A Virginia school district has dismissed a Title IX charge against a Muslim student who was one of three boys who complained about sharing a locker room with a girl who identifies as male, while charges against the two Christian boys remain.
Attorneys report that Loudoun County Public Schools (LCPS) dismissed its “sexual harassment” charge against the Muslim student, one of the three Stone Bridge High School sophomore boys who had filed a complaint about the district policy allowing transgender students to use facilities meant for the opposite sex.
The district policy states that school staff members are to use a trans-identifying student's chosen name and pronouns “regardless of the name and gender recorded in the student's permanent educational record.”
In a dismissal letter cited by the Founding Freedoms Law Center (FFLC), the legal arm of The Family Foundation, the school district stated that the complaint “must be dismissed from the Title IX grievance process” because “the conduct alleged would not constitute sexual harassment” as defined in Title IX regulations, “even if proved.”
However, on the same day, the LCPS Title IX Office “not only refused to dismiss the other boys’ sexual harassment charges, but it added an additional charge for each of them for ‘sex-based discrimination,” despite all three boys having the same facts alleged against them. Two boys facing the enhanced charges are Christians, while the third boy, also represented by FFLC, is Muslim.
“This is now a case of clear religious discrimination against our two Christian clients,” said FFLC Legal Counsel Josh Hetzler, who represents the three boys. “While we celebrate the dismissal of our Muslim client from LCPS's Title IX 'sexual harassment' investigation, there is absolutely no basis for keeping this going against the two Christian boys. The same facts were alleged against them all, yet the only difference is their faith.”
The incident occurred in March, when a female student at Stone Bridge High School, who identifies as male, was allowed to change in the boys’ locker room.
After gym class one day, the student used her phone to record several boys who wondered why a girl was in their locker room. One of the FFLC clients, whose name has not been disclosed, reportedly asked: “Why is there a girl in the locker room?” Another boy told the P.E. teacher and the high school principal that he was uncomfortable changing in the locker room with a girl.
“We reject any characterization that implies our schools are unsafe or that we fail to protect the rights of all students,” an LCPS spokesperson told Christian Post at the time. “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 February, the U.S. Department of Education confirmed it was investigating LCPS following a complaint from American First Legal, which accused Loudoun and several other school systems of violating Title IX by allowing trans-identifying students to use locker rooms and bathrooms based on gender identity.
