This article was reprinted with permission from Virginia Mercury.
Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares announced on Tuesday that the state will investigate Loudoun County Public Schools following a media report that the school division launched a Title IX investigation after three high school boys said they felt “uncomfortable” when a biologically female student changed clothes in a boys’ locker room and recorded their discussion about it.
Loudoun’s school policy allows students to use bathrooms and locker rooms based on their gender identification instead of their biological sex. But Seth Wolfe, the parent of one of the three boys, said his 15-year-old son is being “unfairly targeted for simply asking a basic question that any boy would be asking in that situation.”
“It’s astonishing that Loudoun school officials are subjecting him to a formal investigation for a bogus charge that could derail his life,” Wolfe said in a statement released by the Founding Freedoms Law Center, which is representing the student.
In a WJLA report on Tuesday, Wolfe criticized LCPS for investigating his son and the other students for expressing their discomfort with the male-identifying student being in the boys’ locker room and said the division’s bathroom policy creates an “unsafe environment” for all students. An attorney with the law center confirmed with the Mercury that Wolfe was the unidentified parent in WJLA’s report.
On May 6, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced that he asked Miyares to investigate the case to ensure the school division is upholding every student’s privacy, dignity and safety.
“It’s deeply concerning to read reports of yet another incident in Loudoun County schools where members of the opposite sex are violating the privacy of students in locker rooms,” Youngkin said in a statement. “Even more alarming, the victims of this violation are the ones being investigated — this is beyond belief.”
Miyares added that the case “is just the latest example of what happens when school boards disregard common sense. The safety, dignity, and privacy of every student in Virginia should be non-negotiable. This is about safety and privacy, not political correctness — and it’s time Loudoun County recognized that.”
The school division said in a statement that it was “deeply disheartening” to see an elected official, which they did not identify by name, rely on the media report to publicly criticize LCPS.
The division added that the report by WJLA contains “false” and “misleading” information. The school system said it would not discuss the specifics of the incident in recognition of students’ privacy but defended its policies and commitment to student safety.
“We reject any characterization that implies our schools are unsafe or that we fail to protect the rights of all students,” the school division stated. “We remain steadfast in our legal and ethical obligation to uphold the rights of every student and will continue to create and nurture an environment that is welcoming and accepting for all students, so that everyone has the opportunity to learn, grow and succeed.”
In 2023, Loudoun County Public Schools announced it was launching a pilot program to support students and staff concerning restroom privacy and safety. The goal was to increase accessibility and allow students a choice to use the multi-fixture, gender-specific restrooms or single-occupancy restrooms in all LCPS facilities, the division said.
Stone Bridge High School, which Wolfe’s son and the other students attend and where the locker room recording occurred, was not part of the pilot program.
This situation is not the first time Loudoun schools have made headlines for issues involving students’ gender identity. In 2021 the school division faced criticism and a $30 million lawsuit over how it responded after a teenage male student was found guilty of assaulting two female students at two different schools over six months. In the first incident, the male student was wearing a skirt when he attacked a female student in a girl’s bathroom, but there’s no evidence the male student identified as female.
The Loudoun County Court ordered the teen to receive immediate treatment and register as a sex offender. Since then, the school board has adjusted policies and hired a new superintendent.
To align Virginia school divisions with the governor’s sustained advocacy for parents’ rights, the governor’s administration overhauled the state’s model policies for the treatment of transgender students in 2023.
Some of the key changes included requiring students to use the locker room corresponding to their sex, unless federal laws state otherwise, requiring schools to notify parents if a student is permitted to use a locker room that differs from their biological sex and allowing parents to opt their child out and use alternative facilities.
