Virginia Supreme Court takes case against Fairfax County School Board anti-discrimination policy
The Virginia Supreme Court has decided to take a case against the Fairfax County School Board regarding its anti-discrimination policies. The conservative non-profit organization Liberty Counsel filed a lawsuit against the school board after it included "gender identity," "gender expression" and "sexual orientation" to its policy and student handbook.
Mat Staver, founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel, presented his arguments before a three-judge panel to persuade the Virginia Supreme Court to take the case. The lawsuit was previously dismissed by a circuit court citing that the case must be filed within 30 days of the school board's action.
The Liberty Counsel cited "Dillon's Rule," which applies to Virginia, to make its case against the school board's policy. Under "Dillon's Rule," local policies regarding discrimination cannot be stricter than state law. The state law does not include the newly added policies of the school board.
Staver argued that "Dillon's Rule" cannot be limited to 30 days because the school board can pass policies during summer break when no one is present to challenge the new rules.
Staver is pleased by the Supreme Court's decision to take the case.
"This is very good news that the Virginia Supreme Court decided to grant the appeal and will now review the case," said Staver. "The Fairfax Country School Board's lawless act of adding 'gender identity, expression and sexual orientation' to the local policy violates state law and harms children," he continued.
"The fact that the Virginia Supreme Court decided to take up this case should be a warning to other local Virginia school boards and government bodies to back away from following the path of Fairfax County," he added.
Staver is representing an underage student and his parents who are using the pseudonyms Jack, John and Jane Doe. Andrea Lafferty, president of the Traditional Values Coalition, is also listed as one of the plaintiffs.
The Fairfax County School Board included "sexual orientation" to its anti-discrimination policy in late 2014. The board added "gender identity" and "gender expression" to the policy less than a year later.
