House Bill 8, also known as The Parent’s Rights Bill, forces schools to make parents aware that their child is planning on changing their gender and pronouns. Advisor of Girl Up Sophia Viglione and President Shayna Freidman explain how Girl Up is a place created to give support and acceptance to everyone, especially those affected by House Bill 8.
Club advisor Sophia Viglione explains how Girl Up has been working to mitigate the effects of House Bill 8.
Q: What do you enjoy most about being the advisor for Girl Up?
A: I think that advising Girl Up is exciting to me because I love seeing our students feel empowered and empowering others. I think that supporting students who may not always feel supported or heard in the way they need to be supported or heard is a mission more than just a job. So that to me is very gratifying to do whatever I can to make people feel like they can do whatever they want to do and that they can fight injustices and feel heard.
Q: Could you explain what House Bill 8 is?
A: House Bill 8 was signed into law in January by Mike DeWine. It is the Parents Rights Bill, and that is the name of it. It essentially says that schools need to inform parents if there is a change in the child’s services at school, which could relate to mental health type of counseling or in regards to how they would like to be referred to in terms of their gender. Specifically, it’s not about sexuality, so if a student says, “Oh, I’ve decided now I like girls or now I like boys or whatever,” we don’t have to have any report to the parents, but it’s specifically about gender. And, if a student requests a change…[if they] want to be referred to by someone as their gender opposite to the one assigned to them at birth, either in pronouns or name, then the parents would need to be informed. That is the main meat and potatoes of House Bill 8, as I understand it.
Q: How do you think this directly affects students here at Solon High School?
A: I think it could put people in harm’s way, whether that’s emotional and psychological harm, or it could be to the point of self-harm [and] suicidal ideation. Things like this create a culture where students don’t feel accepted, and all of that can affect a student’s self-worth. I think that it’s very dangerous any time there’s a law that makes a child feel like they aren’t supposed to be who they feel they are. They could struggle a lot with, [body] dysmorphia, self-identity, and self-acceptance. Because society saying it’s not okay for them to be here as they are, then how can they embolden themselves to believe that? [There is a ] glimmer of hope for me, here, that in my conversations with the administration in terms of how we will deal with this, which I’ve had many. The vibe is there will not be a witch hunt in Solon, [and] that we have to comply with the law, but we are also not going above and beyond to investigate people to expose [a] student. I would hope that if there’s a child that isn’t accepted at home, that they could still feel safe at school.
Q: What is Girl Up doing to help fight House Bill 8 and its effects?
A: Girl Up has not done anything explicitly to work on House Bill 8. I also advise GSA (Gay Straight Alliance), which has done a number of things specifically regarding House Bill 8. I think Girl Up creates an inclusive atmosphere. I think that the students in Girl Up don’t have to be girls, and we don’t just support girls. We’re supporting people and [the] equality, education [and] empowerment of all people, and that includes tolerance of everyone and support of everyone, regardless. So I think that having any sort of diverse clubs like Girl Up, like GSA, like the many clubs that we have here at Solon– all of that is an act of resistance right now. Embracing diversity in general is an act of resistance against hateful bills like House Bill 8.
Q: How have the other clubs you’ve advised fought the effects of House Bill 8?
A: GSA has written letters– we wrote a letter to Ms. Short, and we also wrote a letter to Mr. Bolden. [We] did some research on House Bill 8 and specifically looked at sample policies made by the National Association of Social Workers. One of them included an exemption in their policy, so this policy is what the National Association of Social Workers is recommending Ohio schools adopt. The exemption read essentially that if students felt unsafe at the idea of their parents finding out about a change in their gender identity, then the school would not have to communicate this information to their parents. So we wrote a letter with lots of information, some students did testimonials and included a request to include that exemption in our policy that our board adopts. We had some meetings with administrators, et cetera. We weren’t able to do that because when they met with lawyers that worked for the district, apparently that exemption originally was in House Bill 8, and then it was purposefully excluded in the final draft. But we were working towards trying to communicate with our administrators and make our concerns voiced through GSA through letter writing.
Q: What would you say to the people who are directly affected by House Bill 8?
A: I would say that being yourself is an act of resistance, and you should feel powerful being who you are, and you should be proud of who you are and that living in fear is giving in to people who hate and you should not live in fear. You should find peers who will support you and make yourself a community of people, surround yourself with a community of people, who will lift you up and not only just accept you for who you are, but love you for who you are, and that, I think, could create a better culture in our world. Investing in those types of communities creates a better culture in our world.
Club President Shayna Friedman gives her opinion on House Bill 8 and its effects on students.
Join Sophia Viglione and the Gay Straight Alliance on Monday 17 in room 122 to discuss House Bill 8 and it’s consequences.
Click here if you would like to know more about House Bill 8.
Click here for more information on Girl Up.
