The 2025 Fall semester is just starting for students across America, and two boys at Stone Bridge High School in Ashburn, Virginia have already been suspended. In fact, this decision came down during summer break.

Loudoun County Public Schools (LCPS) called the shots. Two boys expressed concern about a biological girl, who identified as a male, using the boys’ locker rooms at school. The transgender-identifying student filmed the boys as they expressed their discomfort. It didn’t take long for LCPS, which has Policy 8040 in place that allows students to use the bathroom that aligns with their so-called gender-identity, to launch a Title IX investigation. Their conclusion? The boys, not wanting to share a private space with a biological female, were guilty of sexual harassment and sex-based discrimination.

Following this verdict, LCPS’s Title IX Office issued them a 10-day, in-school suspension for violating their transgender policy with their vocal concerns. They aren’t sitting back, however, waiting for the suspension to be over. Rather, the boys have teamed up with Josh Hetzler, an attorney representing them as they draft a corrective action plan with school administrators. If not handled, the boys’ suspension could end up on their permanent records, which parents have deemed unlawful.

LCPS may have ruled in favor of the trans-identifying students, but the two boys are anything but on their own in this fight. Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares (R), for example, has made clear her condemnation of LCPS’s decision and policy. “I can’t imagine how uncomfortable it would be to have a member of the opposite sex in the locker room where people were obviously changing clothes, and then later, on top of that, recording it,” he said. “Even though they’re the victims in this, somehow, they’re being treated as perpetrators. I think this is an example, yet again, a school district that tries to be so open-minded their brain falls out.”

Back in June, when this case first broke, Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin (R) instructed Miyares to investigate LCPS. At the time, Miyares said his team had found “no corroborating evidence … that [the boys] had sexually harassed anyone,” or “that they had done anything even approaching what would be considered sex discrimination.” According to Miyares, the “reality” is that Loudoun County Public Schools “have bad policy and bad judgment.”

This is not the first time LCPS has been in the hot seat. In fact, it’s not even the first time this specific school, Stone Bridge, has either. In 2021, Stone Bridge High School made headlines after a biological boy wearing a skirt assaulted a female student in the women’s locker room. That incident was the result of LCPS’s allegedly “inclusive” gender policies, and the boy who assaulted the female student was hardly punished. Rather, he was sent off to Broad Run High School in October, also in Loudoun County, where he went on to sexually assault another female student. Eventually, enough controversy erupted that the male student was charged and convicted in juvenile court for both assaults.

While Virginia officials have taken these matters seriously, the White House has gotten involved as well. Not only has President Donald Trump issued executive orders combating policies that favor gender identity over biological reality, but the Department of Education has launched several investigations into states and school districts to address this issue. For schools that refuse to comply, their federal funding and other consequences are on the table. And when it comes to Virginia, the administration has not been any less resolute.

In July, they set their sights on Fairfax County Public Schools, Prince William County Public Schools, Alexandria City Public Schools, and Arlington Public Schools — all for potential bathroom and locker room policies that violate Title IX. It was on July 25 that “the Department’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) concluded its investigation of the Divisions and found that they violated Title IX by allowing students to occupy intimate facilities based on ‘gender identity,’ not biological sex.”

Yet, on Friday, despite the investigation’s conclusion and the threat of losing their federal funding, all five school districts doubled down, stating they would keep their gender policies in place. Loudoun was the first district to announce their decision, with the school board voting 6-3 to keep its policy.

As department spokesperson Madi Biedermann stated, “The U.S. Department of Education generously granted an extension for five Northern Virginia School Districts to come into compliance with Title IX and follow federal law — unfortunately, the additional time did not result in a fruitful outcome.” She added, “The Agency will commence administrative proceedings to [a]ffect the suspension or termination of federal financial assistance to these divisions. The Virginia districts will have to defend their embrace of radical gender ideology over ensuring the safety of their students.”

According to Arlington Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Francisco Duran and Board Chair Bethany Zecher Sutton, part of their decision to maintain their gender policy despite federal orders ties to the fact that this debate is headed to the U.S. Supreme Court. “In responding to the US Department of Education,” the two officials wrote, “we have noted that the U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments this year and make a decision whether Title IX restricts or protects access to facilities based on gender identity. Until then, we will comply with current laws with respect to Title IX, including the Virginia Values Act.”

Nonetheless, Secretary of Education Linda McMahon commented further, stating that “states and school districts cannot openly violate federal law while simultaneously receiving federal funding with no additional scrutiny. The Northern Virginia School Divisions that are choosing to abide by woke gender ideology in place of federal law must now prove they are using every single federal dollar for a legal purpose.”

McMahon concluded, “We have given these Northern Virginia School Divisions every opportunity to rectify their policies which blatantly violate Title IX. Today’s accountability measures are necessary because they have stubbornly refused to provide a safe environment for young women in their schools.”