This reportedly comes after the conservative nonprofit America First Legal filed a complaint accusing several schools in Virginia of keeping policies promoting gender identity in place in violation of the president's mandate.
In the same state where the Loudoun County Public School District tried to cover up the part its transgender bathroom policy played in the sexual assault of two girls, Jen McDougal recently shared with Fox & Friends about her encounter with a registered sex offender at an aquatic center operated by Arlington Public Schools.
"In September of 2024, my daughter was changing after swim class. We walked into the locker room, and there was a naked man standing in the middle of the room surrounded by other little girls changing [and] their moms," she detailed. "It was a very awkward and scary moment for everyone."
No one seemed to know what to do but hurry and get out.
"It was eerily quiet," McDougal accounted. "It's not usually a quiet environment."
Her daughter broke the silence when they got to the car.
"She just said, 'I can't stop seeing it,'" the mom relayed.
At that point, she remembers switching out of protective mode. "I was angry," she shared.
When McDougal talked with pool management, she was told the man was allowed to undress in the women's locker room because he is transgender.
The Arlington superintendent has since posted more signage in the aquatic center and has pledged to work with government partners in the county to keep things like this from happening again.
Still, Arlington Public Schools will continue to foster "an inclusive community for all," which means this kind of thing will be allowed to continue.
McDougal says this "identity theft" is loophole that needs to be closed. Meanwhile, she is teaching her daughter that she never has to stay anywhere she feels unsafe.
"If we're teaching our children how to be independent and do things on their own, and we send them into that environment where they think that they just have to accept what's there and stay and get through it, you're just basically telling everyone that their feelings, their thoughts don't matter," McDougal posed.
The enforcement investigation, conducted by the Education Department's Office for Civil Rights, includes Arlington County Public Schools, Alexandria City Public Schools, Fairfax County Public Schools, Loudoun County Public Schools, and Prince William County Public Schools.
If you don't like what your government is doing, speak up
On the West Coast, Republicans in California are fighting to stop gender ideology from infiltrating schools with three different bills.
Greg Burt, president of the California Family Council, says the first bill deals with the transgender teachings being pushed in California public schools.
"AB 600 says that parents can now opt out of any transgender lessons or concepts if that is being taught in their school," he explains. "Currently, opt out is not an option for parents."
And as parents are losing custody of the children whose gender confusion is not affirmed, AB 579 (Yaeli’s Law) is related to child abuse.
The third bill seeks to repeal a controversial section of the California Education Code (221.5(f). Burt says it is about keeping the sexes separated in private spaces – which are private for a reason.
"It deals with the education system that for the last 10 years lets people be on sports teams or any sex-segregated thing at school … based not on their sex, but on their gender ideology," he details. "This bill is going to take it back to how it was 10 years ago and separate sports and bathrooms and showers by sex."
His organization hopes the public is starting to wake up, and they want to encourage the conservative Christians in the state to not be shamed into silence.
"It's their responsibility to stand up and protect their girls and protect the public," says Burt.
But knowing the state's 40 million people also includes a number of liberals, his team does not expect these bills to "fly through" the legislature.
Regardless of what happens, filing bills like these lets the public know that there are legislative efforts that reflect the public attitude, which will hopefully persuade more people to enter the public debate.
"That's what these bills are about," Burt tells AFN. "Even if they don't go anywhere, these bills are about starting a conversation that we expect to change the public's mind."
