Fairfax County Public Schools faces a lawsuit over policies which allegedly force women students to share bathrooms and punishment students who refuse to use gender affirming pronouns. This could become a test case nationally for Title IX and free speech.

The lawsuit was filed by America First Legal Friday on behalf of Jane Doe, a former student. It claims that the district violated First, 14th Amendments as well as Title IX and the Virginia Constitution, by prioritizing “gender identity” over biological sex or religious conscience.

Ian Prior, senior attorney at AFL, said that public schools could not force students to echo an ideology they disagree with or to sacrifice their privacy in order to appease leftist bureaucrats. This case is about restoring fairness, sanity and constitutional rights to every student.

The lawsuit is the second complaint that the district has received in the last few weeks. This comes amid a wider funding battle between the Trump administration and the district over Title IX compliance.

Title IX claim focuses on restroom access

The 34 page complaint revolves around an incident that occurred at West Springfield High School. Doe claims to have encountered a male biological student in the girls’ bathroom. The student in question, Richard Roe, did not identify himself as transgender. However he said that he was afraid to use the boys’ bathroom due to bullying. Fairfax officials let Roe continue to use the girls’ restroom, but instructed Doe to instead use a bathroom for single occupancy or in the nurse’s office.

The lawsuit claims that the accommodation infringed on Doe’s Title IX rights by allowing a male student to access spaces reserved for females while denying equal protections to female students.

The complaint claims that “the School Board provided safety and comfort to a male student at the expense to the girls, who were supposed have protected access to these facilities.”

Roe was allowed to use the girls’ bathroom despite the repeated objections of Doe’s mom. This is despite the fact that he admitted he used it out of fear for his safety and not because if based on gender.

The Trump administration removed language about “gender identity” from Title IX regulations enacted by former president Joe Biden earlier this year and replaced it with language that defined sex as strictly biological male or woman. The new regulations prohibited schools from forcing students to use pronouns that affirm their gender and prevented transgender students accessing locker rooms or restrooms that did not match their biological sex.

Religious conflict: Compelled pronouns

AFL also filed a lawsuit challenging Fairfax County regulations that require students to use their classmates’ “preferred names” and pronouns, regardless of biological gender. Doe, who is a Roman Catholic, claimed that these mandates violated religious beliefs, and forced her self-censorship in class.

According to the Student Rights & Responsibilities Guide, even unintentional “misgendering” can result in suspension. Doe says she was forced to affirm the policy by a digital test that included questions like a true or false choice on whether “a child has the right to use their preferred name and pronoun”.

Doe refused the complete test after being marked as incorrect for selecting “false”.

The lawsuit claims that teachers also required students to fill out pronoun preference forms and share their pronouns in public. This is a practice the complaint describes as a “religious” test imposed by the government.

Andrew Block, AFL lawyer, said that “these policies do not just chill speech – they force students to endorse belief they don’t have.” “That’s unconstitutional.”

Recent legal setback adds pressure on district

Fairfax County suffered a major defeat in its legal battle with the Department of Education.

The department determined in July that the district’s policies on locker rooms and restrooms violated Title IX because they allowed biological males to enter spaces reserved for women. Fairfax refused to comply, and instead sued to stop the department from stopping federal funding.

The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the school board’s emergency motion to obtain an injunction last week. This means that the funding cutoff will remain in place.

Similar policies are being scrutinized in other districts of Northern Virginia including Arlington, Loudoun and Prince William.

Merrifield

In the lawsuit, Doe V. Fairfax County Board a jury trial is sought, as well as nominal damages and declaratory relief. The outcome of this case could establish national precedents in terms of compelled speech and religious freedom, as well as continuity of Title IX application.

The school board is yet to respond to the lawsuit. AFL litigates the case with Dunlap, Bennett & Ludwig, a law firm.