The annual Reston Pride Festival will return to Lake Anne Plaza on June 1 from noon to 6 p.m.

This year’s festival will include live music, performances, and vendors. The organization will also choose an LGBTQ+ nonprofit to highlight positive work being done in the community.

Past beneficiaries include Rainbow Families, the CasaBurmar Foundation and the Pride Liberation Project, a student-led LGBTQ+ advocacy group.

“We are very excited and proud to continue the rich tradition of Pride in Reston while recognizing how fortunate we have been, especially considering how many LGBTQIA+ organizations did not survive the strain of the pandemic,” Reston Pride President Kyle Rohen said.

Rohen said the organization needs volunteers for the day of the festival and year-round.

The organization got its start in 2018 in an effort to make Reston a “truly inclusive” region by providing cultural education and resources about LGBTQIA+ history and culture. 

Reston Pride is sponsored by CORE Foundation, a nonprofit that offers services for the Northern Virginia region.

Students are getting organized in response to a lawsuit challenging Fairfax County Public Schools for its LGBTQ-inclusive policies.

The Pride Liberation Project, a student-run group that advocates for LGBTQ+ rights in Virginia, will host a rally “against anti-trans hate” outside Luther Jackson Middle School in Merrifield at 6 p.m. today (Thursday). The demonstration will precede the Fairfax County School Board’s meeting, which starts at 7 p.m.

“I’m really hoping that Fairfax County and our school board will stop this attempt to hurt and degrade my fellow students,” Laura Troung, a senior at Falls Church High School, said. “LGBTQIA+ students are already disproportionately facing the youth mental health crisis in addition to bullying and harassment at schools and this is just adding salt into the wound.”

Represented by America First Legal, a right-wing legal group led by former Donald Trump advisor Stephen Miller, an unnamed high school student sued the school board on March 4 over its policies dictating that students be treated in accordance with their gender identity.

In her complaint, the student says being “compelled” to address classmates by the name and pronoun that matches their gender identity violates her religious beliefs as a Roman Catholic. She also argues that the policies discriminate on the basis of sex because of her discomfort with using the same bathroom as transgender girls.

Students with the Pride Liberation Project, however, describe FCPS’ regulation 2603 as critical to creating a safe, welcoming environment for LGBTQ+ individuals.

Transgender youth whose peers affirmed their identities, including by using their correct names and pronouns, reported significant reductions in symptoms of severe depression, suicidal thoughts and suicide attempts in a 2018 study conducted by University of Texas at Austin researchers.

In contrast, reported school-based hate crimes targeting LGBTQ people have soared since 2015, particularly in states with laws that restrict the rights of transgender students or prohibit education on gender and sexuality, according to the Washington Post.

The Virginia Department of Education’s model policies directing schools to treat students based on their “biological sex” spurred protests and school walkouts across the state in September 2022, including ones organized by the Pride Liberation Project.

Students also rallied outside Luther Jackson Middle School last year after FCPS pledged not to adopt the state policies.

“The fact that so many of my friends and teachers respect my pronouns and my name is life-saving to me,” Moth DiNizzo, a McLean High School junior, said. “I know that they care about me and trust my own self-perception. It’s wonderful and I want everyone to experience that same joy of being known and trusted.”

The planned rally comes shortly after the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors designated March 31 as Transgender Visibility Day. The International Transgender Day for Visibility was created in 2009 to celebrate the lives and achievements of the transgender community.

At its meeting on Tuesday (March 19), the board approved the proclamation 9-0 with Springfield District Supervisor Pat Herrity, the board’s only Republican member, away from the table.

Supervisors said the designation is an important acknowledgement of the county’s diversity and their commitment as elected officials to support all residents.

“We have an obligation to do everything we can not just to protect [the LGBTQ+ community], but to use our voices to stand up and support them and to make sure that the rest of our community sees that that’s what their government is doing,” Chairman Jeff McKay said. “Regardless of what’s happening in Richmond, we will always stand up and fight to protect every single person in this county.”

(Updated at 12:25 a.m.) A right-wing legal group led by Stephen Miller, a former advisor to Donald Trump when he was president, is challenging Fairfax County Public Schools over its policies supporting transgender students.

America First Legal filed a complaint against the Fairfax County School Board on Monday (March 4) arguing that the school system is discriminating on the basis of sex and religion by letting students use the names, pronouns and bathrooms that match their gender identity.

The complaint was submitted to the Fairfax County Circuit Court on behalf of an unnamed female student. It identifies “Jane Doe” as a current high school senior who has attended FCPS since 2014, when she was in third grade.

Her opposition to the regulations that the school board originally adopted in October 2020 stems from her beliefs as a “practicing Roman Catholic” that “rejection of one’s biological sex is a rejection of the image of God within that person,” the filing says.

According to the lawsuit, the student supports her peers using the name and pronoun they’re “comfortable with” and “having access to the use of private restrooms” if they don’t want to use ones that correspond with the sex they were assigned at birth.

However, she objects to being “compelled” to address other students by their “chosen” names and pronouns, and she says sharing bathrooms with transgender girls “makes her feel unsafe and uncomfortable.”

“The Petitioner lives in daily fear that if she speaks in a manner that is consistent with her sincerely held philosophical and religious beliefs, she will be subject to discipline, chastisement, and/or social ostracization,” the complaint said.

Last updated on April 21, 2022, FCPS Regulation 2603.2 says all students should be treated in accordance with their gender identity “to ensure that all students, including gender-expansive and transgender students experience a safe, supportive, and inclusive school environment.”

FCPS leaders maintained their support for the policy last year after the Virginia Department of Education released “model policies” directing public schools to treat students based on their “biological sex.” The state’s proposed policies prompted student protests in Fairfax County and across Virginia when they were first released in 2022.

The VDOE policies are facing a discrimination lawsuit filed last month by two transgender students backed by the ACLU of Virginia. Though an American First Legal advisor says FCPS’s policies contradict Virginia Supreme Court rulings, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld an appeals court decision in 2021 that found banning transgender students from using the bathroom that aligns with their gender identity is unconstitutional.

FCPS didn’t return a request for comment on America First Legal’s lawsuit by press time.

Providence District School Board Representative Karl Frisch, who chairs the board, stressed that FCPS “remains committed to fostering a safe, supportive, welcoming, and inclusive school environment for all students and staff, including our transgender and gender expansive students and staff.” Read More

A nonprofit dedicated to providing resources for Northern Virginia’s LGBTQ community has officially chosen Oakton for its headquarters.

After operating as a pop-up for 18 months, NoVA Prism Center opened its first physical offices at 10467 White Granite Drive, Suite 322, on Nov. 1. Open by appointment from noon to 7 p.m. daily, the headquarters hosts a publicly accessible library, a clothing closet and events, along with the organization’s administrative base.

“With the public opening of NoVA Prism Center, we will give our community a place to come together, learn, and thrive with access to stories about queer lives, bodies, and history,” Executive Director Leon van der Goetz said in a statement. “While we will not stop our Library Pop-up programming, our goal is to provide access to our community year-round, because the need for connection and representation doesn’t stop at the end of June.

Founded in May 2022, NoVA Prism was created by local transgender educators and activists after book challenges in 2021 led Fairfax County Public Schools to temporarily remove Maia Kobabe’s “Gender Queer: A Memoir” and Jonathan Evison’s coming-of-age novel “Lawn Boy” from library shelves.

With schools and libraries across the U.S. continuing to face pressure to ban books, particularly ones that deal with race, sexuality and gender identity, NoVA Prism wants to ensure the local LGBTQ community has access to books and other resources going forward, its website says.

Prior to opening its headquarters, the nonprofit appeared at local Pride festivals and other events, including ones hosted by Fairfax County Public Library. It has also brought a pop-up library to businesses and community groups, such as Reston Museum.

The organization announced the location for its new headquarters at an inaugural “Coming Out Gay-la” fundraiser in Reston on Oct. 20.

Van der Goetz says NoVA Prism Center chose 10467 White Granite Drive as its headquarters because the building already houses several other nonprofits, including ServiceSource and the Northern Virginia Resource Center for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Persons, “whose communities frequently overlap with our own.”

“The opportunities for collaboration and connection, intentional architecture supporting the Disability community, and access to a shared community classroom and conference rooms to support our programs made the space ideal for meeting our needs,” he told FFXnow.

The nonprofit is continuing to fundraise to bring more events and resources to its new center. In addition to accepting donations through its website, it publishes a zine called The Lantern that focuses on the experiences of LGBTQ teens and adults in the D.C. area.

The Oakton-based nonprofit that runs Northern Virginia’s suicide and crisis hotline is now offering mental health services specifically geared toward young, LGBTQ people.

PRS announced yesterday (Thursday) that it’s hiring 40 new crisis workers who have specialized training and experience to handle calls and texts from LGBTQ individuals who are 25 or younger.

The support services are part of the organization’s CrisisLink program, which operates the national, 24-hour 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline for most of Virginia.

“Providing tailored crisis services will help us reach more people and connect them with safer life-saving services and resources that affirm their identities,” PRS CEO Joseph Getch said in a statement. “We now have crisis workers dedicated to this community that have additional training, lived experience, and a dedication to serving individuals within the LGBTQIA+ community. We are proud and eager to provide hope, empathy, and compassion.”

Formerly known as the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, 9-8-8 was established by Congress in 2020 as the nationwide phone number for accessing emergency mental health support. It officially replaced the pre-existing, 10-digit number on July 16, 2022.

The legislation required the new lifeline to have a “mechanism” where LGBTQ youth, minority and rural callers can access specialized services, because those populations are statistically at higher risk of contemplating or dying by suicide.

More than half (52%) of high school students who identify as lesbian, gay or bisexual or who are questioning their sexual identity reported recently experiencing poor mental health, and 45% had seriously considered suicide within the past year compared to 15% for their heterosexual peers, according to a February report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The CDC report, which examined trends from 2011 to 2021, didn’t address gender identity, but this summer, Denmark released a first-of-its-kind study that found transgender people died by suicide at 3.5 times the rate of the rest of the country’s population.

In Virginia, 43% of LGBTQ youth, including 53% of transgender and nonbinary youth, reported seriously considering suicide in the past year. In addition, 13% of LGBTQ youth, including 17% of trans and nonbinary individuals, attempted suicide in the past year, according to state-level data collected in 2022 by The Trevor Project.

The LGBTQ youth-focused suicide prevention nonprofit attributes those trends to the rejection and discrimination those populations experience in society, especially in a year when lawmakers have introduced hundreds of bills restricting their access to health care, education and other rights.

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s administration rolled out policies in July that direct schools to identify students based on their legal sex and names, though Fairfax County Public Schools has maintained its existing policies that support transgender and gender-expansive students.

“We know these young people face stigma, discrimination, and oppression making reaching out for help and connecting to safe resources incredibly difficult and scary,” Gretch said, noting that PRS is continuing “to evolve our crisis services to meet the needs of different populations.”

Established in 1963, PRS provides therapy, peer support, housing and employment assistance and other behavioral health services, along with its CrisisLink call center, which receives 14,000 calls per month on average, including 4,500 from Northern Virginia.

According to a press release, PRS is one of only four 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline centers in the country to offer chat and texting option to LGBTQ youth in addition to calls.

The LGBTQIA+ service provides several ways to get in touch: text “Q” to 988;  press 3 when prompted while calling 988; or go to 988lifeline.org/chat and check the LGBTQI+ box in the pre-chat survey. These options are designed for anyone under 25 who wants to connect with a trained crisis worker specifically focused on meeting the needs of LGBTQIA+ youth and young adults.

Fairfax County Public Schools has officially announced that it will not implement the Virginia Department of Education’s recently finalized model policies regarding transgender and nonbinary students.

Yesterday (Tuesday), FCPS Superintendent Michelle Reid released a statement confirming that FCPS won’t adopt the new guidelines after a “detailed legal review” found that its current policies are “consistent” with state and federal law.

The statement notes that gender-expansive and transgender students will continue to be referred to by their chosen names and pronouns, given access to school programming and facilities based on their gender identity, and “have their privacy respected,” regardless of their gender identity or legal sex.

“Let me be clear that FCPS remains committed to fostering a safe, supportive, welcoming, and inclusive school environment for all students and staff, including our transgender and gender expansive students and staff,” Reid wrote. “We believe that supporting our students and working with parents and caregivers are not mutually exclusive; we already do both and will continue to do so. We know that students can only learn effectively when they feel safe and supported.”

The policies that FCPS plans to keep in place directly oppose Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s guidance, which has two main requirements:

• Students must participate in school activities and use school facilities according to their sex legally assigned at birth rather than gender identity
• Parents must provide written consent if a student wants to go by a name and/or pronouns that differ from what appears on the student’s official records

Youngkin has characterized the policies as keeping parents involved “in conversations about their child’s education, upbringing, and care.”

Waves of backlash from LGBTQIA+ advocates have rippled across the state since late 2022, when Youngkin first announced his proposed changes to former governor Ralph Northam’s previous policies.

FCPS Pride, an LGBTQIA+ advocacy organization for employees and other adults affiliated with FCPS, played a leading role in advocating for FCPS to take a firm stance against Youngkin’s policies and in favor of transgender and gender-expansive student rights.

FCPS Pride co-chair Robert Rigley Jr. says the state guidelines — which he nicknames the “Don’t Be Trans” policy — make transgender and non-binary students feel unwelcome in Virginia schools and “remove civil and human rights.”

“[The policy] makes it so that some adults have veto power over someone’s gender identity, which from a queer person’s point of view is absurd,” Rigley Jr. said. “…It steals agency in particular from transgender children. It says that you are not in control of your identity at a very basic level, and it turns families and schools against one another, battling over children who are among the most vulnerable children in this state.”

“It traumatizes a whole generation of queer kids in Virginia,” he continued.

FCPS Pride and nine other community organizations held a rally at Luther Jackson Middle School (3020 Gallows Road) in Merrifield. Originally intended as a protest for FCPS to take a clear stance against Youngkin’s policies, the rally transformed into a celebration after the release of Reid’s statement. Read More

After months of review, the Virginia Department of Education has released a final set of policies guiding public schools on how to treat transgender students — including many that contradict the policies currently used by Fairfax County Public Schools.

Released Tuesday (July 18), the “model policies” generally direct schools to require that students use names, pronouns and facilities, such as bathrooms, based on their legal sex as designated in their official school records. All local public school systems are obligated by state law to adopt a version of the policies.

FCPS, which has provided protections for students based on their gender identity since 2020, says it’s now “reviewing” the new policies from the state.

“FCPS remains committed to an inclusive learning environment for each and every student and staff member including those who are transgender or gender expansive,” FCPS Superintendent Michelle Reid said in a statement. “Our schools will continue to be safe and respectful learning spaces.”

Rolling back rules issued by the state in 2021 that let students use names, pronouns and facilities matching their gender identity, the new policies require school employees to refer to students by the name and pronouns corresponding to the sex displayed on their official school records.

Employees can use a different name or pronoun if a parent provides written permission, but even with a parent’s consent, the name and sex in school records can only be changed if a legal document, such as a birth certificate, passport or driver’s license, is provided.

The document says the use of bathrooms and other facilities must also be based on sex, even as it acknowledges that an appeals court found denying students access to bathrooms that correspond with their gender identity to be discriminatory.

Participation in school activities, including athletics, will also be determined by sex, though the state law requiring the VDOE to develop the model policies on transgender students explicitly excluded athletics from consideration.

Gov. Glenn Youngkin lauded the policies as affirming the importance of parents being engaged in their children’s lives.

“The VDOE updated model policies reaffirm my administration’s continued commitment to ensure that every parent is involved in conversations regarding their child’s education, upbringing, and care,” he said in a statement. “Public comment, input, and concerns were carefully evaluated and assessed to formulate the updated model policies.”

All children in Virginia deserve to have a parent engaged in their life and to be treated with dignity and respect.

I am committed to ensuring that every parent is involved in conversations regarding their child’s education, upbringing and care.https://t.co/eywLB6h15n

— Governor Glenn Youngkin (@GovernorVA) July 18, 2023

The policies are largely the same as an earlier draft released last fall that spurred student protests across the state in support of transgender rights and drew over 70,000 public comments.

The Pride Liberation Project, a student-led LGBTQ advocacy group that organized the protests, blasted the final document as “Don’t Be Trans” policies — echoing the “Don’t Say Gay” moniker used by critics for a Florida law that banned discussions of gender identity and sexual orientation in schools.

The VDOE policies represent “an attempt to force LGBTQIA+ students back into the closet,” the PLP said, urging school districts to reject them. Read More

A Pride Month celebration is coming to Springfield Town Center for the first time ever.

The shopping center at 6500 Franconia-Springfield Parkway will host its inaugural Pride Night Out tomorrow (Friday) from 6-9 p.m. in the lower level Grand Court area near Starbucks.

The event will feature music, giveaways and other activities to support Safe Space NOVA, an Alexandria-based nonprofit that assists LGBTQ teenagers. An ongoing fundraiser organized by the town center will be open through the end of June.

“This is the first time that Springfield Town Center is hosting a Pride Celebration and we couldn’t be more excited to partner with Safe Space NOVA on Pride Night Out!” PREIT Marketing Director Justin Roth said. “Partnering with a phenomenal non-profit that benefits LGBTQ+ youth was a no-brainer.”

PREIT, a Philadelphia-based real estate investment trust, owns Springfield Town Center. Pride Night Out will be its first Pride-related event at any of the properties in its mall portfolio, according to a media alert.

Planned activities include:

• A performance and charity meet & greet by drag queen Evry Pleasure
• DJ Pierre with Exclusively Entertainment
• Pride-themed Glitter Tattoos and Face Painting
• Pride Photobooth with Selfie station
• PRIDE ROCKS! — Rock decorating with pride-themed inspirational messages
• “What does pride mean to you?” banner project
• Raffle prizes, including two tickets to Wolf Trap’s Out & About Festival, tickets to the Washington Mystics, and much more!

Headlined by folk-rock singer Brandi Carlile, the first-ever Out & About Festival will take place at Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts on Saturday and Sunday (June 24-25).

Commemorating the 1969 Stonewall Uprising in New York, Pride Month is recognized in the U.S. each June, including by Fairfax County, as an occasion to celebrate and advocate for the LGBTQ community.

Other upcoming Pride events in the county include a poetry reading at Ellanor C. Lawrence Park (5040 Walney Road) in Chantilly on Saturday.

Looking further into the future, Springfield Town Center is gearing up to welcome a 32,000-square-foot Lego Discovery Center, which announced last week that it will open its doors on Aug. 9.

(Updated at 12:45 p.m. on 6/16/2023) As Pride Month got underway, a pair of hate incidents targeting the LGBTQ community shook up Falls Church and West Potomac high schools.

At Falls Church High School (7521 Jaguar Trail) in West Falls Church, a student admitted to stealing a rainbow Pride flag from the school and burning it, principal Ben Nowak said in a message to the school community on June 6.

According to Nowalk’s letter, a circulating video that the student recorded of the flag burning captured “another young person…using homophobic and hate-filled language towards the LGBTQ+ community.”

Nowalk emphasized that Fairfax County Public Schools and Falls Church High School “will not tolerate this kind of behavior” as it goes against “the kind of school community we seek to cultivate.”

“Each and every student in FCHS has the right to feel safe and affirmed in our school,” he wrote. “June is Pride Month, when we recognize the resilience and determination of the many individuals who are fighting to live freely and authentically. We stand with those facing an ongoing struggle against discrimination and injustice. This is sadly more evident today given this hateful act.”

An FCPS spokesperson indicated that the student has been disciplined, but the school system can’t share further details due to federal laws protecting the privacy of students and families.

“Please know we take such incidents of hate seriously and appropriate disciplinary actions are always taken,” FCPS spokesperson Julie Moult said.

The Fairfax County Police Department confirmed that the theft of the Pride flag, which was displayed outside a classroom trailer, was reported to its school resource officer (SRO) at the school.

“The SRO determined that a juvenile stole the flag,” the FCPD said. “The SRO discovered that the flag was reportedly burned by another juvenile. The juveniles have been referred to the juvenile justice system.”

Also last week, graffiti with messages described as antisemitic and homophobic was painted on the “spirit rock” outside West Potomac High School (6500 Quander Road) in Belle Haven, according to a message to families from principal Dr. Tanganyika Millard.

The graffiti was discovered the morning of June 7, when the community gathered at the school for the Class of 2023 graduation ceremony.

“It has always been a point of pride that we live in a diverse and caring community,” Millard wrote. “To see these symbols of hate at the space that welcomes others to our school is devastating. We will make every effort to find those responsible and hold them accountable.”

The FCPD said it doesn’t have a record of any reports of antisemitic graffiti at West Potomac High School last week.

In response to the incidents, FCPS Pride, an advocacy organization for LGBTQIA students, staff, family and allies, announced earlier this week that it will hold a Pride Rally Against Hate at Luther Jackson Middle School (3020 Gallows Road) in Merrifield today (Thursday).

The rally will take place from 5:30 to 7 p.m. before the Fairfax County School Board’s meeting, which will include a proclamation honoring Pride Month.

“Hate incidents…against all communities have been accelerating in FCPS, and we demand by our presence that the system take action,” FCPS Pride said in a media advisory.

Moult confirmed that FCPS is currently developing a system for tracking hate and bias incidents, as previously reported by WTOP.

The school system announced last month that it would hire an investigator to look into an anonymous email that complained about Oakton High School’s former Black cheerleading coaches.

Pride Month starts today (June 1), and opportunities to celebrate in Fairfax County extend through the month.

This Saturday (June 3) features events in the Mosaic District, Reston and the City of Fairfax. Closer to the end of the month, folk-rock musician Brandi Carlile will headline the Out & About Festival at Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts.

Pride Month marks the anniversary of the 1969 Stonewall Uprising in Manhattan and has become an occasion to celebrate LGBTQ individuals and communities.

Below are more details about Pride Month celebrations across the county this June:

Mosaic Pride Festival
Saturday, June 3
2-8:30 p.m.
District Avenue

A parade begins at 2 p.m. in front of One Medical (2987 District Ave.) and will proceed down District Avenue to the main stage. Performances will feature drag queens, dance, and live music by George Mason University’s Green Machine band and more.

Reston Pride
Saturday, June 3
12-6 p.m.
Lake Anne Plaza

Indie pop trio BETTY will headline the Reston Pride Festival at Lake Anne Plaza (1609-A Washington Plaza). The event will also feature comedian Chelsea Shorte and local businesses including Elden Street Tea Shop and Scrawl Books.

Fairfax Pride
Saturday, June 3
5-10 p.m.
Old Town Hall

The City of Fairfax and George Mason University are hosting the first Fairfax Pride at Old Town Hall (3999 University Drive). The evening will begin with face painting, crafts and other activities. Later, there will be drag queen performances and a dance party.

Drag Bingo
Tuesday, June 6
6 p.m.
Starr Hill Biergarten at Capital One Center

Drag queens Crimsyn and Logan Stone will host a drag bingo night at Starr Hill Biergarten at Capital One Center (1805 Capital One Drive South, Suite 1100). There will also be music and drinks. An encore is scheduled for Sept. 12.

Pride Flow and Celebration
Sunday, June 11
10-11:30 a.m.
Lakeside Park

Celebrate pride with a colorful outdoor yoga class at Lakeside Park (5216 Pommeroy Drive). Attendees should bring their own yoga mats and water and plan to wear bright colors.

The Out & About Festival
Saturday, June 24 and Sunday, June 25
Children’s Theatre-in-the-Woods performances at 10:30 a.m.; festival starts at 4 p.m.
Wolf Trap National Park

Brandi Carlile, Yola, Rufus Wainwright and other artists will gather at Wolf Trap (1645 Trap Road) in the last weekend in June for a three-stage festival. The festival features LGBTQ+ artists and allies.

Pride Month Poetry Reading
Saturday, June 24
3-4 p.m.
Ellanor C. Lawrence Park

Poets Sunu Chandy, Kim Roberts, Holly Mason Badra, and Malik Thompson will convene at Ellanor C. Lawrence Park in Chantilly (5040 Walney Road) for a reading. “This reading lifts up a variety of voices and experiences to honor the rich legacy and contributions of poets and poetry in the queer community,” according to the event description from Arts Fairfax.

Fairfax County Public Library is also hosting events throughout the month, including a “crafternoon” on Sunday (June 4) and a screening of the 2018 film “Rafiki” on June 7.

Photo via Mosaic District/Twitter