Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares is calling for Northern Virginia school districts to face consequences for defying federal mandates by permitting biological men in female bathrooms and other private spaces.
Fairfax County Public Schools and Arlington County Public Schools permit students to use restrooms and locker rooms according to their gender identity, rather than biological sex. Miyares and the Department of Education contend that this policy violates Title IX.
The Virginia attorney general filed two amicus briefs last week to oppose automatically sending federal funds to the districts, urging courts to let the Department of Education enforce penalties for Title IX violations.
The briefs relate to cases in Fairfax and Arlington counties, where, in one instance, a repeat sex offender accessed a female locker room at Washington-Liberty High School by claiming transgender status.
In another case at West Springfield High School in Fairfax County, a male student was permitted to enter the girls’ locker room and watch them change before a physical education class.
When one girl objected, her teacher reportedly said nothing could be done because the student identified as female.
The Defense of Freedom Institute has since filed a complaint with the Office for Civil Rights on behalf of the girl and her mother, arguing that the school should uphold the law and protect girls’ rights by maintaining locker room access based on biological sex.
The Department of Education designated the districts as high-risk for federal funding over the alleged Title IX violation.
While the districts have not lost funding, they no longer receive it automatically and must instead request reimbursements. In response, both districts have filed emergency injunction requests to access funds upfront.
Miyares told the Washington Examiner that he found it “shocking” the state was even engaging in the debate.
“The idea that you have a situation of a freshman girl that walks into a locker room and complains to her superiors that a boy with facial hair is watching her undress, and the end result from the school to the 14-year-old, ‘undress and change faster,’ this is Exhibit A of what I’ve said before, of people being so open minded their brain falls out,” he said.
Amid his fight against the local schools, the attorney general is also engaged in a fierce battle to hold onto this position as the state’s top law enforcement official with Democrat Jay Jones.
Jones sent controversial text messages that imagined shooting the GOP speaker of the House. The state’s Republican Party launched a $1.5 million ad campaign for Miyares this week targeting Jones over the remarks.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.
