
On April 23, 1968, protestors took over part of Columbia University in New York City. For a week, the national news media was obsessed with the story. Then, on April 30, police broke up the âoccupation,â making over 700 arrests. An article from History.com about the uprising concludes, âThe 1968 protests⊠may be long gone, but their legacy is anything but dead.â
For many radicals in modern Americaâmost of whom were born long after 1968âthose were the good old days.
Press Advocacy
On September 27, 2022, activists tried invoking the Columbia protestsâ spirit as the news media wrote about high schools in Virginia. Many articles began with language like that of WTVR, Channel 6 in Richmond:
âStudents from nearly 100 schools across Virginia participated in a walkout Tuesday in opposition to the Virginia Department of Educationâs proposed 2022 model policies on the treatment of transgender students in the stateâs public schools.â
A journal aimed at a more politically savvy audience, The Hill, was more specific but equally strident.
âThousands of Virginia students walked out of their classrooms Tuesday to protest Gov. Glenn Youngkinâs (R) proposed model transgender policies that would restrict which restrooms the stateâs transgender students are allowed to use and would require parents to consent to their child changing their name or pronouns at school.â
The New York Daily News, living up to its reputation, was blunt.
âStudents from nearly 100 schools in Virginia are walking out of their classes Tuesday to protest new guidelines on transgender students proposed by Gov. Glenn Youngkin.â
Heroic Liberal Students versus Repressive Conservatives
Even the name of the loose organization that coordinated the protests, Pride Liberation, evokes memories of the sixties student radicalism.
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Numerous photographs depicted students carrying signs. âMy Identity is Not an Ideology.â âHate is a Choice, Being Trans is Not!â âTrans Rights Now!â âTrust Trans Students.â âProtect Trans Kids.â âTrans Kids Deserve Rights!!!â
On the other hand, the articles imply Virginiaâs Governor is the villain. He is violating all of the rules that the âDiversity, Equity and Inclusionâ crowd holds dear.
Tale of an Election
Restoring parental control of their childrenâs educations was on Governor Youngkinâs short list of goals when he entered the governorâs office on January 15, 2022. In his inaugural speech, he reiterated a frequent promise: âParents should have a say in what is taught in school because in Virginia, parents have a fundamental right to make decisions with regards to their childâs upbringing, education and care. To parents I say we respect you. And we will empower you in the education of your children.â
Such sentiments helped Glenn Youngkin defeat Terry McAuliffe in 2021. Under normal circumstances, Mr. McAuliffe would have won. After all, Mr. McAuliffe is a Democrat, and Virginia has elected increasing numbers of Democrats for the last two decades. Second, Mr. McAuliffe was far better known to Virginia voters. He was the governor from 2014 to 2018, when term limits forced him to step down. No less an authority than The Washington Post opined that Mr. McAuliffe was presidential timber.
Therefore, Mr. Youngkinâs victory, even though narrow (50.6% to 48.6%), shook the liberal world.
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Two issues moved voters in Mr. Youngkinâs favor. The first was then-Governor Northamâs support for one of the most pro-abortion laws in the country, which he signed on March 15, 2021. The second had to do with a young woman who was assaulted in a high school girlsâ restroom. Her attacker was a young man allowed to use the girlsâ facility because he identified as âgender fluid.â
Contrasting Model Policies
The document that provoked the walkout carries an innocuous title, â2022 Model Policies on the Privacy, Dignity, and Respect for All Students and Parents in Virginiaâs Public Schools.â
The document begins with four âGuiding Principles.â
- Parents have the right to make decisions with respect to their children.
- Schools shall serve the needs of all students.
- Schools shall partner with parents.
- Schools shall respect all students.
The new policy attempts to strike two balances.
The first is between the rights of parents and the rights of students. The second is the safety of the majority of the student body as opposed to the tiny number of âtranssexualsâ in the student body.
There was no balance in the previous policy, published under the title âModel Policies for the Treatment of Transgender Students in Virginiaâs Public Schools.â
That policyâhanded down under former Governor Ralph Northamâwas everything the leftists could desire. One of its provisions said, âSchools shall allow students to assert a name and gender pronouns that reflect their gender identity without any substantiating evidence.â In other words, Bobby could walk into the counselorâs office on Monday and ask to be called Sue, and the school would automatically comply.
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The following sentence was, perhaps, even more egregious. âSchool staff shall, at the request of a student or parent, address the student using the asserted name and pronoun that correspond to their gender identity.â Notice that it says âstudent or parent.â Left unsaid but implied was that parental permission was optional. The policy plainly stated, â[S]chool staff should be prepared to support the safety and welfare of transgender students when their families are not affirming.â
A Tiny but Very Vocal Minority
The media were delighted with the walkouts. No one has compiled an authoritative figure on the number of students who walked out. Still, most media reported that the number of middle and senior high schools affected was around one hundred.
That number sounds impressive until one considers that, according to the âGreat Schoolsâ organization, Virginia has 1,018 high schools and 1,311 middle schools. So accepting the mediaâs number of one hundred means that slightly over four percent of schools participated in the walkout. In fairness, that percentage might be higher because some schools in rural communities and private and charter schools serve both middle and senior high students. However, even if the percentage doubles, it comes to eight percent, hardly an impressive figure.
Additionally, those who did not walk out far outnumbered the participants. Here, again, hard figures are impossible to obtain. However, one can get an idea from the fact that San Francisco-based SFGATEâs story mentioned that âmore than 300 students walked out of classesâ at McLean High School in a prosperous DC suburb. Again, that sounds impressive. However, the Fairfax County Public Schoolsâ official tally mentions that McLean High had 2,384 students in June 2022. So, only about thirteen percent of students participated.
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The supporters of gender ideology want everyone to believe that the Virginia school walkout was a significant event. Their allies in the media are more than willing to help. However, a factual analysis makes it clear that Governor Youngkin did what most Virginians elected him to do. The opponents of the governorâs policy are vocal but minuscule. It is time to stop paying attention to the left.
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