their consistently asserted gender identity” and staff should “take steps to designate gender-inclusive or single-user restrooms commensurate with the size of the school”.

“All school mental health professionals shall complete training on topics relating to LGBTQ+ students, including procedures for preventing and responding to bullying, harassment and discrimination based on gender identity/expression.”

“The Superintendent is authorised to develop implementing regulations and school procedures to ensure consistency in practices,” the policy adds.

Other counties are adopting similar measures as state law is providing little in terms of leeway to propose alternative solutions.

Ms Morris told the board that she had “struggled with the idea of returning to school” because she knew she would be “working yet again with the school division that despite its shiny tech and flashy salary, promotes political ideologies that do not square with who I am as a believer in Christ”.

She said that “within the last year, I was told in one of my so-called equity trainings that white Christian able-bodied females currently have the power in our schools, and that quote, ‘this has to change’”.

Becoming emotional, she added: “You’ve made your point. You no longer value me, or many other teachers you’ve employed in this county. So since my contract outlines the power that you have over my employment in Loudon County Public Schools, I thought it necessary to resign in front of you.”

“School board, I quit. I quit your policies, I quit your trainings, and I quit being a cog in a machine that tells me to push highly politicised agendas on our most vulnerable constituents – the children. I will find employment elsewhere. I encourage all parents and staff in this county to flood the private schools,” she said.

The parking lot outside the school board on Tuesday looked like a political rally, NBC4 reported.

To get inside to speak, you would have to wait for an employee to call your name through a megaphone and go through security to wait inside before being called to the podium.

The school board announced on 3 August that the new meeting procedures were “in direct response to the increase in threats and the unruly and unsafe behaviour at the June 22 board meeting”.

Outraged at the transgender policy and how they thought issues about race were being taught, some parents held signs and sang the national anthem, garnering national media attention. One man was arrested. Parents also shouted “shame on you” and gave board members the finger.

School Board Chair Brenda Sheridan said on 22 June: “We will not back down from fighting for the rights of our students and continuing our focus on equity.”

She called for an end to “politically motivated antics” and added that “loud voices aiming to make our schools a political battleground will not silence the work for our students”.

Substitute teacher Emily Hart said on Tuesday that the proposed equality policy was a violation of her religious rights: “[It] would force teachers to act against their sincerely held religious beliefs.”

“I’m a Christian mom, and I believe what God ... created us male and female," mother of three Rene Camp said, according to WUSA9. “We respect everyone just as we should respect everybody,” she said but added: “Now that boys and girls are allowed to mix bathrooms, my daughter might not be safe in any of those bathrooms.”

Parents of transgender students have praised moves on equality that allow their children the same access to education that everyone else enjoys. One, speaking at the meeting, said his transgender son had not been supported during his time at school and woukld have greatly benefitted from policies like these.

One parent who identified themselves as transgender at the meeting, said: “I'm encouraging you all to support policies that are inclusive of transgender students and to show your support for transgender students and transgender faculty. This isn’t pseudoscience, this isn’t some sort of ideology. This is people’s lives. This is civil rights.”