LGBT

Virginia and Texas Move to Protect Girls’ and Women’s Private Spaces

Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin directed the state’s Board of Health to take steps to protect sex-segregated spaces and activities.

Similarly, in Texas, Governor Abbott recently signed the Texas Women’s Privacy Act into law, protecting girls and women in locker rooms, showers, bathrooms, prisons and domestic violence shelters.

Here’s what happened in these states.

Virginia

The Family Foundation, a Focus on the Family-allied public policy group, explained the governor’s executive action in a press release:

“In a major victory for women and girls across the Commonwealth, Governor Glenn Youngkin today issued Executive Directive 14, instructing the State Board of Health to promulgate regulations protecting the health and safety of females in sex-separated spaces and activities.”

In his executive directive, the governor stated what prompted the order, “Students of both sexes have made high profile complaints about both harassment from students of the opposite sex within intimate spaces such as locker rooms, which threatens the health and safety of students, and the inclusion of biological males in girls’ athletic competitions, which is a clear violation of Title IX.”

He pointed to specific instances where privacy and safety were violated.

“Most recently, a complaint sent to USED [U.S. Education Department] alleges that on September 2, 2025, a biological male was watching girls change in a Fairfax County Public Schools girls’ locker room. …

“Additionally, more than a dozen witnesses have testified in a case involving a male Tier III sex offender who exposed and sexually gratified himself in front of female children in female locker rooms within schools and fitness centers in Northern Virginia.”

Governor Youngkin directed the Board to draft regulations that:

  • Prevent biological males from participating in organized female-only athletic teams and competitions in Virginia.
  • Prevent biological males from using designated female spaces where females are likely to be in a state of undress.

Texas

In September, Governor Greg Abbott signed SB 8, the Texas Women’s Privacy Act. The House passed the measure with a vote of 86-45, while the Senate voted 19-11 in favor of the law.

SB 8 defines male and female by their normal reproductive capacity, then it requires individuals to use sex-segregated facilities based on their sex.

According to Texas Values, a Focus on the Family ally, the law makes it clear “that women and girls are protected in their sex separated spaces like showers, locker rooms, domestic violence shelters, and prisons.”

The pro-family organization had been fighting since 2017 to pass legislation to keep sex-segregated spaces based on biological sex, not on an individual’s made up notion of their “gender.”

Texas Values’ Director of Government Relations Mary Elizabeth Castle applauded the new law, saying:

“Today, Texas made a historic move in making sure that no woman or little girl has to look over her shoulder with fear when she is in the locker room, restroom, or shower because a man has been allowed to wrongfully enter that space.”

“I thank Governor Abbott and other state leaders for being strong in passing the Texas Women’s Privacy Act before the calendar year is over. Our Texas legislature has made the message loud and clear: You don’t mess with Texas women and their dignity.”

The Daily Citizen applauds Virginia and Texas for taking steps to protect people – boys and girls, men and women – from those with wrong-sex confusion who insist they are the opposite sex. Gender ideology doesn’t change the truth that there are only two sexes – male and female.

Related Articles and Resources:

Federal Investigation Finds Loudoun County Violated Boys’ Title IX Rights

Girls Sports Coaches Are Incentivized to Recruit Men — Parents Shouldn’t Let Them

How to Get In Touch With Your State Policy Group

President Trump: ‘There are Only Two Genders: Male and Female’

Transgender Resources

Trump Signs Executive Order Protecting Women’s Sports and Spaces

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What Does it Mean to Be Trans Anyway?

Why Christians Can’t Avoid the “Trans” and Gender Redefinition Issue

Yes, Girls Care When Boys Take Their Trophies

SCOTUS May Hear Colorado Family’s Case: Can Schools Secretly Transition Students?

On Monday, the United States Supreme Court met privately to consider cases for the new term beginning next week. Among them is a case involving a Colorado family whose daughter was secretly transitioned by a public school district.

The case has garnered national attention in the ongoing debate over parental rights in education. The family is hoping the Court will take the case and use it to affirm parental rights against school districts that attempt to usurp the authority of fit parents to direct the care, upbringing and education of their children.

Background

The case, Lee v. Poudre School District R-1, involves complaints from two families, the Lees and the Juriches, in Colorado. They allege that the school district’s policies on gender identity intentionally excluded parents from critical decisions involving their children.

According to their lawsuit, the Lees’ 12-year-old daughter was invited to attend an “art club,” but the meeting turned out to be a Gender and Sexuality Club.

In an exclusive interview with the Daily Citizen, Erin Lee explained, “At the meeting, adults told her daughter that if she wasn’t entirely comfortable in her biological sex, she was trans. Activists informed her she was queer if she wasn’t sure who she was sexually attracted to, and they advised the kids that it was ok to lie to her parents about the meeting.”

The families argue that the school district’s policies fostered an environment that discourages disclosure to parents and even promotes secrecy. They allege that these policies and practices violate the constitutional right of parents to control the upbringing and care of their children.

Lower Court Rulings

The district court dismissed the case, finding that there was no plausible constitutional violation.  

The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the lower court’s decision, concluding that the families did not sufficiently link the alleged harms to official district policy.

Legal Theories

The families claim the school district’s actions violate the Fourteenth Amendment’s Due Process Clause, which the courts have interpreted as securing the rights of parents to direct the upbringing and education of their children.

They argue that the Constitution presumes parents are the natural guardians of their children and that the state cannot displace them from this role without compelling justification.

The school district maintains that its policies are designed to protect student privacy and foster a supportive environment. They claim that the policies are administrative choices, and the school district has ultimately discretion over their policies.

Lee Family Remarks

Erin Lee spoke with the Daily Citizen about standing up for her family and for all the families that have had their rights infringed,

I’ve connected with so many other parents who’ve had their children, their families and their rights violated by public schools keeping secrets and encouraging their children to keep those secrets from parents. This is such a ubiquitous issue that has harmed thousands.

I feel blessed that we were able to rescue our daughter from the throes of wrong-sex confusion and protect her from the harms of chemical & surgical mutilation. This lawsuit is for our girls and our families. But it is also about every other parent who has been in our shoes.

Impact

If the Supreme Court agrees to hear this case, the implications could be far-reaching.

A decision in favor of the families could reestablish the presumption that the parents, not schools, have the right to direct their children on sensitive topics like identity and religion.

A ruling against the school district would force school districts to be more transparent about their policies.

A holding in favor of parents could also give more parents the confidence to challenge other educational debates in public schools, including curriculum content, religious accommodations, health decisions and parental opt-outs.

A decision about whether the court will take the case this term is expected on Monday, October 6.

The Daily Citizen will continue covering this developing story.

Related Articles and Resources

Erin and Jon have a documentary, Art Club, telling their story. Watch online for free.

To learn more about Erin’s advocacy for children and parents, visit her account on X or her website.

‘Art Club’ Documentary — One Family’s Escape from Gender Ideology, and the Bigger Trend Sweeping the Nation

Exclusive Interview: Colorado Parents Expose ‘Gender Cult’ at Public School in New Documentary

Focus on the Family Urges Congressional Leaders to Respect Parental Rights

Focus on the Family exists to help families, and that includes help navigating the issues of homosexuality and transgenderism. Focus offers a free, one-time counseling consultation with a licensed or pastoral counselor. To request a counseling consultation, call 1-855-771-HELP (4357) or fill out our Counseling Consultation Request Form.

Homosexuality Resources

Transgender Resources

Understanding Homosexuality

Image from Shutterstock.

Mayday USA Sues Seattle for Violating First Amendment Rights at Worship Rally 

The leaders of Mayday USA, which hosted worship and prayer rallies across the nation, sued the city of Seattle, Mayor Bruce Harrell, and police chief Shon Barnes for infringing on their First Amendment rights to freedom of speech and religious liberty.

Mayday USA planned worship and prayer events in five cities as a “‘Mayday’ call to awaken America’s parents and politicians into protecting children and our religious freedom.” After hosting successful gatherings in New York, Miami and Houston, the group was organizing events in Seattle and Los Angeles.

Led by Jenny Donnelly of Her Voice Movement and evangelist Ross Johnston, Mayday’s “Don’t Mess With Our Kids” rallies called Christians to worship and intercede on behalf of America because of how our nation harms children through abortion, trafficking, and indoctrinating them with a “liberal, political and sexual agenda that seeks to destroy their God-given identities.”

Liberty Counsel filed the lawsuit on behalf of Donnelly and her husband Robert, Johnston, and Russell Johnson, pastor of The Pursuit, a Washington church which sponsored the event.

According to the Seattle lawsuit, organizers asked to hold their event at Pike Place, “a public street and traditional public forum, home to frequent and reoccurring parades, protests, and other constitutionally protected expressive activity on topics espoused from myriad viewpoints.”

The city refused because of “neighborhood opposition,” a clear violation of the organizer’s free speech rights.

Instead, officials pointed the group to Cal Anderson Park “in the heart of Seattle’s most prominent LGBTQ+ neighborhood.” The prayer rally eventually took place on May 26.

Hundreds gathered to worship and pray for “the sanctity of human life, the sacrality of biological gender, the importance of the nuclear family, and the right to freedom of speech and religion,” as Mayday’s initial press release announced. The event also included bike giveaways and free haircuts.  

The lawsuit explains what happened at that park as antifa and LGBT-identified activists attacked the gathering:

Violent agitators threw urine filled balloons at Plaintiffs, engaged in obscene behavior and masturbation in front of the innocent minor children in attendance at Plaintiffs event, threatened Plaintiffs and their volunteers and attendees with death and serious bodily harm for engaging in their protected activity, hurled verbal threats at Plaintiffs, destroyed or damaged Plaintiffs’ event equipment, and otherwise engaged in physical threats and actual violence.

Activists cursed attendees, staff and volunteers, and sprayed them with pepper spray and tear gas. Protestors waved transgender pride flags and carried signs “denouncing the ‘Trump Fascist Regime,’” reported The Seattle Times, adding, “By Saturday night, Seattle police had made 23 arrests on various allegations.”

The lawsuit explained what happened next:

After all of these assaults, police officers told Plaintiffs that they needed to shut down their event early due to the violence.

As part of their reasons, the police told Plaintiffs that there was a shift change for police about to occur, so the police that were on site were leaving. Police also told Plaintiffs that they would not be sending any further police officers to the event because of manpower, overtime, and budget issues.

After the police left, organizers, volunteers and staff tried to break down the stage but were assaulted. Antifa and LGBT activists screamed obscenities and threats, threw water bottles, ripped down banners and damaged production equipment.

To add insult to very real injuries, Mayor Harrell “blamed Mayday for the violence perpetrated against them.” According to a Her Voice Movement press release:

Bruce Harrell, the mayor of Seattle, released a statement after the event, decrying it as “far-right” and unfairly labeling attendees of the peaceful prayer rally as bigots who wished to “provoke a reaction by promoting beliefs that are inherently opposed to our city’s values.”

He went on to say, “While there are broad First Amendment requirements around permitting events under free speech protections, I am directing the Parks Department to review all of the circumstances of this application to understand whether there were legal location alternatives or other adjustments that could have been pursued.”

Mayor Harrell’s statement denied the truth that Mayday USA had “worked closely with the Parks Department for weeks about the entire scope of our event.”

The lawsuit alleges that the city, mayor and police chief violated the First Amendment’s guarantees of free speech, peaceable assembly and free exercise of religion. It further claims that the city’s permitting scheme showed favoritism toward other religious and non-religious groups, violating the First Amendment’s establishment clause and the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. 

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Image from Ross Johnston / YouTube

Transgender Ideology is Inherently Destructive Part 2

(For Part 1, read “Transgender Ideology is Inherently Destructive“)

Transgender ideology is a false belief system that sets itself against reason, science and biblical truth.

It is an ideology that insists, when it comes to human identity as either male or female, that biological reality doesn’t matter – only subjective, internal thoughts and feelings do. Transgender dogma says that drugs, hormones and surgeries can turn a boy into a girl, or a girl into a boy.

These beliefs are all demonstrably false, and the lies from this ideology have caused innumerable harms.

Transgender ideology is at war with reality – who we are as humans, who God made us to be and how the world actually works. Those who believe in this dogma have worked hard to spread this teaching and force agreement with it. 

The first article in this series explored some of the harms from imposing the lies of transgenderism, including damage to families, a nationwide assault on parents’ rights, and the destruction of children’s bodies, souls and minds.

But there are even more negative consequences from this insidious belief system.

Transgender ideology harms girls and women’s sports. Despite lies from transgender activists and their allies, everyone knows that males and females are physiologically different, with testosterone giving males competitive advantages in sports.

Men’s bodies are different from women’s. This means that men, in general, can out-compete women. That’s why we’ve always had separate sports categories for men and women. Even if a man believes he’s a woman, he competes in sports with his male body. Women have been injured by men playing their sport, and men who do so steal opportunities, titles, records and victories from women.

Transgender ideology leads to the invasion of privacy for girls and women (and boys and men, too). As the homosexual and transgender movements gained political and social power, states changed nondiscrimination laws to include “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” (SOGI), and sometimes “gender expression.”

Courts and federal agencies followed suit, redefining “sex” – being male or female – to include homosexuality and transgenderism.

Those SOGI ordinances often included public accommodations, such as restrooms, showers, locker rooms and changing rooms. Opening those sex-segregated spaces to boys and men who claim to be female harms girls and women.

Men are allowed to invade women’s private spaces because sex – being male or female – is redefined by a false ideology.

Transgender ideology has brought attacks on free speech and religious freedom. Because states added “gender identity” and “gender expression” to nondiscrimination laws, basic rights are threatened. When the Supreme Court redefined sex to include homosexuality and transgenderism, employers lost their religious freedom.

Teachers are told they must use a student’s “chosen name and pronouns,” violating free speech laws. Some have lost jobs over this, leading to lengthy and expensive lawsuits. Individuals have lost jobs for speaking out against – or simply questioning – transgender dogma.

The Biden administration even unveiled a plan to advance LGBT issues in the U.S. and around the world. The proposal called for the elimination of “broad religious exemptions” for individuals and organizations who disagree with LGBT ideology. The plan said this was a “misuse” of religious liberty, and opponents of religious freedom call these exemptions a “license to discriminate.”

Christians and faith-based organizations have been forced to spend huge amounts of time, money and energy to fight for free speech and religious freedom in the wake of the LGBT juggernaut.

Transgender ideology has led to violence against girls and women. As states allowed men who claim to be women into women’s sports, restrooms, locker rooms, homeless shelters and prisons, violence from those men has increased.

In sports, male athletes have inflicted severe injuries on women athletes. Transgender-identified males have spied on, filmed and assaulted women in restrooms and changing rooms.

Because of transgender ideology, California opened women’s prisons to men claiming to be women in 2021 – all based on the false idea that “trans women are women.” This led to hundreds of male offenders transferring from male to female prisons.

Men housed in women’s prisons have preyed on women, harassing, intimidating, sexually assaulting and physically attacking them.

Transgender ideology denies the scientific and biblical truth that there are two types of humans, male or female, and individuals are either one or the other. No medical interventions or internal, subjective identity can transform a man into a woman – or vice versa. Nor are there an infinitude of “genders,” as transgender dogma proclaims.

As Christians, we must stand for truth. Lies are destructive, and false transgender ideology has led to great destruction in our world.

As Christians, too, we are called to love others and point them toward God’s deep love, forgiveness and healing. This includes those struggling with sexual identity confusion and those caught in the lies of transgender ideology.

It’s not always easy, but we must do both at the same time – love people while standing firmly for the truth.

Related Articles and Resources

Focus on the Family exists to help families, and that includes help navigating the issues of homosexuality and transgenderism. Focus offers a free, one-time counseling consultation with a licensed or pastoral counselor. To request a consultation, call 1-855-771-HELP (4357) or fill out our Counseling Consultation Request Form.

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Former Special Forces Transgender MMA Fighter Beats Up Biological Female in Competition

‘Gender Fluid’ Teen Found Guilty of Sexual Assault in Loudoun County High School Restroom

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Lawsuit Filed Against California for Allowing Men Into Women’s Prisons

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SOGI Laws: Trampling Privacy, Safety And Religious Freedom

Transgender Resources

Two Men Win Olympic Gold for Battering Women

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What’s With Trans Activist’s Growing Fascination with Violence and Assault Weapons?

Chloe Cole: Good News in the Fight Against Transgender Mutilation of Children  

Chloe Cole, a brave young “detransitioner” from transgenderism, had a double dose of good news last week in her battle to keep other children from being harmed by “transgender” medical interventions.

First, on September 18, Senator Marsha Blackburn and Congressman Bob Onder introduced into Congress the Chloe Cole Act, also called The Victims of Chemical or Surgical Mutilation Act.

The federal legislation would “ban the chemical and surgical mutilation of children and provide detransitioners whose healthy body parts have been damaged by these procedures with legal recourse.”

The next day, Cole received more good news, learning that her lawsuit against Kaiser Permanente could move forward. The California Court of Appeal, Third Appellate District, ruled in her favor, allowing the case to go to trial.

Chloe Cole’s complaint against Kaiser Foundation Hospitals, Permanente Medical Group, and individual physicians, was filed in February 2023. It explains that she was 12 years old when “she wrote a letter to her parents telling them that she wanted to be referred to as ‘Ky’ or ‘Chi,’ and that she wanted to be treated as a boy.”

Her parents were unsure how to respond and sought the guidance of medical professionals. Cole was struggling with a variety of issues, including “anxiety, depression, social anxiety, shyness, limited friends, and feeling disgusted with her hips, chest, and thin arms.”

Rather than receiving counseling and moving toward healing for these issues, Cole was rapidly placed on the “‘conveyer belt’ of mimicry sex change,” as her suit explained.

She received puberty blockers and testosterone at age 13 and underwent a double mastectomy when she was 15.

Those interventions permanently damaged her body and brought no healing to her underlying mental, emotional and relational issues. According to her lawsuit:

As occurs in most gender dysphoria cases, Chloe’s dysphoria was not persistent and resolved when she was close to reaching adulthood. Consequently, she detransitioned and no longer identifies as a male.

Unfortunately, as a result of the so-called transgender “treatment” that Defendants performed on Chloe, she now has deep physical and emotional wounds, severe regrets, and distrust of the medical system. Chloe has suffered physically, socially, neurologically, and psychologically.

Rather than facing a public trial, Kaiser sought to bring the medical malpractice suit into private arbitration. But that option has been shut down.

Cole is represented by Limandri and Jonna, LLP, Dhillon Law Group, and the Center for American Liberty. Her legal team celebrated the victory with a post on X, saying, “See You In Court, Kaiser!”

Mark Trammell, CEO of the Center for American Liberty, said, “Today’s decision is tremendous news. Chloe will not be silenced. She will have her day in court, and the truth will come out.”

Chloe Cole’s fight to protect other children from the damage she experienced has borne more good fruit with the introduction of the eponymously named congressional measure.  

She posted on X:

“I’m so humbled by @RepBobOnder’s decision to name this extremely important bill after me. This bill will prevent further gender mutilation in The United States and also allow we, detransitioners to achieve justice and hold our doctors, and institutions who failed us to account.”

In a press release, Representative Onder said, “As a member of Congress, a doctor, a parent, and an American, I am committed to protecting our nation’s children. That’s why I am proud to introduce the Chloe Cole Act, a landmark bill that will put a permanent stop to one of the most dangerous and barbaric medical procedures in modern history.”

The legislation was proposed by the U.S. Department of Justice and endorsed by Attorney General Pam Bondi.

Bondi stated, “The Department of Justice has heard from far too many families who have been devastated by mutilative medical procedures that fly in the face of basic biology. While we continue our ongoing legal battle to protect children, we appreciate our colleagues in Congress who are working diligently alongside us to end these abusive procedures once and for all.”

Senator Blackburn explained the importance of the act. “No child should be pushed into irreversible chemical and surgical mutilation under the guise of so-called ‘gender-affirming care.’ The Chloe Cole Act would put a stop to this barbaric abuse of children and give those who have suffered the consequences of these harmful procedures the chance to fight back.”

Transgender ideology is inherently harmful, with its false belief that anyone can change from one sex to the other. This has led to irreversible damage for thousands. Cole has courageously told her story about being damaged by transgender interventions, and she’s been a terrific spokeswoman, as she battles for truth against “gender” ideology.

It’s vital that doctors and hospitals be held accountable for previous actions to “transition” minors and that this federal legislation is passed by Congress to protect children from the devastating effects of puberty blocking drugs, opposite-sex hormones and surgeries.

Chloe Cole’s lawsuit is Brockman v. Kaiser Foundation Hospitals.

Read The Victims of Chemical or Surgical Mutilation Act here.

Related Articles and Resources

To learn more about Chloe Cole’s story, you can watch the new documentary Truth Rising.

Focus on the Family exists to help families, and that includes help navigating the issues of homosexuality and transgenderism. Focus offers a free, one-time counseling consultation with a licensed or pastoral counselor. To request a consultation, call 1-855-771-HELP (4357) or fill out our Counseling Consultation Request Form.

Chloe Cole: Gender Reassignment Surgery Regret

Do Not Fall for the ‘Affirm Them or They Will Die’ Lie

Expert in ‘Transitioning’ Children Admits ‘We Were Wrong’ About Puberty Blockers

Important New Journal Article Calls Out Doctors for Harming Youth with Medicalized Gender Ideology

Four Brave Young Women File Lawsuits Alleging Harm from ‘Transgender’ Interventions

God’s Amazing Grace in a Transgendered Person’s Life

Pam Bondi Directs DOJ Attorneys to Investigate Transgender Procedures for Minors

President Trump Signs Order Protecting Children From Transgender Medical Interventions

Questioning Drugs, Hormones and Surgery for Youth Confused about Their Sexual Identity

Support for Parent Whose Adult Child Identifies as Transgender

Teenager Identifies as Transgender

Transgender Ideology is Inherently Destructive

Transgenderism and Minors: What Does the Research Really Show?

Transgender Resources

Image Credit: Truth Rising