Loudoun County, Virginia.
Last night’s school board meeting was primed for confrontation from the outset. Numerous groups gathered in the outside parking lot and a packed house—which would host four hours' worth of public comments—gathered inside the administration building in Ashburn. Several media outlets were present as well as Loudoun County sheriffs and state police. Board members had also received threats.
Just over an hour into the public comments section, the board voted unanimously to close public comments after it had warned the assembly three times to maintain decorum. As the board members left the dais, supporters of board recalls erupted and took over the room. The bedlam lasted another half hour, during which recall groups continued to speak at the microphones, circulated petitions, and took footage for campaign videos. Law enforcement eventually cleared the building. Several people were separated and questioned by law enforcement to investigate an assault charge and verbal threats. One arrest was made.
Ever since the pandemic forced school closures, the Loudoun County School Board has been under vicious attacks by animated and well-funded parents for a host of reasons, which have now focused on faux-rage over critical race theory and right-wing Christian values combating Policy 8040, Rights of Transgender and Gender-Expansive Students. It’s a strange mixture since original sin isn’t foreign to Christian thinking, but acknowledging systemic racism is anathema.
Byron Tanner Cross, the physical education teacher who said at an earlier board meeting that he would not use preferred pronouns because it was against his religion, was placed on paid administrative leave. A judge ordered that he be reinstated. While this is a win in the short term for this issue, it prolongs the confrontation between the mandatory implementation of Policy 8040, which is not up for debate, and resistance to following it.
This adds fuel to elected Republican officials, past and present. Scott Pio—who is locally known for being part of the Jeep convoy that flew Trump flags outside Trump’s golf course during protests last summer and at one point was cited after driving up on a curb to intimidate a protester—is the Republican candidate seeking to unseat Democratic state Del. David Reid (VA-32). Pio used his time in the public comments to present a hypothetical to the board: “If I declare I am a woman today, can I follow you into the women’s bathroom?” He went on to elaborate that in his view of how Policy 8040 would be implemented, he would now be able to change in girls’ locker rooms, go on a class or sports trip, and sleep in overnight accommodations with other girls.
At least half the public comments before the session was closed were people speaking in support of the policy and the board. This included members who belonged to Christian churches, worked in the public school system, and had transgender or gender-fluid children. Some members spoke from their experiences in counseling, mental health, and social science. They cited studies, including those done by the state, that pointed to the positive effects Policy 8040 would bring into effect, saying: “Policy 8040 would prevent teen suicides.” But such fact-based, experienced-based testimony fell on deaf ears and made little impact on the opposition.
Instead, members touting knowledge of World War II and Chinese foreign policy spoke about Marxist and Nazi connections to critical race theory and compared the board’s control over education to the government-mandated education in China.
Kim P. Kim speaks with Reuters before entering the School Board meeting. Moments before, a person in line seeing their rainbow colors said, “I’ve lived in Loudoun for 40 years. If you shove your opinions down my throat you’ll lick my 12 -gauge.”
I met Kim P. Kim, a local resident of Leesburg with school-aged children attending public school, and sat next to her inside. She had contacted the Board twice to support them, Policy 8040, and to voice her concern over Coach Tanner’s statements. She believed they were well-intended but “outdated and harmful” to her children and other students. Speaking at this meeting she said, “expert consensus clearly stands in favor of policies that fully support and affirm transgender children.” She thanked the board for “listening to the experts and accepting truth…and choosing a path that protects our most vulnerable students.” She closed by saying, “History is rife with examples of suffering inflicted onto the innocent due to ignorant and outdated thinking. Thank you for helping us begin to end another one of those shameful periods in history.”
A few other people called for cooling tempers or made nonpartisan, noninflammatory statements supporting children’s well-being. One woman spoke about how in her capacity in a private, religious setting, she uses preferred first names as a way to accommodate comfort without having to get bogged down by the pronoun issues. These well-intentioned statements also fell on deaf ears.
The final straw was a statement by Dick Black, a Republican former senator who instigated the vote to close the public section.
It is hard to see the end-game here. Petitions to remove school board members originally targeted five or six members whose names appeared on Facebook groups seeking to target anti-CRT supporters, which may now extend to the whole board. They must still be decided by a court judge. Cross’ civil suit is still pending, as is the reaction to the implementation of Policy 8040 for the upcoming school year.
But the GOP thinks that if this raucous energy stirs up its base here in Virginia, which has its governor’s race this year, it could be their national strategy for the midterms next year.
In the meantime, we are left with moments like this:
And this:
Thursday, Jun 24, 2021 · 2:25:10 AM +00:00
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Jay Cuasay
This is a minor update. There has been some discrepancy as to whether one or two people were arrested after the School Board public comments. Anna-Lysa Gayle of ABC 7 On Your Side reports that “Scott T. Smith, 48, of Leesburg, was arrested and charged with Obstruction of Justice and Disorderly Conduct, according to a sheriff's office spokesperson.” She mentions but does not name a second man, who was issued a summons for trespassing and released on the scene. John Tigges appears to be the man. There are videos showing his confrontation with police and some sources that reported on it. Those sources don’t usually mention Mr. Smith and present Mr. Tigges more as a victim. The best I can cite is this.
