The Arlington School Board meeting room was packed. There were the usual announcements as the new school year was about to begin: excellence awards for schools in the district - one of the best in the state - and “popsicles on the playground” were on the agenda. But this meeting was different. Thirty-three speakers had signed up to voice opinions about the issue of Transgender students being treated as the gender of their choice in school spaces. The Lieutenant Governor of Virginia was one of the speakers. 

Most speakers were in favor of maintaining current policy despite the threat from the Department of

Ashley Hendricks holds a sign saying “safety for girls.” She was part of the group that came to the meeting with Winsome Earle-Sears (R), candidate for governor. 

 

Education to withdraw funding to Arlington Public Schools and other school districts in Northern Virginia. 

APS Superintendent Dr. Francisco Duràn told the crowd, “Contrary to the Department’s assertion that APS is in violation of Title IX, our policy is consistent with both state and federal law, including the Virginia Values Act, and it is also supported by recent court decisions affirming protections for students.” (Title IX, which was passed in July 1972 as part of the Education Amendments of 1972, prohibits discrimination based on sex in any education program or activity that receives federal funding.) Both Duràn and the school board chair, Bethany Zecher Sutton, made clear the APS commitment to protecting the well-being of every student in APS.  

Several parents bemoaned the unprecedented interference on the part of the federal government in local school decisions; some students talked about how much the APS inclusive policy meant to them. One intersex individual explained they were the living embodiment of the fact that there are more than two biological sexes. (Intersex people are born with variations in sex characteristics like chromosomes, genitals, or reproductive organs that don't fit typical male or female definitions.) 

Monique “Moe” Bryant, candidate for school board, said: “Our children, our schools, and our community are not a political playground. When we talk about Title IX and other federal protections, we are talking about something deeply important: the dignity of every child. These protections are not political tools, they are promises, promises that equity, safety and opportunity are fundamental to education. My father grew up here in Arlington during segregation. He knew what it meant when a community failed to stand for equity.”

Magdalena Parkhurst, a teacher at Wakefield High School hailed the policy of inclusivity at APS and the need to give students the freedom to practice expressing their individual liberties. “As a social studies teacher, I have to say these are the same liberties found in the U.S. Constitution which I am legally required to teach them about every day.” She continued, “We all know there was a time in this country when we didn’t let everyone go to the same bathroom because we deemed them less acceptable or less human, and for a long time, we also made the argument that these people, often black people, could not go to these bathrooms because it might be dangerous for white women. That same argument is being echoed here today.” 

Lieutenant Governor and candidate for governor, Winsome Earle-Sears (R) told the crowd, “Let me tell you what is happening in our schools now is just wrong. It’s dangerous, it’s insane, and it has to stop. Here’s the truth. There are two sexes and for generations we’ve understood this, that they deserve their own sports teams, their own locker rooms, their own bathrooms. That’s not discrimination, it’s common sense. But here in Arlington, the trust between parents and schools is being broken.  When girls lose their privacy, when boys are punished for speaking plain truth, when parents are silenced for simply asking questions, that’s not education, that’s indoctrination. APS, you are one of five school districts in Virginia that are in violation of Title 9. And by refusing to reverse your reckless policies, you are failing our daughters and risking losing millions of dollars in funding for our children.” 

Earle-Sears brought students and parents, some holding pre-printed signs that said “Parents for Winsome Earle-Sears” to the Arlington school board meeting. One of these young women, Ashley Hendricks articulated anger over the idea that hard-won girls’ athletic participation would be compromised by allowing biological males compete against females. She cited the first woman to run the Boston Marathon, Catherine Switzer, as someone who was able to compete as a woman in what had been a man’s sport. “Women have fought tirelessly in the United States for decades to become participants in athletic activities and opportunities. Now our girls are unsafe, disadvantaged, and forced to grapple with ideologies in school. As a young woman myself, I reiterate that we need to honor women like Catherine Switzer, not by blurring the boundaries they fought for but by protecting them. Every athlete deserves a space to compete, but our girls deserve a fair one.” 

Hendricks, and the group of Sears supporters, departed together with Sears once Sears had spoken. 

APS is not the only school district under fire from the Department of Education: five Northern Virginia school systems have been told to cease all current policies that protect the rights and dignity of transgender and nonbinary students. Earle-Sears has appeared at those districts’ school board meetings, Arlington on Aug. 21, Loudoun on Sept. 9, and outside the board meetings in Prince WIlliam on Sept. 3, and Fairfax County on Sept. 26 and Falls Church on Oct. 3.