This article originally appeared here, at washingtonpost.com

Parents across Virginia tell me they want common-sense policies that keep their families safe. Is this too much to ask? Apparently so, because Virginians are up against officials who seem to care more about indoctrinating our children than protecting them.

Case in point: This year, three male Loudoun County Public Schools students expressed discomfort about sharing a locker room with a biological female who identifies as male. Two of the three students were suspended for airing their views.

I wish this were an isolated incident, but at least five Northern Virginia school districts — Loudoun, Fairfax, Arlington, Alexandria and Prince William — seem insufficiently willing to protect female students’ rights. In July, the U.S. Department of Education found that the school districts’ transgender and nonbinary locker room and bathroom policies violate Title IX.

The scrutiny of these schools comes after several years of controversy. An investigation found that Loudoun County Public Schools failed to meet its federal Title IX obligations in 2021, after a male student wearing a skirt assaulted two female students at two different schools. Two senior LCPS officials were indicted on charges related to attempts to cover up the assaults.

In Arlington County, a male sex offender exposed himself to a 9-year-old and her mother in the women’s locker room at Washington-Liberty High School. The man, who had been using the locker room for months, gained access by claiming he was transgender.

How have these five Virginia school districts responded to these revelations? By refusing to change their policies.

In a similar vein, Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares concluded that Roanoke College’s transgender policy allowing a biological male swimmer to switch from the boys’ to the girls’ team discriminated against female swimmers on the basis of sex and violated the Virginia Human Rights Act. The female swimmers might be eligible to seek financial damages — and I hope they do.

Something is wrong with a political culture that ignores these stories and cries “bigot” every time a student, parent or elected official questions a policy that is unfair and potentially unsafe to women.

Abigail Spanberger, my opponent in the Virginia governor’s race, voted in Congress to support the “Equality Act,” which would, if passed, allow biological males in girls’ locker rooms and bathrooms. Notwithstanding the bill’s name, there is nothing equal or normal about a law that makes girls afraid to change in their school locker rooms or threatens their physical safety every time they step onto the playing field.

Title IX, the landmark federal civil rights law enacted in 1972, was meant to create safe and fair learning environments for women and girls who have historically faced discrimination. In athletics, it gave women a safe and fair place to play and compete. But more important, it was supposed to protect girls’ fundamental right to attend school without fear of harassment and assault.

In Virginia, Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s administration has issued public guidance for protecting student privacy and shielding students from harassment. (Unfortunately, several school districts have ignored it.) Children across the United States deserve support from every level of government to uphold their rights in the face of those who would turn back decades of gains for women’s rights in the name of transgender equality.