A Virginia mother believes that the recent unanimous decision by a Fairfax County board to designate Transgender Day of Visibility on Easter Sunday sends a disrespectful message to Catholics on one of their most sacred days.
The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors voted 9-0 last week in favor of recognizing Easter Sunday as Transgender Visibility Day, observed annually on March 31. One board member, Republican Pat Herrity, was not present for the vote.
Stephanie Lundquist-Arora, a mother and the president of the Fairfax chapter of the Independent Women’s Network, argued that the decision goes beyond simply making transgender individuals feel “seen,” as she expressed in a Tuesday op-ed for The Washington Examiner.
The mother wrote that “members of the board are also sending a message to Christians that their beliefs are not valued as they transform one of their most sacred days into a celebration of an ideology that contradicts the church’s fundamental beliefs.”
Lundquist-Arora contends that if the board members truly wanted to represent their constituents, they could have chosen another day as Transgender Visibility Day. She argued that it was unacceptable and unwarranted.
“In northern Virginia, there is no lack of awareness for the transgender activist community. But there does seem to be a lack of consideration,” Lundquist-Arora wrote.
“The Fairfax County School Board, for example, has designated June as LGBT Pride Month and October as LGBT History Month. The community receives two full weeks of celebration in our district’s schools. Apparently, that just wasn’t enough.”
She accused the county of making the “illogical decision to use Easter as a platform to celebrate the governing body’s intellectual uniformity.”
Clayton Medford, chief of staff for the Fairfax Board of Supervisors under chairman Jeffrey C. McKay, provided a virtual recording of the March 19 Board of Supervisors meeting in response to an inquiry from The Christian Post on Wednesday.
He also supplied a copy of a March 5 Joint Board Matter, which included a motion for the Supervisors to designate Transgender Day of Visibility in Fairfax County for this year’s Easter Sunday. The document notes that March 31 is recognized as the International Day of Transgender Visibility and was established nationwide in 2009.
Following Chairman McKay’s announcement that “Transgender Day of Visibility” would be the next agenda item in the provided recording to CP, loud applause was heard.
“As elected officials, it is our moral responsibility to stand up for all the people we represent, not just the ones we like or agree with,” McKay said. “We must stand up for everyone in our community, especially those who are consistently targeted by those who believe that this demonstrates power, when in reality, it demonstrates a great deal of cowardice to stand against and never stand up for them.”
McKay cited a report from The Washington Post, which reportedly found that states with “laws restricting LGBTQ+ student rights and education” have experienced an increase in hate crimes. In Virginia, Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin amended a school policy to prohibit concealing a student’s gender identity from their parents. Additionally, some states have passed laws to prohibit minors from undergoing gender-affirming treatments to transition their sex.
McKay accused elected officials who passed such laws of perpetrating persecution “without regard for human life or human dignity.”
Samantha Kamman is a reporter for The Christian Post. She can be reached at: [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter: @Samantha_Kamman
