School classroom – Photo: Kohji Asakawa, via Pixabay
Loudoun County Public Schools will maintain its LGBTQ nondiscrimination policies — including allowing transgender students to use facilities that match their gender identity — despite threats of penalties from the U.S. Department of Education.
On August 12, after a closed session meeting, the Loudoun County School Board voted 6-3 to inform the Department of Education that while it was open to further discussion, it could not “at this time” agree to the changes the agency demanded, reports The Washington Post.
In a statement, the district said it had consulted its legal team and concluded that the Education Department’s findings — claiming the pro-transgender policies violate Title IX and infringe on the rights of cisgender students — create a “direct tension between federal agency guidance and binding judicial authority.”
That “judicial authority” refers to a 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling in favor of former Gloucester High School student Gavin Grimm, which found that a transgender “bathroom ban” discriminated against Grimm and other transgender students. The ruling remains binding in Virginia after the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear a challenge, prompting Gloucester County to settle the lawsuit.
“Our priority remains the same: doing what is right for Loudoun County’s young people, focusing on educating our students and ensuring our schools are places where every child feels they belong,” the district said in a statement.
The U.S. Department of Education previously warned Loudoun County — along with the nearby school districts of Arlington, Alexandria, Fairfax, and Prince William counties — that they risked losing federal funding or facing legal action if they did not rescind their pro-transgender policies.
The department demanded that Northern Virginia school systems agree to a resolution requiring sex-segregated facilities based on students’ birth sex and enforce “biology-based” definitions of “male” and “female” under Title IX. These policies align with a Trump-era executive order recognizing only two sexes and rejecting transgender identity.
The Education Department declined to comment on the vote.
LCPS spokesman Dan Adams told the Post that the district receives $47 million in federal grants that fund special education, Title I schools, and nutrition programs. He noted that money could be cut off by the Trump administration if it insists on enforcing its interpretation of Title IX.
The district’s overall budget is $2.5 billion.
School boards in Fairfax, Prince William, Arlington, and Alexandria have not yet announced how they will respond to the Education Department’s demands, though members recently met to discuss the federal agency’s threats.
LGBTQ advocates organized ahead of the meeting, gathering signatures and urging supporters to pressure board members to keep the district’s pro-transgender policy in place.
“These are children. They’re not ideologues,” said Candice Tuck, a transgender mother of two, during the public comment period. “They’re trying to live a life, a life that if any of us were given the chance to be our authentic selves, it would only make us better, stronger and happier. This policy is not about ideology or politics. It’s about protecting children.”
Get more education, politics, and LGBTQ news like this — sign up for Metro Weekly’s free digital magazine at www.metroweekly.com/subscribe.
In March 2022, Justine Lindsay made history as the NFL’s first openly transgender cheerleader. Three seasons later, the Carolina Panthers TopCat is stepping away from the squad to pursue pageantry and community outreach.
In a statement to Outsports, Lindsay said she wanted to grow beyond the sidelines, striving to be “recognized not just as an NFL cheerleader, but as someone making a positive impact, especially during these uncertain times.”
The announcement marks a reversal, as some news outlets had previously reported she would return for the 2025–2026 season.
Justice Department had demanded Boston Children's Hospital hand over patients' and employees' personal information under the guise of combating medical "fraud."
A federal judge has quashed a subpoena from the U.S. Department of Justice demanding that Boston Children’s Hospital turn over private medical information on youth receiving gender-affirming care, blasting the request as a “fishing expedition” aimed at prosecuting doctors under the guise of investigating health care fraud.
In his ruling, Judge Myong Joun, a Biden appointee, said the Justice Department sought an “astonishingly broad array of documents and information that are virtually unlimited in scope,” including patients’ Social Security numbers, home addresses, and personal details, as well as the complete personnel files of all 2,000 Boston Children’s Hospital employees, regardless of whether they had any involvement in providing gender-affirming care to minors.
A federal judge has ruled in favor of William Saki, an Ohio man who sued after the state rejected his request for a personalized license plate reading "GAY," which he sought to mark National Coming Out Day and "express a central part of his identity."
The Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV) had rejected the plate as "Inappropriate/Invalid," according to its online registration tool.
Saki then tried to register other plates, including "QUEER" and "HOMO," but those were also rejected, according to the Ohio-based LGBTQ outlet The Buckeye Flame.
These are challenging times for news organizations. And yet it’s crucial we stay active and provide vital resources and information to both our local readers and the world. So won’t you please take a moment and consider supporting Metro Weekly with a membership? For as little as $5 a month, you can help ensure Metro Weekly magazine and MetroWeekly.com remain free, viable resources as we provide the best, most diverse, culturally-resonant LGBTQ coverage in both the D.C. region and around the world. Memberships come with exclusive perks and discounts, your own personal digital delivery of each week’s magazine (and an archive), access to our Member's Lounge when it launches this fall, and exclusive members-only items like Metro Weekly Membership Mugs and Tote Bags! Check out all our membership levels here and please join us today!
You must be logged in to post a comment.