Last week, America First Legal (AFL) filed a lawsuit against Fairfax County School Board on behalf of a female student at Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) for allowing teenage boys to use the female restrooms and for forcing a radical, government-sponsored gender indoctrination and approved-speech scheme that discriminates against students on the basis of sex and religion, and violates their free speech rights under the Virginia Constitution.
FCPS Regulation 2603 requires all students to refer to “students who identify as gender-expansive or transgender by their chosen name and pronoun, regardless of the name and gender recorded in the student’s permanent pupil record.” In practice, this rule requires students to adhere to a woke agenda that denies reality.
Even more disturbingly, the rule allows students to use the restroom and locker room “consistent with the student’s gender identity.” In other words, it forces female students to share the restroom with biological males. While this rule permits a biological male who “identifies as female” to feel comfortable using the restroom of his choice, it forces female students to choose between fear and discomfort in using the restroom of their biological sex, or having to use one of the few single-use restrooms in her school.
This rule is dystopian and teaches students the lie that boys can be girls and girls can be boys. Moreover, it actively endangers female students, discriminates against them based on sex, and forces students to use incorrect pronouns and fabricated language to conform to FCPS’s sponsored ideology.
The plaintiff, a practicing Roman Catholic, has sincerely held beliefs that govern her views about human nature, marriage, gender, sexuality, and other social issues. Accordingly, she believes that God creates each person as male or female; to reject one’s biological sex is to reject the image of God within that person. Therefore, the radical requirements at FCPS are fundamentally at odds with her religious beliefs.
FCPS – and all schools across America – have prioritized radical gender indoctrination and government-compelled speech inside and outside the classroom, all to the detriment of America’s future generations. America First Legal will not stand for this egregious indoctrination scheme and is proud to bring FCPS to court to hold the school district accountable.
Statement from Ian Prior, America First Legal Senior Advisor:
“Fairfax County Public Schools appears to believe that its policies and regulations can override the Virginia Constitution’s protections for religious beliefs, speech, and from government discrimination on the basis of sex and religious beliefs. It is well past time for FCPS to stop sacrificing the constitutional rights of its students so that it can implement a state-sanctioned ideology that demands compliance in speech, beliefs, and conduct. Unfortunately, FCPS has repeatedly demonstrated that it will not voluntarily comply with the Virginia constitution and the Virginia Supreme Court’s rulings, so it will be up to students and parents to enforce their rights through the courts. We are proud to help them do just that. “ said Ian Prior.
Read the lawsuit here and the exhibits here.
