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Title IX complaint filed against Fairfax County Schools
Fairfax County Public Schools is facing a new Title IX complaint over its policy allowing transgender and gender-expansive students to use restrooms and locker rooms that align with their gender identity.
FAIRFAX COUNTY, Va. - Fairfax County Public Schools is facing a new Title IX complaint over its policy allowing transgender and gender-expansive students to use restrooms and locker rooms that align with their gender identity.
The complaint, filed with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights, comes from the conservative Defense of Freedom Institute on behalf of a freshman girl and her mother.
It centers on an incident at West Springfield High School, where a sophomore boy, who, according to the school identifies as female, allegedly entered the girls’ locker room multiple times while students were changing for P.E.
Locker room access disputed
According to the complaint, several students and parents raised concerns, but school administrators said they could not legally bar the student from the space due to district policy.
"Fairfax County Public Schools have a misguided, and I believe, unlawful policy that allows anyone to access the girl’s locker room by raising their hand and saying, ‘I identify as a woman.’ Well, that puts women and girls at risk," said Angela Morabito, with the Defense of Freedom Institute.
The complaint states that the school offered the freshman girl a separate changing area and later arranged private locker room access for the transgender student.
What they're saying:
Fairfax County Public Schools released the following statement:
"While we have not received a complaint on this issue from the department of education, school staff are aware of the situation and have been addressing the concerns by working with the students and their respective families. because this involves FCPS students, and to honor our student confidentiality obligations under state and federal law, we are not able to comment further at this time."
The Department of Education has not publicly responded to the filing. The investigation is ongoing.
On Thursday, Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares filed two amicus briefs in the U.S. Court of Appeals opposing attempts by both Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) and Arlington Public Schools (APS) to block the Department of Education from "enforcing federal protections for women in school bathrooms, locker rooms, and changing areas," according to a press release.
Both briefs urge the Fourth Circuit to deny the two Counties' emergency requests for injunctions.
"Both FCPS and APS allow students to use restrooms and locker rooms based solely on expressed gender identity, regardless of biological sex, in violation of Title IX," a press release states.
"The policies in Fairfax and Arlington allowing students to use restrooms and locker rooms based on subjective gender identity instead of biological sex are unlawful, unsafe, and indefensible. The Fourth Circuit should deny the schools’ attempt to rewrite the law through litigation," AG Miyares said in a statement.
The Source: Information in this article came from Fairfax County Public Schools and the Defense of Freedom Institute.