HALL MONITOR: “NO” on Redefining Bullying in Virginia Schools (HB 536)

Name: Virginia House Bill 536, to amend the Code of Virginia related to student bullying. 

Summary: House Bill 536 would expand the state’s definition of bullying. Specifically, behavior considered bullying could include “real or perceived power imbalances… including on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, disability status, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, ethnicity, religion, or other distinguishing characteristics of the victim.” 

Status: Passed the House on February 9, 2024. Assigned to the Senate Education and Health’s Public Education subcommittee on February 21, 2024.  

Sponsors: Delegate Joshua Cole

Bill Breakdown: 

Virginia’s current definition of bullying reads: 

“Bullying” means any aggressive and unwanted behavior that is intended to harm, intimidate, or humiliate the victim; involves a real or perceived power imbalance between the aggressor or aggressors and victim; and is repeated over time or causes severe emotional trauma. “Bullying” includes cyber bullying. “Bullying” does not include ordinary teasing, horseplay, argument, or peer conflict.

House Bill 536 would amend that definition to read: 

“Bullying” means any aggressive and unwanted behavior that is intended to harm, intimidate, or humiliate the victim; involves a real or perceived power imbalance between the aggressor or aggressors and victim; including on the basis of actual or perceived race, color, national origin, sex, disability status, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, ethnicity, religion, or other distinguishing characteristics, and is repeated over time or causes severe emotional trauma. “Bullying” includes cyber bullying. “Bullying” does not include ordinary teasing, horseplay, argument, or peer conflict.

Why does PDE Action oppose this bill? 

Bullying is unacceptable, period. All students, regardless of race, sex, religion, national origin, disability status, or other factors deserve to be treated with respect.

However, under the guise of protecting transgender students from harassment or bullying—often mistakenly citing Title IX’s protections against sex-based discrimination—schools have increasingly sought to compel employee and student speech. Schools have reprimanded students and teachers for not using “preferred pronouns,” and instead calling a student by the name and pronouns aligned with his or her biological sex. In 2022, Wisconsin middle schoolers were accused of sexual harassment for not using a peer’s preferred pronouns. A Virginia teacher was fired for not using a student’s preferred pronouns, even though he used the student’s preferred name. 

Title IX protects students from sex-based discrimination. Gender identity was not a consideration when Title IX was written in 1972. Those attempting to re-write “sex” in the civil rights statute to include “gender identity” do so at the risk of erasing protections for women’s sports and spaces, and First Amendment speech protections.

House Bill 536 would only green light Virginia schools to create more policies that contradict free speech protections under the guise of “anti-harassment” policies.