GOOCHLAND COUNTY, Va. -- Goochland mother Lauren Comstock spoke about her and many other family’s experiences in light of Goochland School Board member Angela Allen’s post on Facebook about transgender students and bathrooms.
Comstock’s preferred title for the interview was simple: “A parent. A concerned parent.”
Allen’s Facebook post read: “As a Goochland School Board member, effectively representing your interests is my duty. This week I learned that GCPS students are allowed to use restrooms different from their biological gender. Is this our community’s expectation?”
The post in question, initially made in late January, came months after Governor Glenn Youngkin’s administration, through the Virginia Department of Education, changed the policy dealing with transgender students using bathrooms in public schools.
This policy requires students to use the bathroom of the gender they were assigned at birth, whereas before, students were allowed to use the bathroom corresponding to their gender identification.
Many Goochland Public School parents with transgender students said their children use the gender-neutral clinic bathroom without issue.
Comstock felt the public’s reaction to the post “immediately created a firestorm of transphobic comments.”
Though she is not a parent of a transgender student, she said this is just the latest example of hatefulness families with transgender members have had to endure. Comstock also said this post has added to an all-too-familiar trend of bullying both online and at school.
“We’ve already had one case [of] bullying directly from this post. The children, especially in the high school, read this post. They have Facebook. So not just the LGBTQ youth that are reading it, people that are going to school and bullying them are reading this post,” Comstock said.
The parent of a Goochland transgender student asked to remain anonymous but shares a common concern for the well-being of their child.
“My kid is like any other kid,” they said. “Put this in the context of your own child, it’s just like that for my child. We just want them to be happy.”
Superintendent Jeremy J. Raley issued a statement acknowledging Allen’s comments and assured that they do not reflect the school board or district.
“The mission of the Goochland County Public Schools is to maximize the potential of every learner” Raley continued in the statement. “Our School Board policies comply with the Code of Virginia and federal laws, including those related to nondiscrimination, prohibition against harassment and retaliation, equal educational opportunities, and standards of student conduct.”
However, parents like Comstock are still waiting for the school board member to address her posts and are emphasizing the importance of a safe space for all students.
“That’s the goal for any parent,” the anonymous parent said. “That your child feels safe at least most of the time when they go to school.”
CBS 6 reached out to Allen multiple times over the last month for comment and she has not responded.
This is a developing story, so anyone with more information can email newstips@wtvr.com to send a tip.
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