DOJ sues Virginia school board over Christian students' rights

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The Justice Department has filed a lawsuit accusing a school board in Virginia of violating the constitutional rights of two Christian students by enforcing a gender-identity policy that officials say punished them for their religious beliefs.

According to the DOJ, the Loudoun County School Board suspended two Stone Bridge High School boys for 10 days after they reported an incident in the boys’ locker room. A female student had allegedly entered the locker room and recorded audio and video of the boys inside.

Several boys reported the incident, including the two Christian students whose religious beliefs require them to use biologically accurate pronouns and sex-segregated facilities, the lawsuit says.

Loudoun County allegedly applied its Policy 8040 — a gender-identity rule that the DOJ says requires students and staff to "accept and promote gender ideology" regardless of religious beliefs.

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The Loudoun County School Board allegedly "trampled" on the boys' Constitutional rights by enforcing its Policy 8040, a gender-identity rule that the DOJ says requires students and staff to "accept and promote gender ideology" regardless of religious beliefs. (iStock)

"Plaintiffs faced a choice: violate their consciences or stay true to their beliefs," the lawsuit argues.

The two Christian boys were suspended for 10 days and ordered to undergo a "Comprehensive Student Support Plan," the DOJ said. (iStock)

School officials determined the two boys committed "sex-based discrimination" and "sexual harassment," according to the suit. As punishment, the DOJ says the district suspended them for 10 days and ordered them to undergo a "Comprehensive Student Support Plan."

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The Justice Department claims the school board violated the boys’ rights under the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

The DOJ filed on Monday announced the lawsuit against the Loudoun County School Board for its denial of equal protection based on religion. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images, File)

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"Students do not shed their First Amendment rights at the schoolhouse gate," said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division. "Loudoun County’s decision to advance and promote gender ideology tramples on the rights of religious students who cannot embrace ideas that deny biological reality."

The Loudoun County School Board did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.