The U.S. Department of Education is pushing several Northern Virginia school districts, including Fairfax County Public Schools, to roll back their policies intended to support transgender students.
The Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced today (Friday) that it has found FCPS and its counterparts in Arlington, Alexandria, Prince William and Loudoun in violation of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, arguing that letting students use bathrooms and other facilities consistent with their gender identity constitutes discrimination on the basis of sex.
“Although this type of behavior was tolerated by the previous Administration, it’s time for Northern Virginia’s experiment with radical gender ideology and unlawful discrimination to come to an end,” Education Department Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Craig Trainor said in a press release. “OCR’s investigation definitively shows that these five Virginia school districts have been trampling on the rights of students in the service of an extreme political ideology.”
The department had been investigating the school districts since February in response to a complaint from the conservative nonprofit America First Legal, which was founded in 2021 by Stephen Miller, a senior advisor to President Donald Trump and current White House deputy chief of staff for policy.
The complaint specifically focused on policies allowing students to use restrooms and locker rooms that match their gender identity, a measure that FCPS has had in place since October 2020.
To create an inclusive environment for transgender and gender-expansive students, the policy also says students should be addressed by their chosen names and pronouns, and be allowed to participate in athletics and other school activities based on their gender identity.
OCR claims that the policies at FCPS and other districts have been subject to “several lawsuits, informal complaints, and reports” from students alleging that they avoid using their school’s restrooms and have seen male students “inappropriately touching” and watching students change in female locker rooms.
FCPS is facing a lawsuit filed last year by American First Legal on behalf of a former student identified as Jane Doe, who alleged that she experienced discrimination based on sex and religion at her high school due to her opposition to calling other students by their chosen names and pronouns and sharing facilities with transgender girls.
The case is scheduled to get a non-jury trial in Fairfax County Circuit Court on Sept. 29.
To resolve the investigation, the Education Department says it’s offering the school systems an agreement that would require them to rescind all policies and regulations that allow students to use “intimate facilities” based on their gender identity, separate student bathroom and locker room use based on sex under any future policies, and use “biology-based definitions” of “male” and “female” in all Title IX-related policies and practices.
The announcement was welcomed by Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin and Attorney General Jason Miyares, both Republicans, who described the Education Department’s move as a return of “commonsense” after the Biden administration expanded its interpretation of Title IX to include LGBTQ students.
The Biden administration’s rule, which was introduced in 2021 but didn’t take effect until August 2024, was struck down nationwide by a federal judge in Kentucky in early January.
“They got away with this behavior because the Biden Administration backed them up,” Youngkin said in a press release. “Commonsense is back, with biological boys and girls in their own locker rooms and bathrooms, and boys out of girls sports.”
Citing the U.S. Supreme Court’s June 18 ruling upholding a ban on gender-affirming care for minors in Tennessee, OCR suggests that gender identity is distinct from “biological sex,” and only the latter is protected by Title IX, which prohibits discrimination based on sex in educational institutions that receive federal government funding.
An FCPS spokesperson said the school division is reviewing a letter on the investigation that it received today from OCR.
“We are reviewing the document in detail and will respond after we have completed our review,” FCPS said in a statement. “FCPS remains committed to fostering a safe, supportive, welcoming, and inclusive school environment for all students and staff.”
Even as it pursues investigations against public schools and universities, the Trump administration has laid off hundreds of Education Department employees, shuttering half of its civil rights offices. OCR has reportedly dismissed thousands of complaints, while prioritizing cases related to antisemitism, gender identity and diversity.
