DOJ Sues Loudoun County School Board Over Transgender Locker Room Policy

The U.S. Department of Justice has filed a lawsuit against the Loudoun County School Board in Virginia, accusing the district of violating students’ constitutional rights by allowing a transgender student—identified as biologically female—to use the boys’ locker room and allegedly punishing male students who raised concerns. The DOJ says the school board’s gender policy denies students “equal protection based on religion,” arguing that it forces students and teachers to accept “gender ideology” with which they may disagree.

According to the lawsuit, Loudoun County Public Schools’ policy permitting transgender students to access facilities based on gender identity places unlawful burdens on students who hold religious or biological views about sex. Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon emphasized that students retain their First Amendment rights in school and claimed the district’s approach “tramples on the rights of religious students who cannot embrace ideas that deny biological reality.”

The legal action is part of a broader effort by the Trump administration to challenge gender policies across U.S. school systems. Recent executive orders have barred transgender individuals from military service, restricted participation of transgender athletes in female sports, and cut federal funding from school programs that incorporate what the administration calls “gender ideology.”

The Loudoun County School Board has stood by its policy, even after the Department of Education ordered changes in July, warning the district could face penalties. Board members argued that reversing the policy would conflict with federal court rulings supporting transgender students’ rights to use facilities aligned with their gender identity.

In September, the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights concluded that the district discriminated against male students by failing to investigate complaints about sharing locker rooms with a transgender student, while thoroughly examining complaints filed by the female student involved.

The policy also drew scrutiny from Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin, who asked the state attorney general to investigate claims of retaliation against students and parents opposing the policy. Attorney General Jason Miyares later stated that evidence showed the school system had punished students for expressing discomfort over the locker room situation.