Trans activists tell House Democrat to ‘shut up’ over his parental-notification vote

Transgender activists confronted U.S. Rep. Eugene Vindman after he voted to keep parents informed about their children at school.

Vindman, a Virginia Democrat, attended a King George Democratic Committee meeting on Aug. 11, when at least three people who identify as transgender challenged him over his vote for H.R. 2616, according to The Advocate.

The House passed the bill 217-198 in May. He was one of only eight Democrats who voted for it.

The measure says public elementary and middle schools must get parental consent before changing a student’s preferred name or pronouns on school forms. It also covers gender markers.

Schools would also need consent before letting a child use a bathroom or locker room based on a claimed gender identity instead of anatomical sex.

The activists said the schools should be able to keep a child’s claimed gender identity secret from parents.

Vindman defended his vote.

“As a dad to two public school kids, I believe parents must be included in their children’s decisions in school,” Vindman said after the vote. “Whether it’s what they put on their school forms, their academic performance, or athletics, parents need to be at the center because that is the key to every child’s success. There are other policies in the bill I don’t agree with and will work to change, but I voted today to make sure parents like me can continue to support their kids at school, and I believe to my core that is what our kids need.”

Heartlander News reported in May how at least 21,000 schools in America had rules that let staff hide a student’s new name or claimed gender identity from parents.

The story also cited a 2023 Defending Education poll. It found 71% of voters supported requiring parental consent to have the child identify as a different gender at school.

The argument at the King George meeting continued in a hallway.

“Congressman, you need to shut up and listen,” a local Democratic committee member told Vindman.

The same man then said, “Shut the f*ck up.”

“No,” Vindman said. “You can’t f***ing talk to me that way.”

Vindman then left the event.

He later apologized for how he handled the fight.

“I failed to meet my own high standards, and for that I am sorry. As a leader, I should spend more time listening,” Vindman said, according to LGBTQ Nation.

He never said he regretted his vote.