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Justice Department Sues Loudoun County Schools Over Alleged Religious Discrimination in Gender-Identity Policy

A prior court order has already halted the suspensions as the clash over Policy 8040 moves through federal court.

Overview

  • The DOJ filed suit and moved to intervene in S.W. v. Loudoun County School Board, alleging the district violated the Equal Protection Clause by penalizing two Christian students for religiously motivated objections.
  • Federal filings say a biologically female student entered the boys’ locker room at Stone Bridge High School and recorded classmates, after which two boys received 10‑day suspensions and were ordered into a Comprehensive Student Support Plan.
  • Justice Department lawyers argue Loudoun recast protected religious expression as “sex-based discrimination” and “sexual harassment” under Policy 8040, which permits facility use and pronouns based on asserted gender identity.
  • Loudoun County Public Schools disputes the allegations, asserting the boys harassed the transgender-identifying student and threatened violence, and citing the student’s recordings as evidence tied to a Title IX complaint.
  • The case is pending in the Eastern District of Virginia, with an October preliminary injunction blocking enforcement of the suspensions and a hearing on the DOJ’s intervention motion scheduled for Dec. 19, after the Education Department’s civil-rights office found in September that the boys were treated inequitably.