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Virginia ACLU urges Loudoun School Board to add LGBTQ protection to its policies
Virginia ACLU urges Loudoun School Board to add LGBTQ protection to its policies
Friday, Dec. 23, 2016 by Hannah Dellinger, Times-Mirror Staff Writer
The American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia on Wednesday sent a letter to Loudoun County Attorney Leo Rogers advising that the county's School Board not only has the legal authority to add protection against harassment and discrimination for LGBTQ employees to its policies, but also an obligation to do so. ... The School Board debated adding LGBTQ employee protection at its Nov. 30 meeting. Some board members said they didn’t want to add protection beyond what state and federal law require. Other board members objected to the proposed policy amendment because they said they didn’t want to “put labels” on staff or students.
A large group of parents, students, teachers, Loudoun residents, people from surrounding counties and a Virginia delegate came to the board’s Dec. 13 meeting to voice their concerns and feelings about the issue. Most of the people at the meeting showed support for adding the protections.
“It is the ACLU of Virginia’s position that the School Board not only has the authority to implement such protections under Virginia law, but that it should amend its non-discrimination policies to reflect its current obligation to protect students and personnel from sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title IX of the of the Education Amendments of 1972 and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution,” reads the ACLU letter. ... The letter, written by Gail Deady, Virginia ACLU’s secular women’s rights legal fellow, also urges the board to consider amending Loudoun County Public School’s student non-discrimination and anti-bullying policies to protect LGBTQ students.
Deady said her organization is offering guidance to the board because she said “misinformation” about the legality of the amendments was shared at its last meeting during public comment. ... Virginia state Del. Dave LaRock (R-33rd) told the board Dec. 13 it has “no legal authority” to add LGBTQ protection to its policies.
Friday, Dec. 23, 2016 by Hannah Dellinger, Times-Mirror Staff Writer
The American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia on Wednesday sent a letter to Loudoun County Attorney Leo Rogers advising that the county's School Board not only has the legal authority to add protection against harassment and discrimination for LGBTQ employees to its policies, but also an obligation to do so. ... The School Board debated adding LGBTQ employee protection at its Nov. 30 meeting. Some board members said they didn’t want to add protection beyond what state and federal law require. Other board members objected to the proposed policy amendment because they said they didn’t want to “put labels” on staff or students.
A large group of parents, students, teachers, Loudoun residents, people from surrounding counties and a Virginia delegate came to the board’s Dec. 13 meeting to voice their concerns and feelings about the issue. Most of the people at the meeting showed support for adding the protections.
“It is the ACLU of Virginia’s position that the School Board not only has the authority to implement such protections under Virginia law, but that it should amend its non-discrimination policies to reflect its current obligation to protect students and personnel from sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title IX of the of the Education Amendments of 1972 and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution,” reads the ACLU letter. ... The letter, written by Gail Deady, Virginia ACLU’s secular women’s rights legal fellow, also urges the board to consider amending Loudoun County Public School’s student non-discrimination and anti-bullying policies to protect LGBTQ students.
Deady said her organization is offering guidance to the board because she said “misinformation” about the legality of the amendments was shared at its last meeting during public comment. ... Virginia state Del. Dave LaRock (R-33rd) told the board Dec. 13 it has “no legal authority” to add LGBTQ protection to its policies.
Dave LaRock ... he's been mentioned at DU before.
2 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
Blast from the past: Dave LaRock from five years ago.
Planes, Trains, and Conspiracy Theories
Loudoun County's Fight Over Metro's Silver Line.
Simon van Zuylen-Wood — Jun 29, 2012 12 AM
[font size=1]Loudon Proud: The proposed Silver Line extension has a culture war brewing in the District's Virginia exurbs.
Photograph by Darrow Montgomery[/font]
....
Hamilton home builder Dave LaRock, who organizes the county’s opt-out group and shuttles his giant Tax Pig from protest to protest on a flat-bed truck, estimates that Metro will increase the average household tax burden by $300 to $500 per year. But he’s not in this fight because of the money. “I probably do agree with libertarians for 85 percent of this, but I’m really more driven by my moral compass,” says LaRock, 55. “Lots more business activity does not improve the standard of living for anybody. Growth doesn’t equal progress.”
Loudoun County's Fight Over Metro's Silver Line.
Simon van Zuylen-Wood — Jun 29, 2012 12 AM
[font size=1]Loudon Proud: The proposed Silver Line extension has a culture war brewing in the District's Virginia exurbs.
Photograph by Darrow Montgomery[/font]
....
Hamilton home builder Dave LaRock, who organizes the county’s opt-out group and shuttles his giant Tax Pig from protest to protest on a flat-bed truck, estimates that Metro will increase the average household tax burden by $300 to $500 per year. But he’s not in this fight because of the money. “I probably do agree with libertarians for 85 percent of this, but I’m really more driven by my moral compass,” says LaRock, 55. “Lots more business activity does not improve the standard of living for anybody. Growth doesn’t equal progress.”
The site was at http://www.LoudounOptOut.com. I don't know if it has been kept up.