Watch: CNN set up trans teen To confront Gov. Youngkin and you've got to hear Youngkin's response
Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin did a Town Hall with CNN last night. CNN brought in a 17-year-old trans "man" to ask him about the school bathroom situation. Because of course they did.
The 17-year-old named Niko said, "Your transgender model policies require that students play on the sports teams and use the restrooms that correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Look at me: I am a transgender man. Do you really think that the girls in my high school would feel comfortable sharing a restroom with me?"
Biological female to biological female, I would say yes, they would. But Youngkin gave a more roundabout, and less satisfying, answer: "What’s most important is that we try very hard to accommodate students. That’s why I have said many, many times we just need extra bathrooms in schools. We need gender-neutral bathrooms so people can use that they in fact are comfortable with."
He also said he was happy that Niko was there with their father, and explained the importance of parents engaging with their children so they can "can make good decisions together". Which in my opinion, leaves much to be desired from the conservative viewpoint. Should parents and children be allowed to decide together that the child gets permanently sterilized? Is that a "good decision"?
Anywho, Youngkin did say that the sports issue is very clear-cut, and that biological boys should not play with biological girls. So that was a plus. As he said this, Niko's father shook his head in disappointment, and Niko gave Youngkin a death stare.
Youngkin seems to be in a tough position where he's trying to appease hardline conservatives and some more moderate centrists at the same time. But this issue is not one to be taken lightly or compromised on. Children's lives are quite literally at stake.