This mother and her gay son sued his middle school for enabling homophobic harassment

After years of bullying and harassment went reportedly unchallenged, a gay student is suing his former middle school in Virginia with the help of his mother. Although the school board attempted to have the suit dismissed, the judge has declined their motion, allowing the case to proceed to trial.

According to local outlet Inside NoVa, the case is levied against Ronald Reagan Middle School in Haymarket, Virginia. The list of named defendants include the Prince William School Board, principal Christopher Beemer and former assistant principal Jenita Boatwright.

The plaintiffs, a mother and son, have filed a complaint for harassment sustained over the 2019 and 2022 school years. According to court documents, the bullying started soon after the student—who was out as gay from the very beginning—entered the sixth grade in August 2019.

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The very next month, bullies repeatedly took the plaintiff’s belongings and passed them around while calling out homophobic slurs. The attending teacher allegedly did nothing to stop this until after the third incident.

Throughout the school year, the student endured months of homophobic verbal harassment. After a reprieve during the COVID-19 lockdowns, the harassment picked up when in-person classes resumed in 2021.

Court documents detail one particular incident in which the mother picked her son up from school and found him surrounded by bullies saying slurs. As the student hurried into his mother’s car, the group gave her the finger.

In 2022, the student’s last year in middle school, the bullying notably ramped up. There were two incidents where he was followed into the boys bathroom and bullies beat on the stall doors, threatening violence and saying, “There’s a girl in here.” In another instance, a student made a “straight pride” poster with the plaintiff’s face on it.

The mother repeatedly reported the harassment to school administrators and individual teachers but says her complaints were met “with victim-blaming and inaction.” They also confided in the school counselor, who told the mother that her son was “not safe” at school and that administrators were avoiding taking action over fears of conservative backlash.

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The lawsuit revolves around the interpretation of Title IX, the 1972 law that bans sex discrimination in the classroom.

The counselor advised that the situation “was a Title IX case” since it concerned the student’s sexuality. Title IX is the federal law that bans sex discrimination in federally funded schools and the Department of Education recently clarified the law to include sexual orientation and gender identity under its protections.

The mother and son have now filed a lawsuit claiming violations of Title IX, the Equal Protection Clause, Section 1986 (a law concerning conspiracy), and gross negligence. US District Judge Rossie D Alston Jr has approved most of these claims to be argued in court but dismissed the Section 1986 violation, saying the plaintiff’s current allegations won’t support a claim of conspiracy. The school board’s motion to dismiss all charges was denied in full.

The plaintiffs now have 14 days to revise their complaint if they wish. Otherwise, the suit will proceed to trial.