Students from FCPS’ Gender and Sexuality Alliances (GSA) and other LGBTQ supporters gathered today to rally and attend a school board meeting. In a unanimous decision, the school board passed a resolution designating March 31, 2025 as the Transgender Day of Visibility.
“Our intent is to help encourage the school board to protect their trans students,” GSA member senior Alex Deisz said. “Hopefully with this rally, the school board will listen and resist Trump or Youngkin’s policies that might affect trans students.”
As the Trump administration rolls out anti-trans policies and Governor Glenn Youngkin follows suit, McLean’s LGBTQ community has used the GSA platform to speak out.
“Things are immensely better now than they were a long time ago, but we still have a long way to go,” GSA sponsor Tara Dwyer said.
McLean GSA president Marley DeRienzo spoke in front of the board during the meeting’s community participation segment, urging the board to continue accepting and supporting trans students as the political climate shifts.
“The Trump-Elon administration is attacking queer students and obsessing over queer people’s bodies rather than actual issues that affect school systems,” DeRienzo said. “That is also something that we are addressing–the lack of attention paid to things that are actually negatively impacting school systems.”
Following pressure from Virginia’s Attorney General and Trump’s executive orders, UVA Health halted its gender-affirming care for individuals under 19 years old. The hospital has since restarted the treatments, though the future remains unknown.
“I have a friend whose access to gender affirming healthcare was impacted by UVA and other hospitals declining care to trans minors after Trump’s inauguration,” DeRienzo said. “All students deserve a safe space to learn and be themselves, regardless of what people in the White House think.”
During the rally, Fairfax County students and adults alike gathered outside Luther Jackson Middle School where the meeting took place. The demonstrators then attended the school board meeting. Aside from the new designation of March 31, the board also voted to designate March as Youth Arts Month and April as Library Appreciation Month. The board’s passed resolutions resulted in applause and standing ovations from the activists in the crowd.
“I am queer myself and many of my friends are queer,” DeRienzo said. “I would like school to be a safe space for the queer people around me. Many of us face discrimination outside of school, and school is one of the only places we can be ourselves.”
