Governor Glenn Youngkin announced the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights (OCR) determined that the gender policies of five school divisions in Northern Virginia – Fairfax County, Loudoun County, Arlington County, Prince William County and the City of Alexandria – violate Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. The school division policies allow students of the opposite sex access to intimate sex-separated facilities and allow students of the opposite sex to participate in sex-separated sports.
“These school divisions have been violating federal law, deliberately neglecting their responsibility to protect students’ safety, privacy and dignity, and ignoring parents’ rights. 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,” said Governor Glenn Youngkin. “Earlier this year, I asked Attorney General Jason Miyares to investigate Title IX violations in Loudoun County, where school officials shockingly targeted boys who were expressing their concern that a biological girl was being allowed in the boys locker room. 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.”
“I fought to prevent the Biden Administration’s radical Title IX re-interpretation from being imposed on Virginia’s public schools,” said Attorney General Jason Miyares. “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. Today, I am encouraged that the federal government is now working alongside us to restore sanity in public education. Concerned parents have the right to speak their minds and demand accountability from their local schools, and our daughters should have the same opportunities as our sons. The safety, privacy, and dignity of every student in Virginia is an absolute non-negotiable.”
According to the U.S. Department of Education, all five jurisdictions found that students in the Divisions avoid using school restrooms whenever possible because of the schools’ policies; in addition, female students have witnessed male students inappropriately touching other students and watching female students change in a female locker room.
The U.S. Department of Education proposed Resolution Agreement requires the Divisions to take the following actions:
- Rescind the policies and/or regulations which allow students to access intimate facilities based on their “gender identity” rather than their sex;
- Issue a memorandum to each Division school 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
- Adopt biology-based definitions of the words “male” and “female” in all practices and policies relating to Title IX.
OCR has offered the Divisions an opportunity to voluntarily agree to these actions within 10 days or risk imminent enforcement consequences including referral to the U.S. Department of Justice.
