A father of a 15-year-old Stone Bridge High School student has been notified by Loudoun County Public Schools (LCPS) that his son is under formal Title IX investigation for alleged sexual harassment. The basis of the inquiry? A March incident—reported two months later on May 5—where the student, along with two male friends, expressed discomfort about sharing the boys’ locker room with a biologically female classmate who identifies as male.
Apparently, voicing unease in a conversation with friends about changing in front of someone of the opposite sex can now trigger a sexual harassment probe.
LCPS Policy 8040, titled “Rights of Transgender and Gender-Expansive Students,” declares:
“All students are entitled to have access to restrooms and locker rooms that are sanitary, safe, and adequate, so that they can comfortably and fully engage in their school programs and activities. Students shall be allowed to use the facility that corresponds to their consistently asserted gender identity.”
According to the boy’s father, the biologically female student has been using the boys’ locker room for some time. During a gym class in March, the student reportedly entered the locker room while recording with a phone. Though the video is largely dark, the audio captures male voices questioning the student’s presence, with one boy using the word “uncomfortable.”
The irony? LCPS’s own Policy 8655, “Student Personal Device Use,” prohibits exactly this behavior. It states:
“High school students must place personal technology devices in a classroom storage location, not on their person or immediately accessible…
Photography, audio, or video recording is prohibited in bathrooms, locker rooms, changing areas, or clinics.”
Despite this clear policy, there’s no indication that the student who recorded the locker room conversation is under investigation. On the contrary, the illicit recording is reportedly central to the district’s sexual harassment case against the boys—whose only offense appears to be questioning among themselves why a girl was in the boys’ locker room and expressing discomfort.
Let’s be clear: being labeled a sexual harasser at 15 can have serious and lasting consequences. That label typically conjures up images of inappropriate advances or toxic behavior—not teenage boys reacting with discomfort and confusion to being required to undress in front of a female.
This raises serious questions about fairness and consistency. LCPS appears quick to investigate male students for expressing discomfort, but has shown no urgency in enforcing its own policies against the student who made an unauthorized recording in a private space. Who, exactly, is being harassed? And whose rights were violated?
We often hear about America’s two-tiered justice system. Look no further than Loudoun County.
The Virginia Attorney General’s Office is now investigating LCPS’s handling of this Title IX complaint. Additionally, the U.S. Department of Education has launched reviews of LCPS and four other Northern Virginia school districts for potential policy violations involving the use of locker rooms and bathrooms based on gender identity rather than biological sex.
Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares stated:
“This is just the latest example of what happens when school boards disregard common sense. The safety, dignity, and privacy of every student in Virginia should be non-negotiable. This is about safety and privacy, not political correctness—and it’s time Loudoun County recognized that.”
Public backlash has been swift. At last Tuesday’s school board meeting, more than 130 people signed up to speak—many of them sharply critical of Policy 8040 and demanding its immediate repeal.
Had enough? Me too.
This November, voters have the opportunity to elect school board members who support students, listen to parents, and apply common sense. That means voting for candidates who understand biological reality—who believe there are only two genders—and who are willing to stand up to policies that put ideology ahead of safety, privacy, and the rights of our children.
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