The Trump administration is using the Department of Education to go after Northern Virginia school districts that have implemented policies protecting transgender students, a move that aligns with the president’s broader push to strip away LGBTQ+ rights. Washington, D.C., CBS affiliate WUSA reports that five school districts—Arlington, Alexandria, Fairfax, Loudoun, and Prince William counties—are under federal investigation after a complaint was filed by America First Legal, a far right-wing group led by President Donald Trump’s Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller.
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The complaint argues that allowing transgender students to use facilities that align with their gender identity violates Title IX, the federal civil rightslaw that prohibits sex-based discrimination in education. Miller’s group contends that these policies “erase the very concept of biological sex” and give transgender students so-called “greater rights” than their cisgender peers. The investigation follows Trump’s January 29 executive order, which attempts to ban gender-inclusive policies in schools and mandate that students be recognized strictly by their sex assigned at birth.
Related: Donald Trump has begun eroding federal LGBTQ+ protections through executive orders
According toThe Washington Post, spokespeople for the Arlington and Fairfax public school districts have defended their protections for transgender youth ahead of the investigations.
"We firmly stand behind our nondiscrimination policies and pride ourselves on providing safe, welcoming schools for all students," Arlington Public Schools spokesman Frank Bellavia said Friday. "We follow all federal laws with respect to Title IX."
School leaders in the targeted districts have emphasized that creating inclusive environments for all students is not only a moral imperative but a legal obligation. Fairfax County Public Schools said that its policies comply with state and federal laws and binding court precedent. Prince William County, Alexandria, and Loudoun schools echoed similar sentiments, indicating that they would cooperate with the investigation while maintaining their commitment to protecting all students.
Related: Trump signs executive order targeting transgender students, their teachers, and their schools
The Trump administration’s crackdown on transgender-inclusive education policies is part of a broader assault on LGBTQ+ rights since the president returned to office. On his first day in office, Trump signed an executive order categorizing all males as “men” and all females as “women,” effectively denying the existence of transgender and nonbinary people.
He signed an order banning transgender women from women’s sports and another ordering federal agencies to remove references to gender identity from official documents and historic sites, including the Stonewall Inn’s National Park Service page.
The administration’s weaponization of the Department of Education comes despite Trump’s repeated calls to abolish the department entirely. On the campaign trail, he vowed to dismantle it and hand over education oversight to the states. In recent comments, Trump indicated he still intends to eliminate the agency. Elon Musk, the billionaire Trump supporter who runs the extra-governmental Department of Government Efficiency, has promised to “delete” the department.
The U.S. Supreme Court has previously ruled that federal law protects transgender students, and courts have repeatedly struck down attempts to roll back those protections.
Related: What can trans people do about Trump’s executive orders? Be plaintiffs, says Lambda Legal
The move is the latest in a relentless, politically motivated attack on transgender youth, coming from an administration determined to roll back progress and erase trans people from public life.
Since returning to the White House, Trump has launched an all-out offensive against transgender Americans, issuing a slew of executive orders aimed at stripping away protections. His administration has ordered federal agencies to cease recognizing gender identity in official documents, including passports, Social Security records, and government employee identification. Another directive has barred federally funded homeless shelters from housing transgender people based on their gender identity, forcing trans women to stay in men’s shelters and vice versa, regardless of safety concerns.
Trump reinstated a ban on transgender people serving openly in the U.S. military, reversing policies enacted under the Biden administration. The Department of Health and Human Services has also been directed to roll back nondiscrimination protections for transgender people in health care, allowing doctors and hospitals to deny care based on gender identity.
Trump’s orders have also extended into the criminal justice system. A directive issued in early February requires federal prisons to house transgender inmates based strictly on sex assigned at birth, a rollback that LGBTQ+ advocates warn will put incarcerated transgender people at increased risk of violence and sexual assault.
As Trump’s administration continues to push its anti-transgender agenda, legal experts and civil rights groups are preparing for a series of court battles to challenge these policies. Meanwhile, transgender Americans—especially youth—are left to navigate an increasingly hostile political landscape in which their rights and protections are under direct assault from the federal government.
