While the news cycle has been firmly focused on Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida for sending illegal aliens to Martha’s Vineyard, there’s another Republican governor in the country also delivering results.
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin rose to power in 2021 after shocking the pollsters and defeating Clinton bagman Terry McAuliffe, who was running for a second, non-consecutive term. The Republican’s victory was largely predicated on cultural issues, specifically dealing with what is being taught and done in public schools. On that subject, Loudoun County became ground zero after numerous reports revealed the school board had covered up a sexual assault in a girl’s restroom by a cross-dressing boy.
After taking office, Youngkin signed a series of orders to deal with the situation while the newly minted attorney general, Jason Miyares, began investigations. Now, the fight continues. Youngkin has reversed a policy that required schools to use someone’s “preferred pronouns” and that allowed different sexes to the bathroom and locker rooms of their “choice.”
Call me old-fashioned, but it remains crazy to me that this is even controversial. Even a decade ago, there would have been little question that you don’t punish teachers and students for choosing to adhere to reality and not “affirm” a transgender person’s “identity.” Yet, the transgender movement has grown more and more dictatorial, bolstered by a political party that is willing to say the water isn’t wet if they feel it will benefit them.
There are real safety concerns regarding letting boys use the same restrooms as girls. But you know what? Even if there weren’t any actual physical safety concerns at play, a girl should still have the right to go to the restroom with some expectation of privacy. I do not want a boy in the stall next to my daughter. Period. The left may call me a bigot, but ask me how much I care.
As to the pronoun thing, anyone who has paid attention to how that works knows how ludicrous it is. It’s not just a matter of mixing gendered pronouns anymore, which is bad enough. Rather, kids are calling themselves animals, inanimate objects, and other ridiculous made-up words and claiming that is their identity. No teacher could possibly keep up with such lunacy even if they wanted to.
Predictably, the left lost their minds at Youngkin’s move. Here’s Virginia politician Louise Lucas, whose tears sustain me, freaking out.
In America, people may have the right to pretend they aren’t the sex they were born with, but they don’t have the right to demand others affirm their mental illness. They certainly don’t have the right to demand others call them xe, per, or ze.
The only way sanity prevails here is if a majority of Americans stand up and say enough. The pushback has been effective, but there’s a long way left to go, and the effort will be led by governors like Youngkin who are willing to put their political capital on the line for objective normalcy.