State lawmakers in Virginia are debating a proposed law that would prevent schools from secretly transitioning the genders of students without informing parents.
The law would require any school employee to notify a parent if they became a aware that a minor student was identifying as something other than their biological sex at school.
The law has been dubbed Sage’s Law, named after a young girl who was the victim of human trafficking.
According to the girl’s parents, the school system withheld information from them about Sage’s mental health, which included expressions of gender dysphoria.
The parents, whose names have been withheld to protect the girl’s identity, said in testimony that they believe better communication from the school about the daughter’s attempted sex change might have prevented her from being victimized by online predators and bullies at school.
In Maine, legislation like that would preempt several school policies that explicitly require schools to keep secrets about student mental health from parents.
For example, such a law would have prevented a school social worker from secretly advising a 13-year-old girl into a gender transition without informing the girl’s parents.
