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The Virginia High School League, which oversees school sports in the state, will not change its policy that allows transgender student-athletes to participate on sports teams that match their gender identity with an approved appeal despite new statewide guidance that suggests students should play on the team that matches their biological sex.
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Last week, the Virginia Department of Education enacted the final version of its new model policies regarding the treatment of transgender students in schools, which acts as guidance for local school districts to set their own policies. The new guidance, which was introduced by the administration of Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R), says students should use restrooms and other facilities based on their biological sex. It also says that participation in athletic programs “shall be determined by sex rather than gender or gender identity” and that school divisions “shall provide reasonable modifications to this policy only to the extent required by law.”
Billy Haun, executive director of the Virginia High School League, said in an interview that after reviewing the new guidance, the league does not plan to change its policy that allows students to file an appeal to play on the team that matches their gender identity.
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“As the VHSL fall sport season begins this week, I am recommending the League stay with the current policy which has served us well,” Haun wrote in a memo to school leaders and athletic directors on Monday. “We certainly will respect the decision of any school division as they address their policies and will continue to review this matter as we move forward and the new school year begins.”
What to know about Virginia’s transgender student model policies
Under the league’s current policy, which has been in place since 2014, students who have transitioned before puberty, have medical documentation verifying that they have a gender identity different than that listed on their birth certificate or have had hormonal therapy long enough to “minimize gender-related advantages in sports competition” are eligible to apply for a waiver. An applicant then has to provide extensive documentation and receive signatures from both the school principal and a parent. Each application is reviewed by a committee and an associate director who rule on the appeal.
Since the transgender appeal process was enacted, 25 students have filed an application and three have been denied. But Haun said the league is beginning to see those numbers grow. Ten of the 25 appeals were filed in the 2022-2023 school year. Nine were approved.
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“I think our criteria is very clear. I think it’s very reasonable,” Haun said. “I think that we have worked through each case individually. I mean, every case is a little bit different.”
The league also did not change its rules after the 2021 version of model policies giving trans students more protections were enacted, Haun said, but those policies did not specifically address participation in sports and deferred to the league’s policy as the official guidance.
Youngkin spokeswoman Macaulay Porter said in an email that the law only requires school boards to adopt policies that align with the guidance, and the Virginia High School League does not have a role. The league, however, is the main organization regulating sports for 315 high schools across Virginia.
Va.’s trans student policies bring uncertainty, worry for LGBTQ+ students
The model policies are issued in response to a 2020 law, sponsored by Democratic legislators but passed on a bipartisan basis, that requires the Education Department to develop model policies for the protection of transgender students. The language in the 2020 law specifically excludes athletics from the definition of school activities that are guided by the policies.
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Del. Marcus B. Simon (D-Fairfax), who sponsored the 2020 law, said that the law did not intend for the policies to address athletics and that the addition was a way for Youngkin to take a stance on the hot-button issue.
“They wanted to make sure that the administration’s position on the issue is known,” Simon said.
Porter said the law required the Education Department to develop model policies “that address common issues regardi---ng transgender students” but does not limit what topics it can address. Athletics, she said, fell under that category.
The issue of transgender participation in sports has become a politically divisive issue though it involves only a small fraction of transgender student-athletes. The debate has been driven mostly by Republicans who oppose transgender girls and women competing against cisgender girls and women, claiming that the former have an unfair advantage. This year, President Biden issued long-anticipated Title IX guidance on transgender student-athletes that prohibited blanket bans on participation but allowed individual schools to bar transgender student-athletes from participating in competitive high school sports.
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A Washington Post-University of Maryland poll last year found that 55 percent of Americans opposed allowing trans women and girls to compete with cisgender women and girls in high school sports, and that 58 percent opposed it in college and professional sports. About 3 in 10 said they should be allowed to compete at each of these levels, while another 15 percent had no opinion.
But LGBTQ+ advocates say the number of transgender students competing is so small that policies governing their participation feels targeted.
“Talking about athletics is just creating problems that are not really there,” said Shannon McKay, executive director and co-founder of He She Ze and We, a Richmond-based nonprofit advocating on behalf of transgender and nonbinary people.
Youngkin’s rules for trans students leave many teens fearful, despondent
McKay is also the parent of a transgender daughter who graduated this year and played on the girls soccer and volleyball team during her last year in high school. McKay said her daughter chose not to apply for approval from VHSL because all her documentation with the school was already aligned with her identity.
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“Because she is recognized and respected as the young woman she is, we didn’t apply for approval from VHSL,” McKay said in an email. “She chose NOT to disclose her private medical business because it is just that … private information.”
McKay said Virginia High School League’s policy was helpful in getting bipartisan support for the 2020 law because there was already an athletics policy in place. She said policies can be helpful when they are designed to ensure transgender students have the same opportunities to play. Still, she said going through the extensive appeal process could discourage some students and families.
“Personally, I do not think families should have to jump through these hoops to verify their child is trans enough to be able to play on a sports team that aligns with their gender identity,” McKay said. “Just the need to go to a doctor for a physical is a deterrent for many youth. That is probably why there was only 9 student-athletes that went through the VHSL approval process last year.”
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While Yougkin’s model policies are now the official standard for the state, it’s up to each school district to adopt its own policies. In coming months, there will probably be further debate as school boards evaluate their own policies and decide how to move forward.
Every school system didn’t adopt the previous model policies, and they probably won’t this time, said Haun, with the Virginia High School League. “So, staying with the policy that we have will respect the decision that any community or any school board makes.”
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