A mother whose 9-year-old daughter encountered a naked male trans-identified sex offender in a school locker room spoke out at a Virginia school board meeting last week.
Jen McDougal was among several parents who spoke during the Arlington County School Board meeting last Thursday. The mother said that a year had passed since her family stopped registering for swim lessons at Washington Liberty High School in Arlington after an incident involving her then-9-year-old daughter.
“Last September, my daughter and I walked into the locker room, and a biological male who identifies as transgender and who also happened to be a registered sex offender, was standing there completely naked with no regard for the other patrons, among whom were at least a dozen little girls,” McDougal stated.
The mother learned after the incident that multiple women had previously complained about Richard Cox, but no concrete actions were taken. McDougal declared that Cox’s admittance into multiple Arlington County facilities is an example that the school division’s locker and restroom policy is a failure.
“Listen to parents, poll the parents, respect your citizens, empower our youth, and stop making excuses,” the mother stated. “Help your victims find justice and steer those who are directly affected by this change towards safe, private spaces.”
Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, Virginia’s current lieutenant governor and the Republican candidate for governor, also spoke at Thursday’s school board meeting, condemning the school division’s policies as “dangerous” and “just wrong.”
“It’s dangerous, it’s insane, and it has to stop,” Earle-Sears declared.
The Republican candidate’s remarks about Arlington County’s trans policies follow the school division’s recent decision to continue allowing students who identify as the opposite sex to use facilities that align with their gender identity.
The U.S. Department of Education announced on Aug. 19 that it would penalize several Northern Virginia school districts, including Arlington County. The department accused the school district of violating Title IX civil rights law by allowing students to use “intimate facilities” that align with their gender identity.
“Here’s the truth. There are two sexes, boys and girls, and for generations, we’ve understood this — that they deserve their own sports teams, their own locker rooms, their own bathrooms. That’s not discrimination,” Earle-Sears continued.
“It is common sense. But here in Arlington, the trust between parents and schools is being broken when girls lose their privacy, when boys are punished for speaking plain truth, when parents are silenced for simply asking questions,” she added.
Arlington County School Board Chair Bethany Zecher Sutton voiced support for the policy before the public comment portion of the meeting.
“We stand firmly behind our policies that ensure all students can learn in an environment that is safe, inclusive, and free from discrimination,” Sutton said. “We will continue to uphold and defend our current transgender policy, which complies with state and federal law.”
Hans Bauman, a graduate of Arlington County Public Schools and the parent of three children who also attended school in the district, praised the decision to uphold the bathroom policy.
“Thank you for remembering that we are your constituents. Arlington has long stood for universal values that ensure all communities feel welcome and supported,” Bauman said. “Supporting the human rights of all students is core to Arlington’s identity, but standing behind those values when tested is not easy.”
James Rives, an independent candidate running for the Arlington School Board in the Nov. 5 general election, highlighted his background in psychiatry and asserted that the school system’s policies have been a “failure.”
The school board candidate acknowledged that the issue has resulted in a lot of “distress and suffering” and stressed the need for a solution that “protects the safety and rights of all students, and that includes girls.”
“Inclusion is a good thing, but inclusion goes too far when it means males in the girls’ locker room,” Rives said.
During the school board meeting, protesters organized by the Arlington Democratic Committee rallied outside against Earle-Sears, WJLA reports.
One female demonstrator’s sign that drew allegations of racism online reads, “Hey Winsome, if trans can’t share your bathroom, then blacks can’t share my water fountain.” The sign was condemned by Earle-Sears’ gubernatorial opponent, former Rep. Abigail Spanberger, D-Va.
The Arlington Democratic Committee denied having any affiliation with the woman. A 2023 post on the group’s social media appears to show the woman assisting with the distribution of Democratic sample ballots.
Samantha Kamman is a reporter for The Christian Post. She can be reached at: samantha.kamman@christianpost.com. Follow her on Twitter: @Samantha_Kamman
