School Punishes Christian Boys While Exonerating Muslim Over Bathroom Wars

The father of a high school boy punished by the school district for expressing shock at seeing a girl in the boys' locker room says he would take his son's case to the Supreme Court, if necessary, as his lawyer says the case illustrates "blatant religious discrimination."

"Are you in this for the long haul? If it ends up having to be a lawsuit, if you end up having to appeal, you'd go all the way to the Supreme Court?" The Daily Signal asked Sean Wolfe, the punished boy's father, in an interview at Stone Bridge High School Wednesday.

"Yes," he replied. "I think as a father, that is a father's duty, and we need men and women to stand up for our children."

Wolfe had spoken during a press conference at the school organized by the Family Foundation of Virginia. The Founding Freedoms Law Center, the Family Foundation's legal arm, is representing his son, who is one of three boys who shared their surprise at seeing a girl in the boys' locker room at Stone Bridge.

The girl, who identifies as a boy, had filmed the encounter, even though that violates Loudoun County Public Schools' privacy policy. The school system did not investigate her, but instead brought claims against the boys under Title IX, a federal law banning discrimination on the basis of sex.

Loudon County Public Schools later dropped the claims against one boy, who is Muslim, while not only keeping the original charge but adding another against the two other boys, who are Christian.

"We think it's blatant religious discrimination," Josh Hetzler, the boys' lawyer, told The Daily Signal in an interview before the press conference.

While the school system brought "identical facts" against all three boys, it eventually dropped the case against the Muslim boy. While the district "didn't say Muslim," Hetzler said "that was the only difference we could find."

While the lawyer said exonerating the Muslim boy "was the right thing," he faulted Loudon County Public Schools for keeping the cases against the two Christian boys.

On Friday night, Loudoun County Public Schools found both the Christian boys guilty of Title IX sexual harassment and sex-based discrimination, according to Hetzler. The district suspended Wolfe's son for 10 days, ordered him to avoid contact with the girl who identifies as a boy, and required him to develop a "corrective action plan" with the district to avoid such behavior in the future.

While Wolfe's son remains at Stone Bridge High School, the other Christian boy has since moved.

"According to their rules, they can drop a Title IX investigation if someone moves or disenrolls," Hetzler explained. Yet he said Loudon County decided, "Nope, we're going to keep him on. Not only did they find him guilty, but then they decided to suspend him for 10 days, even though they knew he's no longer at the school."

"It seems vindictive to us," the lawyer added. The Title IX finding, if finalized, will appear on the boy's permanent record.

At the press conference, Hetzler announced that the school board had temporarily lifted the suspension while the boys appealed the finding inside the public school system. The Founding Freedoms Law Firm and America First Legal threatened to file a lawsuit if Loudon County does not drop the Title IX claims.

Loudon County Public Schools' Policy 8040 allows students to use their chosen names and gender pronouns, and opens sports, restrooms, and locker rooms to students on the basis of claimed gender identity, rather than biological sex. The policy drew scrutiny in May 2021, when a 15-year-old male student forced a girl to commit sex acts in the girls bathroom at Stone Bridge. The school district moved the male student to Broad Run High School, where he then sexually assaulted another girl in a girls restroom in October of that year.

The Loudoun County Juvenile Court had found the perpetrator "not innocent" of charges of forcible sodomy and forcible fellatio. The student also pleaded "no contest" to charges of abduction and sexual battery on Oct. 6. That case spurred the parental rights movement that elevated Republican Glenn Youngkin in the 2021 gubernatorial election.

The Department of Education has withheld federal funds from Loudoun County after finding that Policy 8040 violates Title IX.

Wolfe, the boy's father, agreed with Hetzler that the case may involve religious discrimination.

"I think there's a potential for that, correct," he told The Daily Signal when asked about the discrimination claim. He also said Loudon County Public Schools seems to be hostile against his son.

"I personally believe that the whole investigation process was very biased," he said.

When asked how the situation makes him feel, the father expressed sadness but also pride in his son.

"I'm saddened, disheartened, that we're going through this as a family, but at the same time, I am proud that my son is willing to speak up for the truth," Wolfe said.

Originally published at The Daily Signal