Local
Hundreds of students ask Fairfax schools to return LGBTQ books to libraries
Parents’ complaints prompted two titles’ removal for ‘detailed review’

A total of 426 LGBTQ students and allies from more than 30 Fairfax County public high schools sent a letter on Thursday to the county school board and the school system’s superintendent urging them to reject requests that two LGBTQ themed books be removed from the school libraries.
The two books, āLawn Boy,ā a novel by author Jonathan Evison, and āGender Queer: A Memoir,ā an illustrated autobiography by non-binary author Maia Kobabe, each contain graphic descriptions of sexual acts, including sexual acts between consenting juveniles.
Following strong objections to the books by parents at a Sept. 23 meeting of the Fairfax County School Board, officials with Fairfax County Public Schools announced they had removed the books from the school libraries to reassess their suitability for high school students.
The books have received favorable reviews in various literary publications, and both have received the American Library Associationās Alex Award, an annual award that recognizes the yearās 10 books written for adults that the association says have a special appeal to young adults ages 12 through 18.
āWe are a group of over 425 queer students and allies across the Fairfax County Public Schools who are part of the Pride Liberation Project, a coalition of students working to uplift the Queer community,ā the student letter says.
āStudent representatives from over 30 schools, including nearly every high school in Fairfax County Public Schools, have signed this letter, and many of us are students of color, low-income, gender expansive and not out to our families and communities,ā the letter says.
āWe are writing to ask you to reject calls to remove Maia Kobabeās ‘Gender Queer’ and Jonathan Evisonās ‘Lawn Boy’ from Fairfax County Public Schools libraries,ā it says.
Each of the 426 students who joined the letter signed with their initials rather than their full names while also writing the name of the school they attend.
Aaryan Rawal, co-founder of the Pride Liberation Project, which initiated the student letter, told the Washington Blade the group decided to allow students to sign with their initials because many LGBTQ students are fearful of possible negative repercussions if they come out publicly at school or to their parents.
āWe have students who are even afraid to sign these names with their initials because they worry about whatās going to happen if their teacher finds out whoās not supportive or what happens if a classmate finds out whoās not supportive,ā Rawal said.
āWhatās going to happen if my parents find out if theyāre not supportive?ā Rawal said, expressing the concern of students with whom he has spoken. āWe have students who have experienced homelessness because theyāve been outed to their parents,ā he said. āAnd so, it is very much a real threat. Weāre not exaggerating that whatsoever.ā
The student letter states that āhundreds of books in our schools already depict heterosexual relationships and physical intimacy.ā It names several of them, including Simone Elkelesā āRules of Attraction,ā Stephen Kingās āIt,ā Meg Cabotās āReady or Not,ā and John Greenās āLooking for Alaska.ā
āBy holding books that describe LGBTQIA+ relationships to a different standard compared to these novels, Fairfax County Public Schools creates an inequitable, exclusionary, and heteronormative educational environment for queer students,ā the letter states.
āAs students, we are tired of being scrutinized and targeted for who we are,ā says the letter. āWe simply want to be treated equally in our schools, including in our libraries. Please reject attacks against LGBTQIA+ literature and allow ‘Gender Queer’ and ‘Lawn Boy’ to remain in our schools,ā the letter concludes.
Julie Moult, a spokesperson for the Fairfax County Public Schools, told the Blade in an Oct. 8 email that the review process for the two books by school officials, including two committees appointed by Supt. Scott Brabrand, would take up to 45 days to complete from the time it began shortly after the Sept. 23 school board meeting.
Moult said it would be inappropriate for the superintendent to comment on the student letter until the outcome of the review process becomes known.
āThe recommendation of the committees will be put forward to the assistant superintendent of instructional services who will make a final decision as to whether Fairfax County Public Schools continues to provide access to these books in our high school libraries,ā school officials said in a statement released last month.
Rawal said students who helped write the letter they sent to the school board and the superintendent strongly dispute claims by several parents who described the two books in question as a form of pornography thatās unsuitable for high school students.
āI mean thatās just not accurate,ā Rawal said. āWeāve read both books cover to cover, and I donāt see how there is a debate here. Mentioning sex does not make something pornography,ā he said. āThese books reference sex certainly but relegating the content of these books just to sex is a gross misrepresentation of what theyāre really about.ā
District of Columbia
D.C.-area schools to protest Trumpās āassault on public educationā
Students unite against Trumpās education cuts in unprecedented protest

Student government leaders from multiple D.C.-area schools are coming together to protest recent Trump administration actions aimed at restricting student rights in America.
On Friday, April 4, at 4 p.m., the student governments of Georgetown, George Washington, Howard, American, George Mason, and Temple plan to protest the Trump-Vance administrationās efforts to dismantle public education at the Department of Education building (400 Maryland Ave., S.W.), just south of the National Mall. This āunprecedented coalitionā of higher education student governments in the D.C.-Maryland-Virginia region, representing 130,000 students, will gather to tell the administration to keep its āHands Off Our Schools.ā
In a statement emailed to the Washington Blade, Asher Maxwell, press coordinator for the Georgetown University Student Association, called this a āhistoric coalitionā and said the protest will highlight how Trumpās policiesādismantling the Department of Education, eradicating DEI initiatives, eliminating funding for academic programs and financial aid, and silencing student voicesāare affecting students.
Former middle school principal and U.S. Rep. Jamaal Bowman of New York, along with campus free speech advocate Mary Beth Tinker, known for her role in Tinker v. Des Moines, are slated to speak at the rally about the importance of public education and free speech amid what they call the administrationās disregard for the rule of law and constitutionally protected acts such as protesting and speaking out against the government.
The rally is expected to draw thousands of students, from college to kindergarten, as well as First Amendment supporters and those angered by the administration’s efforts to minimize the federal government. Since taking office, Trump has laid off tens of thousands of federal employees, including many within the Department of Education, as he and his senior adviser, Elon Musk, strip away protections and federal spending that disproportionately affect LGBTQ people, people of color, and students.
The Washington Blade reached out to the White House for comment but has not received a response.
District of Columbia
D.C. police investigating anti-gay assault in Shaw
Police say suspect punched victim in face after shouting āhomophobic slursā

D.C. police are investigating a March 7, 2025, assault case listed as a suspected hate crime in which an unidentified male suspect punched a man in the face on the sidewalk outside an apartment building after calling the victim and his male friend āfaggots.ā
The victim, Destin Karol, and his friend, Ian Dotson, both residents of Arlington, Va., told the Washington Blade the assault took place about 10 p.m. while they were walking along 7th Street, N.W. on their way to the Shaw-Howard University Metro station.
The two men said while walking in front of the upscale 7th Flats apartment building at 1825 7th St., N.W., they saw the male suspect and a woman he was with get out of a car parked in front of the building. Seconds later, they saw the woman vomiting on the sidewalk as they walked past her, the two men told the Blade.
At that time, the male suspect yelled, āWhat are you looking at, faggots,ā Karol and Dotson told the Blade. The suspect then punched Karol in the face āseveral times,ā according to a D.C. police report.
Karol said he was diagnosed the next day at a hospital in Arlington near his home with a broken jaw that required the jaw to be wired shut.
Dotson said D.C. police arrived on the scene after he called 911 after witnessing the suspect punching Karol, knocking him down and kicking Karol in the face while he was lying on the sidewalk.
Karol said an ambulance arrived on the scene and paramedics treated his facial injury with an ice pack and offered to take him to the hospital. He said he declined the offer, choosing to go home first. But upon experiencing intense pain the next day, he visited a medical clinic whose doctors told him to immediately go to the nearby hospital emergency room.
An initial version of the D.C. police incident report did not list the incident as a suspected hate crime. But a revised version of the report, which was issued after the Blade contacted police to ask about the earlier report, classifies the incident as a āsuspected hate crime.ā
The revised report states that the suspect, after telling the victim, āWhat are you looking at,ā proceeded to āclose fist strike Victim 1 in the left jaw area several times.ā It says Subject 2, who was Dotson, told police the suspect āyelled out homophobic slurs.ā
The report concludes by saying, Suspect 1 āwas last seen heading inside 1825 7th Street, N.W.ā
According to Karol, police so far have not changed the report, at Karolās request, to list the incident as an ‘aggravated assaultā rather than its current listing as a āsimple assault.ā Karol points out that under police policy, an assault-related injury that causes a broken bone should be classified as an aggravated assault.
Karol and Dotson said the police report also does not mention that they told the two police officers who arrived on the scene that they saw the suspect and the woman he was with get out of a car and they showed the two officers which car it was as it was parked in front of the apartment building.
Karol told the Blade he and Dotson asked at least one of the officers to take down the license plate number of the car, but the officer said it was not necessary for him to do so. Dotson said he recalls that the car was a white, 4-door Volkswagen hatchback with a Virginia license plate.
Dotson said he and Karol were disappointed that the police did not appear to take down the license number and he regrets that he did not write it down himself. But he said he recalls that the Virginia license tag consisted of all letters and no numbers, with the letters āINā as part of it.
He described the suspect as a white male appearing to be between 35 or 45 years old with brown hair and a goatee or beard.
D.C. police spokesperson Paris Lewbel said a Third District police detective has been assigned to the case and the case remains under active investigation. He said he could not comment on the issues raised by Karol and Dotson under a police policy of not disclosing specific details in an ongoing investigation.
Karol said he has been speaking with Detective Wilson, whose first name he does not recall, and said he most recently spoke with her on Tuesday, April 1. āTheyāre trying to get the license plate of this individual and theyāre trying to get the camera footage from the apartment building and the adjacent buildings,ā Karol said the detective told him.
Dotson said at the time the police arrived on the scene on the night of March 7, an employee from the 7th Flat apartment building who identified himself as the concierge came out of the building and told one of the police officers that he saw the male suspect and the woman he was with enter the building.
Police spokesperson Lewbel said he could not disclose whether the concierge was able to help police identify the suspect under the policy of not disclosing details of an ongoing investigation.
Police urge members of the public who may have witnessed an incident like this or who may know something about it, including the identity of a suspect, to call the police information line of 202-727-9099.
District of Columbia
Hundreds in D.C. rally for ‘trans dignity and justice’
‘We bow down to your charisma, uniqueness, nerve and talent’

Before any visible signs of political protest or activism appeared in “America’s Front Yard,” the sounds of cheers, applause, and the faint melody of Madonna’s Vogue echoed through the air, audible from blocks away. As the Capitol came into view and the crowd neared 3rd Street, small groups of people adorned in bright pink, blue, and white gathered along the pebble-covered pathways and the soft, lush grass of the National Mall. The sun peeked in and out of the clouds as the Transgender Day of Visibility Rally began.
Since its official designation in 2009, March 31 has marked International Trans Day of Visibility. This year, with one of the most anti-trans administrations ever holding power in the White House (and in Congress), the urgency of visibility has never been more keenly felt. For those gathered, holding signs and standing in solidarity, this moment was a call to make trans people seen and heard.
The rally, organized by the Christopher Street Project, a trans advocacy group and PAC, brought together nearly 20 Democratic lawmakers on the National Mall to speak out against the Trump-Vance administrationās efforts to erase the trans community.
Tyler Hack, executive director of the Christopher Street Project and one of the driving forces behind the event, took the stage first. The tall, curly haired redhead was perfectly framed against the dome of the Capitol and the increasingly darkening sky ā a fitting backdrop to the growing frustration with the lawmakers inside.
As the crowd settled, Hack took a deep breath and began.
āThank you to the hundreds of people who showed up,ā Hack said. āWe have buses on their way, we have people who are coming after work, and we’ll make room for those folks as they keep joining us. And thank you to all of you for showing up to celebrate, to make your voices heard and to fight together for trans dignity and justice.ā

Hack founded the Christopher Street Project in January as a direct response to President Donald Trump and the far-rightās growing influence ā and their attempts to erase the transgender community. As Hack spoke, it became clear that the fight for trans rights was, at its core, a fight for survival.
āWe at Christopher Street Project believe that being a Democrat means more than just your party affiliation,ā Hack said. āIt’s about unapologetic defense of trans people wherever they’re being attacked, and in the face of this massive threat to all of our rights, in the face of what Trump and his billionaire cronies are unleashing. We demand more from the people we elected to protect us. We deserve more, and we say with all of the power that we have, powers have no place in Congress.ā
Hack continued, āOur guiding principle is courage; 56 years ago, that courage was demonstrated by the queer and trans people who led the Stonewall riots. My great uncle, Mark Scheer, was one of them. Beaten up in the Stonewall Riots for standing up for people like himself and standing side by side with his trans siblings. It was his courage and the courage of Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera that ensured we would never be erased.ā
The crowd, now slowly filling the grassy lawn, erupted in cheers and clapping as Hack introduced the next speaker. Behind them, members of Congress began to exit their cars, re-reading their speeches for a final time while Christopher Street Project volunteers worked to keep the rally moving.
Rabbi Abby Stein, a trans activist and author, took the stage next. Her passionate speech felt like a sermon and a call to action against the transphobic forces in power.
āIt is our moral obligation to make sure that we are visible, so that all the people who came before us and the people coming after us will know that who they are is beautiful, that being trans isn’t just OK,ā Rabbi Stein said. āIt is something that is worthy to celebrate, and it is something that no one in the world can ever take away from you, regardless of how much military or police or physical abuse they try to use on us. A world without trans people never existed and never will, no matter how much they try. We have defeated fascist titans before and we will defeat them again.ā
Several speakers at the rally also highlighted the current administrationās disturbing parallels to fascist leaders of history. Democratic Whip Katherine Clark was one of those who called out transphobia and provided the crowd with insight into the Republicans’ strategy.

āRepublicans are trying to divide us and distract us so they can funnel more money and more power to a select few,ā said Clark, the House Minority Whip (D-Mass). āWe’ve been in these moments before, we know the playbook, whether it’s the ’30s in Berlin or the ’60s in New York or right now in Washington, D.C. They distract and divide and scapegoat so they can tear everybody down. This time they’re using this community, our trans community. They want Americans to believe that our LGBTQ neighbors are to blame for the challenges we face as a country. They hope that if we’re focused on all of us, we won’t notice that the Republicans are closing our public schools that they’re defunding Social Security, slashing our health care, firing veterans, increasing costs of housing and groceries and starting trade wars with our allies. And what is the point? What is the point of this reckless agenda to enrich the billionaire class? And it’s all part of one corrupt plot in MAGA America. The 1% have access to wealth, freedom, power and voting rights, but not for the rest of us.ā
Other members of Congress addressed Trumpās escalating attacks on the trans community.
āThe reason theyāre attacking all of these things is because they know what every authoritarian knows: Organized people, organized workers, marginalized people with autonomy and without fear, thatās a threat to their power,ā Rep. Summer Lee (D-Pa.) explained. āThatās why theyāre coming for our books, our doctors, our teachers, our workers, and especially our trans youth. But theyāre not just a talking point.ā
āI want to say whatās happening right now, especially to our trans siblings, is cruel,ā Lee continued. āItās bullshit. It is not normal, and we will stand up against it. But this is not just a policy disagreement, itās not a debate. Itās by design. Itās targeting. And they are purposely going after some of the most marginalized people in our society.ā
Lee went on to address the chilling effects of Trumpās anti-trans executive orders on transgender Americans’ lives, particularly in places like Pittsburgh.
āThis is what Trump’s anti-trans agenda looks like,ā Lee added. āEven without a national ban, the fear, the pressure and the silence they create is doing the work for them. It’s making health care providers hesitate. It’s making institutions retreat. It’s making families feel isolated or abandoned or unsafe, and I just want to say it here, when you make it harder for children to be seen, to be loved, to be treated with dignity. That’s not just a policy failure. That is a moral failure.ā
Rep. Robin Kelly (D-Ill.) bluntly stated that Trumpās policies will lead to the deaths of LGBTQ people both in the U.S. and abroad, citing the severe consequences of his cuts to foreign aid programs like PEPFAR, the Presidentās Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief.
āHis actions and those of Republicans who bend the knee have severe consequences,ā Kelly said. āIt threw global healthcare programs into chaos, especially PEPFAR. For over 20 years, PEPFAR saved over 26 million lives worldwide, and has been a lifeblood and a lifeline for LGBTQ plus people in the face of stigma and discrimination in many countries, especially in places where being true to yourself comes with immense risk. PEPFAR is the only program that provides HIV prevention, treatment, and care.ā
āWe are just five years away from ending the HIV/AIDS pandemic,ā she added. āOur progress cannot stop.ā
The rally ended with an unexpected but powerful appearance by actress, director, and producer Lena Dunham, who spoke about her experiences living with her trans sibling, Cyrus Dunham.
āWhen I asked my sibling what he might want to hear me say today and what he did not want me to say, which included phrases like āboots the house down, mama,ā he made it clear that there would be enough dialogue about what impossible odds are faced right now for the trans community, especially trans youth and trans people of color, and enough conversation about the horrific abuses that the government is attempting to commit and the rights they’re attempting to take away and already in the process of doing,ā Dunham shared. āHe said, my only job is to express how special, sweet, fab, fun, delightful and divine it is to be embraced by trans people, to live in proximity to trans lives, and to call this community our community.ā
āWe love you, we see you. We bow down to your charisma, uniqueness, nerve and talent, and we are so lucky to love you and to fight with you and for you, to learn from you and to ensure that our rights are inseparable from yours,ā the “Girls” star added. āTrans lives don’t just matter. They transform the world into a place of possibility, joy, and discovery.ā
As the sun began to set and the rally wound down, Hack reflected on the significance of the event.
āBeing resilient in this moment is about continuing to be yourself and continuing to exist, because being a trans person in this moment is, in and of itself, resistance,ā they said. āMaking sure that folks have the support that they need, being a good ally to those people is resistance and making sure that trans people in your life know that they have your support is critically important, and is the number one way that we can resist these attacks.ā
For more information on the Christopher Street Project, visit christopherstreetproject.org.
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