LGBTQIA+ Students' Rights Threatened By DOE 'Gender Identity' Mandate

ARLINGTON, VA — Equality Arlington sent a letter Monday to the Arlington School Board and Arlington Public Schools administration calling on them to continue their commitment to the safety and wellbeing of LGBTQIA+ students.

"These threats to the rights and wellbeing of transgender and nonbinary students are the latest wave of efforts to erase transgender and nonbinary children from society and they will not be the last," according to Equality Arlington's letter. "APS must keep fighting back on behalf of these vulnerable students and continue prioritizing student safety, bodily autonomy, and authenticity in their lived identities."

The letter was in response to a mandate from the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights alleging that five Northern Virginia school systems were in violation of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 by discriminating on the basis of sex.

The allegations stem from an OCR investigation in February that found Alexandria City Public Schools, Arlington Public Schools, Fairfax County Public Schools, Loudoun County Public Schools, and Prince William County Public Schools hadsimilar anti-discrimination policies pertaining to 'transgender-identifying” students, which violate the sex-based protections of Title IX.

The education department's complaint also alleges that the school systems are the subject of lawsuits, informal complaints and reports concerning students avoiding using school restrooms in order to not witness "male students inappropriately touching other students and watching female students change in a female locker room."

“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. 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,” said Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Craig Trainor. “The Trump Administration will not sacrifice the safety, dignity, and innocence of America’s young women and girls at the altar of an anti-scientific illiberalism.”

The education department gave the six school systems 10 days to adopt the following resolution agreement issued by OCR or risk enforcement action:

(i) Rescind the policies and/or regulations that allow students to access intimate facilities based on their “gender identity” rather than their sex;

(ii) Issue a memorandum to each Division school explaining that any future policies related to access to intimate facilities must be consistent with Title IX by separating students strictly on the basis of sex, and that Title IX ensures women’s equal opportunity in any education program or activity including athletic programs; and

(iii) Adopt biology-based definitions of the words “male” and “female” in all practices and policies relating to Title IX.

As justification for its request, the education department referendum the June 18 decision by the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold a Tennessee law banning medical care for minors to treat gender dysphoria, gender identity disorder, or gender incongruence,” as well as laws "regulating medical treatment or procedures in this realm are subject to rational basis review rather than heighted scrutiny under the Equal Protection Clause."

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) and Attorney General Jason Miyares (R) issued statements following the release of the education department's mandate.

“These school divisions have been violating federal law, deliberately neglecting their responsibility to protect students’ safety, privacy and dignity, and ignoring parents’ rights," Youngkin said. "They got away with this behavior because the Biden Administration backed them up. Commonsense is back, with biological boys and girls in their own locker rooms and bathrooms, and boys out of girls sports."

The governor added that he had ordered Miyares to investigate Title IX violations in Loudoun County based on a WJLA report.

"School officials shockingly targeted boys who were expressing their concern that a biological girl was being allowed in the boys locker room," Youngkin said. "It is time for these school leaders to do the right thing for students and parents. I thank President Trump and Secretary McMahon for their actions in defense of student safety, privacy and dignity.”

Related: Loudoun County Schools Misused Authority In Trans Locker Room Case, AG Says

In a statement sent to Patch in May, LCPS officials said the WJLA report had misleading claims "presented in a biased manner from a single source."

"To be absolutely clear: Loudoun County Public Schools would not investigate or discipline students based on their personal opinions, thoughts, or beliefs, provided those expressions do not violate policies prohibiting hate speech, discriminatory language, threats, or other forms of harmful or disruptive conduct," the school system stated. "However, LCPS does investigate and may take disciplinary action when student behavior violates LCPS’ Student Rights & Responsibilities Handbook for Families and Student Code of Conduct."

In Arlington County, it was imperative that APS continue to stand up for the community's values of dignity and rights for all students, according to Equality Arlington.

"Every victory in this fight improves the life of a vulnerable student," according to Equality Arlington's letter. "In this time when LGBTQIA+ students and their families are scared for their future, they need to see that their community is fighting for them. APS must continue to do the right thing, even when it’s hard."

Patch reached out to APS for a statement about Equality Arlington's letter and the Department of Education's mandate. This story will be updated when a response is received.

The following is the full text of the Equality Arlington letter to Arlington School Board Chair Bethany Sutton and APS Superintendent Dr. Francisco Durán:

Dear Ms. Sutton and Dr. Durán, Dr. Francisco Durán

Arlington Public Schools (APS) has historically shown a strong commitment to protecting vulnerable Arlington students, including LGBTQIA+ and, in particular, transgender and nonbinary students. These students are under attack from multiple state and federal sources, and we urge you to stand strong against these threats, which include:

• The U.S. Department of Education’s blatantly political investigation and demands related to Arlington Public School’s non-discrimination policy for transgender students which threaten the safety of this already-vulnerable population.
• The Virginia High School League (VHSL)’s ban on transgender girls participating in sports teams that align with their gender identity, violating their Title IX-protected participation.
• The Virginia Department of Education’s change to the Commonwealth’s Student Record Collection (SRC) system to only allow male and female gender markers, denying the existence of nonbinary students entirely.

These threats to the rights and wellbeing of transgender and nonbinary students are the latest wave of efforts to erase transgender and nonbinary children from society and they will not be the last. APS must keep fighting back on behalf of these vulnerable students and continue prioritizing student safety, bodily autonomy, and authenticity in their lived identities.

The U.S. Department of Education’s weaponization of the federal government through investigations of school districts, including APS, that refuse to discriminate against transgender and nonbinary students concluded on Friday with the faulty, but predetermined, conclusion that APS is in violation of Title IX. The Trump administration is now demanding that APS force transgender and nonbinary students to use bathroom and locker room facilities that conflict with their gender identities, putting them at risk of further harassment and violence, and remove language pertaining to transgender and nonbinary students from all policies. This would essentially halt APS’ ability to address the documented bullying, isolation, and disconnectedness facing transgender and nonbinary students and put their ability to learn in a safe and supportive school environment at risk. APS must ensure all students have access to safe and appropriate facilities and must not comply with the Trump administration’s egregious and harmful attempts to turn Title IX nondiscrimination protections, in direct violation of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit’s ruling in Grimm v. Gloucester County School Board, against the very people the law is intended to protect.

In May, the VHSL implemented their ban on transgender girls’ participation in girls’ sports. APS rightly voted against this discriminatory policy change. The VHSL’s actions are illegal under the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit’s ruling that Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 protects transgender students’ rights in school sports in BPJ v. West Virginia Board of Education. We urge APS to work with the community to explore all options to influence VHSL to reverse its discriminatory policy and to ensure transgender girls are afforded the same social and physical opportunities as their cisgender peers.

Also in May, the Virginia Department of Education changed the reporting requirements for the Commonwealth’s SRC to only allow male and female gender markers in an attempt to erase the legal existence of nonbinary students. The Youngkin administration is now, by removing the ability to use “Other” as a gender marker, trying to use the reporting required by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) to force students and their families to choose a binary gender against the wishes of students, parents, medical providers, and local school districts. It is imperative that APS fight back against this measure to force parents of nonbinary students to select a false gender marker for the SRC system, which denies them their basic dignity.

APS, through work with organizations like the Arlington Gender Identity Alliance (AGIA), an organization comprised of parents of transgender and nonbinary students, has been a leader in creating a safe and affirming environment for transgender and nonbinary students. These efforts include:

• Expanded availability of gender-neutral bathrooms, providing safer private spaces for all students, particularly nonbinary students.
• Eliminating the requirement that all students at the secondary school level change into standard uniforms for physical education (PE) which removed a huge participation barrier for transgender and nonbinary students while also enhancing PE access for all students, including students with medical privacy concerns and students with religious and cultural modesty concerns.
• Deploying the ability to mask legal names and gender markers in Synergy, APS’ student record system, with preferred names and pronouns to prevent teachers and staff from incorrectly addressing students.

While this implementation has presented challenges, incurred costs, and revealed further learning, we applaud the dedication of the Arlington School Board and APS senior staff to continuing to improve the school system for transgender and nonbinary students. We know that the risks of resistance and non-compliance with these attacks are real — legal battles are expensive and threats to funding present challenges for all of APS’s students and families. However, it is imperative that APS continue to stand up for the Arlington community’s values of dignity and rights for all students. Every victory in this fight improves the life of a vulnerable student. In this time when LGBTQIA+ students and their families are scared for their future, they need to see that their community is fighting for them. APS must continue to do the right thing, even when it’s hard.

We urge the Arlington School Board and APS administration to stand up for the rights of LGBTQIA+ students and take every legal and other appropriate action to oppose and resist the U.S. Department of Education, Virginia High School League, Virginia Department of Education, and any other powerful, but morally bankrupt, organizations intent on harming and discriminating against vulnerable transgender and nonbinary students. APS should be leading its peer school districts across Northern Virginia to develop the strategies needed to protect vulnerable students who have become pawns in the Trump and Youngkin administrations’ culture wars. APS cannot be complicit in the attempts to erase the existence of transgender and nonbinary students. We look forward to supporting APS in their fight for the dignity and safety of its most vulnerable students.

Sincerely,

Kellen MacBeth, President

Samantha Perez, Vice President

Sacha Brenac, Treasurer

Hans Bauman, Board Member

Whytni Kernodle, Board Member

SC Nealy, Board Member

Arne Nelson, Board Member