Lawmakers grill school leaders over gender policies, transgender spaces
Lawmakers, including Rep. Bob Onder and Rep. Virginia Foxx, press school superintendents on gender policies and their impact on student safety. The officials provide ambiguous responses when asked if biological males are allowed in female locker rooms, sleeping quarters and changing areas, raising parental rights concerns about youth's well-being.
Outraged Virginia parents spoke out on the battle for parental rights after a Loudoun County education official got attention for his statements during a Capitol Hill hearing this week.
One concerned mother told Fox News she feels obligated to speak out against the "long-standing problem," not only for her own children, but for others who feel they have no voice.
"I feel compelled to stand up and speak to protect my own children, but also to protect 70,000+ other kids whose parents maybe work for the federal government or who work for a corporation that they're afraid that they'll lose their job if they should speak up," Abbie Platt told "Fox & Friends."
"And that retaliation, that retribution is well known, so I can't not speak [on] that because our school systems were so good for so long," she said.
SCHOOL DISTRICT IN THE HOT SEAT AMID FRESH ALLEGATIONS OF HIDING STUDENTS' GENDER TRANSITION
A woman holds a sign as Loudoun County School Board members vote to enact Policy 8040 during a school board meeting at the Loudoun County Public Schools Administration Building on Aug. 11, 2021 in Ashburn, Va. (Ricky Carioti/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
Platt's children have attended school in the Loudoun County district, where transgender debates have abounded in recent years.
Her children, she said, have witnessed students socially transitioning for quite some time.
"We've been putting up with this for a very long time. That means there are boys in the girls' locker room. There are boys in the girls' bathrooms," she said.
Supporters of Policy 8040 celebrate as transgender protection measures were adopted into Loudoun County Public Schools policies during a school board meeting in Ashburn, Va., on Aug. 11, 2021. (Ricky Carioti/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
In one incident, she alleged a biological girl who claimed to be transitioning to male entered the boys' bathroom and violated her son's privacy as he stood at a urinal.
"My son came home devastated and in tears, distraught that a girl in his class would come and look at him while he was using the bathroom," she said.
She lamented that most, if not all, of the local private schools are filled, meaning many students have little opportunity to leave public schools.
Pronouns and transgender policies took center stage at heated hearings on Capitol Hill this week, where Loudoun County Public Schools Superintendent Aaron Spence affirmed that "Transgender women should be allowed in women's spaces."
School officials from other parts of the U.S. — including Chicago and San Francisco — also testified before members of Congress, answering whether biological males should be allowed to enter spaces designated for girls.
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Loudoun County father Seth Wolfe reacted to school officials' responses on Thursday, telling "Fox & Friends First" he wasn't "satisfied" with their remarks.
"This should be about our kids' education or safety," he said.
"We send our kids to public schools for them to get an education and then for them to have to worry about all those policies that keep these kids unsafe. It's just not right."
Wolfe alleged the problem has worsened over five years, arguing that policies in place "take the rights of parents."
Loudoun County Public Schools did not immediately return Fox News Digital's request for comment.
