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.”
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The 56-year-old businessman faced an uphill battle in the primary, where political observers saw him as the most "moderate" candidate. That perception stemmed from his past support for former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley’s presidential campaign, his backing of ranked-choice voting, and his criticism of Donald Trump’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
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