Fox's Todd Piro is mighty pissed at the Virginia high school students who don’t understand that GOP Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s reversal of transgender protections are good for them, dammit!
On Tuesday, more than 1,000 Virginia high school students walked out of class to protest Youngkin’s new policy, which were presented on Fox & Friends as promoting loving family dynamics.
Cohost Piro began Wednesday’s chat with Youngkin by “asking,” “Do these kids not understand that these policies are in place to allow their parents to keep them protected, to protect these very kids?”
Youngkin said, “This is a moment for all of us to step back and actually assess and fully understand what these draft policies are all about.” He asserted, "We first want to love every kid and we want to make sure that we're protecting their dignity, their privacy, and their safety” by “bringing parents fully in.”
He accused his predecessor, Terry McAuliffe, of enacting policies that “excluded parents,” policies that Virginia voters “spoke loudly about.” The theme of parental involvement continued with his repetition of how the draft policies “are fully focused on bringing parents into that discussion as a primary decision maker.”
Youngkin claimed that “trusted” teachers are also important, but we need to realize that “these most important decisions must involve parents” who need to be at “the center” of any decisions. He pontificated about the “importance” of children who “belong to their families” and not to the state.
Cohost Ainsley Earhardt checked off standard anti-transgender talking points with her question about what the policies say about bathrooms, pronouns, and sports. In case you didn’t understand his take on the issue, Youngkin, once again, blithered about how parents need to be engaged and authorize any name change or need for alternate bathroom use. He also noted that school sports will be segregated by “biological sex” because that’s “fair.”
Cohost Brian Kilmeade, not a fan of abortion rights for girls, chimed in, “it’s not fair to the girls.”
Youngkin praised his plan, which he described as “fully respecting the dignity of all kids and families." He encouraged viewers to read the draft policy because he wants to bring families together with “love and respect” for making these important decisions.
Kilmeade pivoted to attacking the kids with an anti-transgender propaganda word salad framed as a question to Youngkin: “Are you surprised at kids, at the indoctrination that's already started, it seems, to have a walk-out which started with these kids, as if having girls play against boys is OK and pronouns gotta be, are somehow already intertwined in the curriculum. So you have to undo and give parents back the power to make their decisions and if they decide 'I think it’s a great idea to have transgender athletes to play with girls" and "I think it’s a great idea to change pronouns," they can make that decision.”
Youngkin dodged. He responded his folks are “correcting” past mistakes that – wait for it – excluded parents from decisions because “kids need their parents” who -wait for it – need to be involved.
To her credit, Earhardt asked about kids who are scared to speak openly to their parents.
Youngkin avoided that issue by saying kids “need to trust their parents” who love their children. He mentioned that good teachers and counselors “can help engage with parents” who need to be at the center of the discussion. Continuing to ignore the real issues, Youngkin continued to yammer about the importance of parents.
In case you didn’t get it, Earhardt summed it up for us: “So, it's basically saying you can be whatever you want, but your parents will be involved.”
Youngkin claimed that accommodations could be made, if parents support it.
In a metaphorical high-five, Kilmeade said, “You’re not going to change because the kids walked out yesterday.”
Youngkin said that he did “so respect” the students’ First Amendment rights. Once again, he noted that “parents must be engaged.”
Of course, as Fox & Friends is an arm of the anti-transgender Christian right, there was no real discussion about the student’s concerns about reversing the former governor’s tolerant policies. They allowed teachers to respect the wishes of transgender students who don't want to disclose their gender identity to parents who, in some cases, might not react well.
Students who have read the draft policy now fear for their future safety if schools “out” them.
While Youngkin is obsessed with the idea of parental involvement, students are concerned with how these policies could lead to bullying and increase the risk of suicide – a risk that is very high in the teen transgender community. (It would be nice if Fox interviewed a student, but that would cut the propaganda buzz!)
Perhaps the best summation of the reason for the walk-out was given by a student who told USA Today: "Revoking (transgender protections) now would be like dialing back the clock. It'd be like telling students, 'we don't really care, you're not really who you believe yourself to be.”
But in the alternative universe of Glenn Youngkin and Fox & Friends, it’s the parents who come first, cuz it’s all about love…
Watch the “love” below, from the September 28, 2023 Fox & Friends.
As a former competitive athlete (softball), I don’t think surgery or technology are acceptable ways to turn a mediocre athlete into a champion. The emphasis in sports should remain on the development of natural talent through hard work. That’s also why I feel it is wrong to force that young African woman to take hormones that will reduce her naturally high level of testosterone. She was born that way, period, and forcing that medication on her is the equivalence of sex-change surgery in my book.
I’ve never met a transgender athlete. The most vocal opponents seem to think that sex-change surgery is motivated by a desire to win in sports and not by a wish to feel better in their skin. I really do wonder if that’s possible because sex-change surgery is no joke.
My years as a teenager were over 60 years ago but I do recall that the yearning for privacy started with a desire to keep my parents out of my life. Not that I ever did much they would have objected to, mind you, but privacy was the issue. Youngkin is a fool.
https://www.rawstory.com/jennifer-eckhart-ed-henry/
I’d be more than happy to help fund a TransOlympics along the lines of such events for the disabled and the intellectually handicapped.