The bill was introduced by Virginia state Del. Elizabeth Guzman (D) and aims to charge parents who are not willing to change the sex of their children with child abuse.
Guzman said that investigations would be launched and any parent who wasn’t willing to affirm the gender identity of their child would be slapped with a felony or misdemeanor charge,
“We know that [ a Child Protective Services] charge could harm your employment, could harm their education, because nowadays many people do a CPS database search before offering employment.”
Guzman’s bill has received backlash from both Republicans and Democrats alike with Virginia House Minority Leader Don Scott (D) saying he will not support the legislation. Other democrats in Virginia have also backed away from the bill.
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) slammed a bill at a campaign event in Fredericksburg, Virginia saying,
“What we saw is a clear statement of what the progressive liberals believe. They believe if parents try to be parents they should be investigated. We saw Attorney General Garland out of the U.S. government investigating parents for standing up at board meetings. We saw my opponent last year stand up and say parents don’t have the right to see what’s being taught in classrooms. She in fact, spoke their [Democrats] truth, and now they’re trying to walk it back. This is transparency from the progressive liberal Democrats of what they believe. And now they’re trying to walk it back because they don’t want anybody to know that yet,”
Youngkin continued,
“Parents must have the primary role in their children’s lives. That’s their education. That’s their health. That’s their upbringing. That’s their well-being, and this is why I believe that we have such momentum for so many of the things that we’re doing but on top of that, why I think in November, again, voters, not just Republicans, but voters are gonna stand up and send a very clear message.”
