The U.S. Department of Education is charging that five public school divisions in Northern Virginia are violating federal law by continuing to allow boys who identify as “transgender” girls in girls locker rooms, bathrooms, and school sports.
Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced that the department’s Office for Civil Rights has determined that the gender policies of the Fairfax County, Loudoun County, Arlington County, Prince William County, and City of Alexandria school divisions are violating federal Title IX law.
In reporting the DOE ruling, Youngkin said, “Common sense is back, with biological boys and girls in their own locker rooms and bathrooms and boys out of girls sports.”
The DOE has proposed a resolution agreement where the divisions would rescind their policies and issue a memorandum to each division school that any future policies must be consistent with Title IX and adopt biology-based definitions of the words “male” and “female.”
If the divisions don’t agree to these actions within 10 days, they risk referral to the U.S. Department of Justice.
First, understand what Title IX says: “No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving federal financial assistance.” Title IX specifically allowed for the creation of female facilities and female sports teams in schools and universities where previously only male facilities and teams existed. It created an equal playing field, so to speak, for men and women.
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Second, what does the threat of DOJ involvement mean? In the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1992 decision in Franklin v. Gwinnett County Public Schools, the court ruled unanimously that punitive damages should be awarded to plaintiffs when it can be proved that an institution intentionally evaded compliance with Title IX.
Attorney General Jason Miyares put out this statement on what he calls the return of “sanity” to education policy: “I fought to prevent the Biden administration’s radical Title IX reinterpretation from being imposed on Virginia’s public schools,” Miyares said. “Those rules would have held federal education dollars hostage and forced Virginia’s public schools to submit to a radical, harmful, and ideologically driven agenda. Thankfully, we won that battle in court.”
The Biden administration tried to reinterpret Title IX to force schools to allow males who “identified” as females into female-only facilities and sports or risk losing federal funding.
The day before the governor’s announcement of the DOE report, John Reid, GOP nominee for lieutenant governor, launched his “Academic Excellence Agenda” that leads with the priority “Protect Students, Empower Parents,” which focuses on the “biological sex” standard for bathrooms, locker rooms, and overnight accommodations.
Gubernatorial candidate Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears has not made a specific comment on the DOE’s determination but, in the past, has pointed out that her opponent backs the permissive policies that the DOE has now deemed under the Trump administration to violate Title IX.
“Congresswoman Spanberger voted for a bill that ‘prohibits discrimination based on sex, sexual orientation, and GENDER IDENTITY in areas including public accommodations and facilities,’” Earle-Sears wrote on Facebook. “This is not leadership—it’s dangerous. Virginians deserve a governor who will stand up for common sense and protect our families.”
The school divisions have until Aug. 4 to comply. A calendar coincidence is that is the same day many of the county schools go back to class. These school divisions have ignored the governor’s policies and directives on the matter in the past, which is why they have been found to have run afoul of federal law. We will see what their response is come Aug. 4.
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