DOJ accuses Virginia school board of violating equal protection of Christian students
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LOUDOUN COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) -- The Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a motion Monday to intervene in an ongoing lawsuit against a school board in Virginia, accusing the district of denying equal protection to two Christian students.
On Monday, Dec. 10, the department announced it filed a motion to intervene in S.W. et al. v. Loudoun County School Board, which involves the district's application of Policy 8040. The DOJ alleges two Christian, male students were suspended for more than a week after they objected to a female student entering the boys' locker room at Stone Bridge High School.
“Students do not shed their First Amendment rights at the schoolhouse gate,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the DOJ's Civil Rights Division. “Loudoun County’s decision to advance and promote gender ideology tramples on the rights of religious students who cannot embrace ideas that deny biological reality.”
According to the DOJ, Policy 8040 requires all students to "adopt the Loudoun County School Board’s understanding of 'gender identity,'” which includes instances that affect all students’ use of intimate spaces, such as bathrooms and changing facilities.
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The DOJ said a female student entered the boys' locker room and recorded audio and video of the boys inside. Several boys spoke, including the two Christian, male students, "whose religious beliefs require them to use biologically accurate pronouns and use sex-segregated facilities," per the DOJ.
Loudoun County determined that the Christian students violated school policy, suspended them for 10 days and ordered them to submit to a “Comprehensive Student Support Plan," which the DOJ claims further violates their right to free exercise of religion at school.
