Last month, Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin changed liberal rules on how transgender children are to be treated in public schools and then applied protections for privacy for those that are not. In response, Elizabeth Guzman – a Democratic member of the House of Delegates – promptly threatened to reintroduce a bill that protects LGBTQ children and punishes parents who disagree with their children's self-identified "gender."
HB 580 – introduced by Guzman in early 2020 – would have "expand[ed] the definition of 'abused or neglected child' to include any child whose parents, or other person responsible for his care, create or inflict, threaten to create or inflict, or allow to be created or inflicted upon such child a physical or mental injury on the basis of the child's gender identity or sexual orientation."
That version of the bill did not pass. But Victoria Cobb of the Family Foundation of Virginia explains Guzman wants to rachet-up the legislation this time around.
"… It appears the intent [this time] is to go even further to force parents to abdicate their role to nurture and guide their children through life – and that they have to abdicate that to the child's view and the state's view of sex and sexuality regardless of the harm that that is to the child," Cobb tells AFN.
National Review reports Guzman's revised legislation would expand the definition of child abuse so that parents could be charged with a felony or misdemeanor for refusing to honor their child's request to be treated as the opposite sex. The Democratic lawmaker told a reporter her intent wasn't to "criminalize" parents, but to "educate" them so they don't abuse their child – and that part of her argument for her bill is that "the Bible says to accept everyone for who they are."
Cobb, however, see it differently. "It's abundantly clear that the ideological Left and radical LGBTQ groups are scheming together to demonize and punish loving parents … who simply want to bring up their children in the best way possible," she argues. "And they're basically driving wedges between them and their children."
Following Guzman's announcement, Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares vowed to protect parental rights. Pushback also came from Capitol Hill, where GOP Senators Ted Cruz (Texas) and Marsha Blackburn (Tennessee) described the threat posed by Guzman's bill as "utterly horrifying" and "unthinkable," respectively.
Guzman has since said she will not reintroduce the bill, citing a "misleading news piece" that mischaracterized her "pro-safety, anti-abuse" bill. CBS-affiliate WUSA9 points out HB 580 does not have the votes to pass it – nor would the Republican House Speaker allow it be taken up for a vote.
