ASHBURN, Va.—Virginia Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears condemned Loudoun County Public Schools for deciding to punish boys who complained about a girl using their locker room, and urged outraged parents to support her campaign for governor in the November election.
“We’re talking about three boys, three young boys, who have been punished because they were … saying they were not comfortable having to undress in front of girls,” Earle-Sears, a Republican, said at a press conference at Stone Bridge High School on Wednesday. “This school system has decided they are going to use the parents’ own tax money against them and punish these boys.”
“What are we supposed to do now?” she asked. “Well, I’ll tell you what we can do. There are things called elections.”
Earle-Sears noted that she and Gov. Glenn Youngkin won their elections in 2021 amid a parental rights movement that grew in part in response to another Loudoun County transgender scandal that year.
“We were elected to stop the insanity, but apparently the school system has not heard that message,” she said. “Well, this year, we’ve got another election, and so, I’m asking you to continue to support me for governor of our great Commonwealth of Virginia.”
‘The Loudoun 3’
Republican Virginia Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears speaks at Stone Bridge High School in Ashburn, Virginia, on Wednesday. (Tyler O’Neil/The Daily Signal)
Parental rights advocates stood behind banners reading, “I Stand With the Loudoun 3.” Those signs refer to three male Stone Bridge students who complained about a girl in their locker room. The girl, who identifies as a boy, reportedly used her phone to record the boys’ complaints—a violation of school district policy—but the district investigated the boys for “sexual harassment” in violation of Title IX, a federal law prohibiting sex discrimination.
While the district cleared one boy, who is Muslim, it found the other two boys, who are Christian, guilty of sexual harassment. One of those Christian boys moved out of the district, but the finding will remain on his permanent record.
On Friday, Loudoun County Public Schools delivered a punishment: 10 days of suspension, a no-contact order with the girl, and a corrective action plan to be worked out between the boys and LCPS.
The boys’ attorney, Josh Hetzler, announced at the press conference that the school district has paused the suspension as the attorneys appeal the Title IX finding.
“We were moments away from filing for immediate injunctive relief in federal court to prevent one of the boys from being suspended for the first two weeks of school, but last night, we filed a Title IX appeal with LCPS, which—thankfully—has put a pause on the suspension for now,” he said.
Hetzler also announced that America First Legal, a public-interest nonprofit, has joined the Founding Freedoms Law Center, the legal arm of the Family Foundation of Virginia, in representing the boys.
“If LCPS fails again to do the right thing, we will have no choice but to pursue swift legal action in the coming days,” the lawyer added.
A Father Speaks
Seth Wolfe, the father of the Christian boy who remains at Stone Bridge High School, told the crowd, “My heart is devastated.”
“Our son has become the latest casualty of Loudoun County’s woke policies,” he said. “Instead of protecting students’ privacy and acknowledging biological reality, the school system has punished innocent boys with trumped-up charges that could jeopardize their future.”
“Title IX should protect children. It should not be weaponized to silence free speech and punish religious convictions,” Wolfe added.
“Loudoun County chose ideology over common sense, and every parent should be alarmed,” he concluded.
Tanner Cross, a former Loudoun County gym teacher who was punished for refusing to use transgender pronouns, also spoke at the press conference. He condemned the school district’s Policy 8040, which allows students to use their chosen names and gender pronouns, and opens sports, restrooms, and locker rooms to students on the basis of claimed gender identity, rather than biological sex.
The Broader Context
That policy drew scrutiny in May 2021, when a 15-year-old male student forced a girl to commit sex acts in the girls bathroom at Stone Bridge High School, the same school as that of “the Loudoun 3.” The school district moved the male student to Broad Run High School, where he then sexually assaulted another girl in a girls restroom in October of that year.
The Loudoun County Juvenile Court had found the perpetrator “not innocent” of charges of forcible sodomy and forcible fellatio. The student also pleaded “no contest” to charges of abduction and sexual battery on Oct. 6.
The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights found Policy 8040 in violation of Title IX earlier this year and revoked most federal funding from the county on Tuesday.
Earle-Sears is campaigning for governor against Democrat Abigail Spanberger, a former member of the U.S. House of Representatives. Election Day is Nov. 4, but early voting begins Sept. 19.
The post Father Condemns Loudoun County for Choosing ‘Ideology Over Common Sense’ in Punishing His Son appeared first on The Daily Signal.
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Author: Tyler O’Neil
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