Overview

• A protester outside an Arlington County School Board meeting on Thursday held a sign reading, “Hey Winsome, if trans can’t share your bathroom, then Blacks can’t share my water fountain,” and a photo posted to X went viral.
• Leaders from both parties denounced the message, with Winsome Earle-Sears calling it disgusting and Abigail Spanberger labeling it racist and unacceptable, while Gov. Glenn Youngkin and other officials also criticized it.
• The sign-holder told FOX5 the message was intended as satire to provoke discussion about prejudice, a claim that has not been independently verified.
• Earle-Sears’ campaign quickly featured the image in an ad pressing Spanberger, as GOP groups circulated the photo to attack Democrats’ stance on school policies.
• The meeting focused on transgender bathroom policy as Arlington and four other Northern Virginia districts face restricted federal funding after the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights found Title IX violations.