VA AG says LCPS misused authority in case of boys concerned about trans student in locker room

Virginia's attorney general found “disturbing misuse of authority” by a school district that investigated three boys regarding claims of sexual harassment of a transgender student in a boys’ locker room.

Jason Miyares referred the Title IX investigation of the incident to the U.S. Department of Education and the U.S. Department of Justice for further investigation.

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Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin asked Miyares to investigate Loudoun County Public Schools over its handling of an alleged incident in which three boys at Stone Bridge High School expressed concern about a transgender boy in the locker room in March. The transgender student allegedly recorded cellphone video of their reactions.

The three boys allegedly asked why a transgender boy was in the locker room, according to Founding Freedoms Law Center, which represents them. As they complained among themselves, the transgender boy allegedly recorded the discussion — which is against school rules — and then filed a Title IX complaint against them.

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The attorney general said in a news release that the school district’s investigation was retaliatory against the three boys, who “expressed sincere religious objections” to the LCPS policy granting access to “sex-separated facilities based on gender identity.”

“Students appear to have been targeted not for misconduct, but for expressing their discomfort for being forced to share a locker room with a member of the opposite sex,” Miyares said in the release. “Title IX was never meant to be used as a weapon against free speech or religious convictions. Every student in Virginia deserves the right to speak openly, think freely, and live according to their conscience without fear of retaliation.”

Last month, LCPS said it only investigates students when they may have violated the code of conduct, not for simply expressing their opinions.

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