A bipartisan effort meant to inform parents of safe gun storage laws and the danger of freely accessible medication is likely doomed after Governor Glenn Youngkin amended the law.
Delegate Laura Jane Cohen didn’t think her idea was controversial.
“If you have minor children in your home, you have to safely and securely store your firearms,” the Fairfax-area Democrat said in an interview with Radio IQ.
Her bill asks schools to inform parents of that law, and the importance of safely storing dangerous medications.
“The kid safe lids are, not surprisingly, not particularly kid safe,” she added.
The bill passed with some bipartisan support, and Cohen thought Governor Glenn Youngkin would support it in line with his promise to involve parents more in schooling.
“We felt very positive as it went off to his desk,” Cohen said. “And then it came back with some extra garbage this year.”
She’s referring to an additional requirement to notify parents if a student asks for “social affirmation of the minor student's gender incongruence.”
Parental notification for such students isn’t new. In 2023, conservative lawmakers patroned a similar effort called “Sage's Law” which narrowly passed the then-GOP controlled House but was killed in the Senate.
Victoria Cobb is with the conservative group the Family Foundation of Virginia. They’ve long supported parental notification when a student is questioning their gender identity.
“Parents only want what’s best for their children and when a child has gender confusion, a parent should be their best ally,” Cobb told Radio IQ.
Cobb also noted a version of "Sage’s Law" was submitted this year but denied a hearing. She said Youngkin’s amendment shouldn’t come as a surprise. The "Sage’s Law" effort is part of a FFVA-backed push to get schools to share with parents when students question their identity. It’s named after reports of a minor who was questioning their gender identity who ran away from home and ended up in worse circumstances following state intervention.
“Governor Youngkin has stood by parents, and it's no surprise he wants to prevent any future child from the harm of sex trafficking by involving their parents with school counseling,” Cobb said.
Cohen said she welcomes the idea of involving parents when a student questions their identity, but warned not all families are affirming or supportive, and creating trust between a teacher or counselor and a student can help lead to bridging gaps over time.
“Parents absolutely belong in this conversation,” Cohen said. “As a parent, it's hard to think about your kids having conversations you’re not a part of,” she added. “For some people, teachers are the only ones they can talk to in their lives."
And Cohen thinks the added language to her bill isn’t incidental; her child is transgender. And she pointed to a survey of LGBTQ students in her Fairfax County district who consider suicide at higher rates.
“He thinks it's okay to play games; he thinks it's funny to bully people,” Cohen said. “And I don’t know about you, but I don’t see a lot of people laughing.”
Youngkin’s amendment to Cohen’s bill will be considered next week during a reconvene session.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
