Advocacy and Safe Schools Campaign
Our Work
Equality Virginia’s advocacy work takes a multi-pronged, multi-focused approach to advancing LGBTQ+ rights in Virginia. Our approach involves educating the public about LGBTQ+ issues, empowering community advocates with skills and support, and fighting for pro-LGBTQ+ policy at the local and state levels.
Our advocacy programming includes tracking policy, hosting trainings and community-building events, providing accessible ways to take action and contact elected officials, running our annual General Assembly LGBTQ+ Lobby Days series, and more. Please continue scrolling to learn more about our organization’s work and how you can be part of our shared movement.
2020
Equality Virginia’s work advocating for inclusive and affirming schools dates back to at least 2013, when many school divisions were considering whether to add sexual orientation and gender identity to their non-discrimination policies. In 2020, we renewed our commitment to this work by advocating alongside our organizational partners to pass legislation that directed the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) to establish a set of model policies addressing the needs of transgender and nonbinary students.
2021-2023
After these affirming policies were finalized in 2021, school boards throughout the state began to discuss adopting their own policies that aligned with this guidance. Unfortunately, not all school boards chose to adopt sufficient policies. In 2022, the VDOE under a new governor’s administration released a new draft of model policies to replace the 2021 version. These anti-trans model policies were finalized in 2023 and strip away many of the protections and best practices that the 2021 model policies sought to establish.
Some school boards chose to adopt the 2021 model policies, some have adopted the 2023 policies, and some have not sufficiently addressed the issue at all. The result is a varied patchwork of protections for transgender and nonbinary students throughout our Commonwealth.
Present
At Equality Virginia, we’re dedicated to continuing the fight to ensure that ALL students, regardless of where they live in Virginia, have the support they need to grow and thrive.
Our Goals:
- To pass inclusive and affirming policies in each school division in Virginia.
- Policies notwithstanding, to support community empowerment by providing information and resources, increasing capacity, and supporting community care.
- To make connections with community members and local organizations, and build enduring and reciprocative relationships.
- To elevate the voices, experiences, and needs of youth, parents, teachers, and community members statewide.
Our School Board Tracker includes all the information you need in order to attend a meeting, sign up for public comment, and email your school board member. Click each district’s “card” to view all of the information.
What is Lobbying?
Lobbying is sharing your point of view, story, and/or lived experience with your legislator to influence them to support or oppose certain bills. Everyone is the expert of their own lived experience, and there is power in sharing your story in community and with decision-makers who have an influence on our lives.
What are the goals of Equality Virginia Advocates’s LGBTQ+ Lobby Days?
We want to show lawmakers that, in every district, there are queer and trans Virginians and their allies who will show up when equity is on the line. Even when lawmakers are already supportive of queer and trans issues, sharing our stories of joy and resilience equips them to show up for us in informed ways that center our humanity.
What can I expect from attending an LGBTQ+ Lobby Day?
At our Lobby Days, you can expect to receive an in-depth look at the legislative process in Virginia, information about the proposed bills affecting queer and trans Virginians during the legislative session, and training on key talking points to help guide your conversation with your legislators. You will also get to meet and connect with other advocates from all over Virginia, and be a part of collective movement building that will continue to be important even after the General Assembly session ends.
Stay tuned for information on our 2025 LGBTQ+ Lobby Days! Click here to read our 2024 Lobby Days Impact Report: https://equalityvirginia.org/lobby-day-24/
Advocacy
FAQS
Advocacy means speaking up for yourself or others to get your and/or their needs met. It also can mean standing up for your rights or the rights of others. Advocacy especially means working to ensure that the experiences of directly impacted people are heard and prioritized. Most importantly, advocacy means something different to everyone, and everyone has a unique role to play in the fight for our collective liberation.
Advocacy can look like many things, be performed in different ways, and be applied in various situations. It is possible, even likely, that you will end up being an advocate in ways you didn’t expect. The following list encompasses just a few examples of advocacy in action:
- Speaking during the public comment period at a public meeting (i.e. school board, city council, legislative hearing)
- Having a one-on-one meeting with a school board member, councilmember, senator, delegate, other elected or appointed officials, or other influential leaders in your community
- Calling your representatives or community leaders
- Emailing or sending a handwritten letter to an elected or appointed official or community leader
- Creating and/or signing a petition or joint letter to present to an influential decision-maker
- Attending a rally, protest, or teach-in in your local community
- Sharing your story and perspective with others in your community
- Living authentically and creating spaces for others to do so, as well
Getting involved in advocacy does not come without some level of risk, and it is up to each person to consider both personal and collective risk as they navigate being an advocate. Here are a few things to think about:
- Understand your situation - what are the risks and benefits of speaking out? Talk to other advocates to understand if there are risks or benefits that you may not be thinking of. Are the risks small, moderate, or large? What about the benefits?
- Identify your needs - after weighing risks and benefits, think about what you need in order to feel safe advocating. How might you go about meeting those needs? What resources exist in your own life and in your community? Who are you in relationship with that you can reach out to for support?
- Prioritize needs - focus on getting to a place where you feel safe, supported, and resilient enough to advocate sustainably. If you have identified needs that you are unable to meet, decide if these will prevent you from advocating. Despite its difficulties, the goal is for advocacy to ultimately be an empowering experience, not a disempowering one.
- Recognize the legal implications - if you choose to advocate by speaking out in a public forum, be aware of things like public meeting live streaming, personal details captured in public record via meeting minutes, Freedom of Information Act requests for public officials’ communications history, etc.
- Secure your support system - who can be there for you physically, mentally, and/or emotionally? How will you provide reciprocal support? What might community care (vs. self care) look like for you and fellow advocates in your community?
- Prepare for pushback - consider how you will respond and take care of yourself in moments of tension. Work with other advocates to develop a personal and collective plan for addressing difficult moments in advocacy. We’re in this together!
As an advocate, you will learn and continue to learn what approaches work best for you over time. The following tips might be helpful starting points:
- No one (and everyone) is an expert - even seasoned advocates are still learning, and everyone is an expert of their own story. View advocacy as “teachable moments”, or an opportunity to educate decision makers and others in the community.
- Each method of advocacy is important - no method is better or more effective than another. Choose what method or methods make sense to you based on your risk assessment, skill set, and your own evaluation of how change happens in your community.
- Speak from your personal experience or share knowledge you have gained - if you aren’t part of the impacted population, refrain from taking space and be sure to listen to impacted voices to understand appropriate terms, framing of arguments, etc.
- Your role in the advocacy space isn’t set in stone - it will likely change over time as your capacity, experience, and identities evolve and shift.
- Anticipate setbacks and prepare for the “long game” - take steps back when needed and trust that others will step up. The fight will be there and there will be more chances to engage - take care of yourself and each other so you can show up as whole as possible.
Equality Virginia offers a variety of resources to assist community members as they pursue advocacy:
- Visit our School Board Policy & Meeting Tracker above for all of the information you need to keep up with your local school board, including meeting dates, times, and locations, how to sign up for public comment, and email contacts for your school board members.
- Attend an Equality Virginia advocacy training to learn more about advocacy generally, workshop your public comment, and understand best practices and messages for various kinds of advocacy. See the Training Schedule & Request Forms tab above for more information.
- Take a look at our Research, Data, and Reports section below for information that you can use to educate yourself and others in your community on LGBTQ+ issues and experiences - including data that you can weave into your talking points to strengthen your advocacy efforts.
Partner
Resources
ACLU of Virginia - Protect Trans Kids action hub (including a Student Advocacy Toolkit and guidance document for families living in school divisions that have adopted the 2023 Model Policies)
- Hamkae Center - serves Asian Americans, alongside other targeted groups, via community organizing, public policy advocacy, civic engagement, youth leadership development, service provision, and community education programs and initiatives
- Virginia Education Association - union of educators and school support personnel seeking to create high quality public education through advocacy, professional development, and public education
Pride Liberation Project - Virginia’s only student-led LGBTQ+ advocacy group, fighting for students’ rights and safety via direct action, providing advocacy resources and information, and coalition-building
- He She Ze & We - support groups, education, training, and events for families of transgender loved ones and their allies
- Side by Side - support groups, counseling, programs, resources, and community events for LGBTQ+ youth in Central Virginia
