US government says Virginia school gender policies unlawful

By Andrew Hay

July 25 (Reuters) - The U.S. Department of Education on Friday said five school districts in Democratic-leaning northern Virginia were violating federal law by allowing transgender students to use bathrooms and other facilities matching their gender identity.

The agency gave the districts which educate about a third of Virginia's public school students, 10 days to agree with its findings or face possible "enforcement actions" by the Department of Justice, the education department said in a statement.

The department's action followed an investigation into the districts based on a complaint by the conservative America First Legal Foundation, whose founder is senior White House aide Stephen Miller.

"It’s time for northern Virginia’s experiment with radical gender ideology and unlawful discrimination to come to an end," Craig Trainor, a civil rights official at the education department, said in the statement.

In a series of executive orders, Republican President Donald Trump has banned transgender people from serving in the military, barred transgender girls and women from competing in female sports and ordered an end to federal funding for school programs that include “gender ideology.”

Prince William County Public Schools, one of the five districts named, said on its website it was reviewing the agency's conclusions.

It and another of the districts, Alexandria City Public Schools, issued separate similar statements saying they were committed to providing safe learning environments for all students.

Arlington Public Schools, Fairfax County Public Schools and Loudoun County Public Schools did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

LGBTQ advocacy group GLAAD, which monitors Trump's administration, did not immediately respond to a request for comment

Virginia's Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin has fought to abolish policies at school districts in largely Democratic areas that allow transgender people to be treated according to their gender identity.

In a statement, Youngkin said the education department's findings showed "commonsense is back."

Among other actions, the education department called on the five school districts to "voluntarily agree" to tell schools that bathroom-access policies must separate students on the basis of sex at birth.

Separately, a complaint by another conservative think tank has triggered a U.S. Education Department investigation into Oregon schools for allowing transgender girls to compete in female-only sporting events.

The America First Policy Institute, whose former chair is Secretary of Education Linda McMahon, alleged Oregon's Department of Education prohibited schools from excluding transgender athletes, violating federal sex discrimination laws, the federal agency said in a statement.

The organization applauded the probe announced on Friday, with executive general counsel Jessica Hart Steinmann saying it was "a vital step toward restoring equal opportunity in women’s athletics."

Supporters of Trump's ban on transgender girls from female sports believe the action restores fairness. LGBTQ+ advocates say transgender athletes comprise a small minority of school athletes and bans on their participation further stigmatize a vulnerable population.

A spokesperson for the Oregon Department of Education declined to comment, citing ongoing litigation filed against the agency by parents of female student athletes.