Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares announced Monday that his office had uncovered “a disturbing misuse of authority” in Loudoun County Public Schools’ (LCPS) decision to open a Title IX investigation into three male students who objected to the presence of a girl in their locker room.
As The New American previously reported, the Stone Bridge High School students’ remarks were secretly captured on video in the locker room by the male-identifying female student. That student later accused the boys — two Christians and a Muslim — of making disparaging comments about her, threatening her with violence, and “misgendering” her. While she was punished with an in-school suspension for violating LCPS policy in recording the video, the boys were subjected to a Title IX investigation for sexual harassment.
On May 6, after the boys’ parents went public with the story, Governor Glenn Youngkin directed Miyares to investigate LCPS’ handling of the matter.
In a Monday press release, Miyares said, “The investigation reveals a disturbing misuse of authority by Loudoun County Public Schools, where students appear to have been targeted not for misconduct, but for expressing their discomfort for being forced to share a locker room with a member of the opposite sex.”
You Know I’m Bad, I’m Bad
Miyares told WJLA Monday:
What we have found is one, the boys indeed are the victims in this situation. There is no evidence, no corroborating evidence that we have found that they had sexually harassed anyone, that they had done anything even approaching what would be considered sex discrimination. The reality is, is that Loudoun County Schools, what we have found, have bad policy and bad judgment.
The “bad policy” is LCPS’ Policy 8040, which requires schools to allow students to use restrooms and locker rooms corresponding to “their consistently asserted gender identity.”
The “bad judgment” is opening an investigation into boys who only behaved as any normal human being would under the circumstances — and whose accuser has a history of making unsubstantiated charges.
According to Miyares’ report, the female student started using the boys’ locker room during physical-education classes around September 2023. In October 2024, the girl filed a Title IX complaint against one of the boys after he told a friend he was “uncomfortable sharing the boys’ locker room with a girl.” After questioning the boy, Assistant Principal Lisa Tartaglia told his mother “that he was not in trouble as the claim was ‘unsubstantiated.’”
Meanwhile, another boy told the PE teacher about his faith-based misgivings concerning the girl’s presence in the locker room. The teacher essentially told him he was out of luck because that was the policy. In addition, he urged him to keep quiet about the matter, which the student took as a “warning … that he could be disciplined for speaking his mind,” reads Miyares’ report.
Locker-room Talk
After President Donald Trump issued executive orders aimed at undoing lunacy like Policy 8040, the boys believed they were free to speak their minds. How wrong they were!
In March, the girl secretly recorded them in the locker room in violation of LCPS policy. Then she filed a Title IX sexual-harassment complaint against them, alleging they had made disparaging comments and physical threats.
In the course of the school’s investigation into the girl’s claims, administrators apparently discovered another locker-room video that caused them to seek testimony from a fourth boy. Astonishingly, Assistant Principal Calvin Adams told the boy’s parents not to “worry” about the video because “it’s already deleted.” Miyares told WJLA his office “did not receive a response” to its inquiries regarding the potential deletion of evidence.
On May 7 — the day after Youngkin announced the investigation into LCPS — the female student lodged yet another Title IX complaint against one of the male students, accusing him of “consistently misgender[ing]” her in the previous year’s science class.
In interviews with LCPS Deputy Title IX Coordinator Danyelle Reese, the boys denied the allegations against them except to say they had questioned why a girl was in their locker room. The student accused of “misgendering” the female student admitted he might have referred to her with female pronouns but said he would have used male pronouns if she’d asked him to — which she never did.
According to Miyares’ report:
the single available video recording captures only a statement about needing a separate locker room due to the presence of a biological female. Most notably, the video does not record any disparaging remarks, profanity, or any threat against [the female student]. My Office is unaware of any corroborating witnesses who would substantiate [the female student’s] claims.
Yes, Virginia, There Is an Uncle Sam
“Rather than safeguarding the constitutional rights of all students, LCPS appears to be punishing those who hold and express faith-based views,” says Miyares’ press release.
Because of these and other LCPS actions, including those against dissenting teachers and parents, Miyares is referring the matter to the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights and the U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division. Youngkin is also asking the Virginia Superintendent of Public Instruction to take appropriate action.
Said Miyares:
Title IX was never meant to be used as a weapon against free speech or religious convictions. Every student in Virginia deserves the right to speak openly, think freely, and live according to their conscience without fear of retaliation. Protecting those rights is not political — it’s foundational to who we are as Americans.
