Parents who want Youngkin’s transgender policies enacted sue Virginia Beach school board

Two Virginia parents have filed a lawsuit seeking to force their local school system to adopt Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin's policies on transgender students.

Two Virginia Beach parents have filed a lawsuit seeking to force their local school system to adopt Republican Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s new model policies for the treatment of transgender students.

The lawsuit, filed on the parents’ behalf by the conservative-leaning Cooper and Kirk law firm, alleges that local school boards must adopt the policies adopted earlier this year by the Youngkin administration. Those policies roll back many accommodations for transgender students urged by the previous Democratic administration.

Last month, the Virginia Beach School Board narrowly voted down a proposal that would have adopted the Youngkin administration’s policies.

School boards across the state have taken varied approaches to the issue. Some school boards with conservative majorities have adopted the policies. More liberal jurisdictions, especially in northern Virginia, have balked.

Youngkin and Republican Attorney General Jason Miyares have said school boards must adopt the new rules, which they say are designed to give parents a greater say in how their children are treated at school. But it has been unclear whether state law provides any mechanism to force counties to adopt the regulations, and opponents say the policies violate federal law by codifying discrimination against transgender students.