Prince William County, Virginia, school board approves LGBT protections for students, staff

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Prince William school board approves LGBT protections for students, staff

Antonio Olivo and Moriah Balingit June 21 at 9:59 PM

A divided Prince William County School Board on Wednesday approved anti-discrimination protections for LGBT students and employees, taking a stand on an issue that has roiled districts across the country.

The topic has particular resonance in Virginia’s second-largest county, where transgender former journalist Danica Roem is seeking to oust Del. Robert G. Marshall (R-Prince William) in November’s elections. Roem has based part of her campaign on Marshall’s efforts to pass a state law requiring students to use school bathrooms that correspond with their biological sex.

Both Roem, a Democrat, and Marshall witnessed Wednesday night’s vote along with hundreds of others, listening as board members weighed the implications of including sexual orientation and gender preference to the school district’s nondiscrimination policy.

The change, which the board approved 5 to 3, would offer blanket protections against LGBT discrimination. But it specifically instructs the superintendent not to change the system’s policy on bathroom use, which is for situations to be handled by school principals on a case-by-case basis, in consultation with students’ families and administrators.
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Antonio covers government, politics and other regional issues in Fairfax County. He worked in Los Angeles, New York and Chicago before joining the Post in September of 2013. Follow @aolivo

Moriah Balingit writes about education for the Post. Follow @ByMoriah

[Behind the Aegis]

1. I graduated HS there.

Awesome!