Virginia parents raise over $125k in just days to keep trans locker room case alive

FIRST ON FOX: Late Wednesday night, parents from Northern Virginia overcame the whopping $125,000 bail a judge ordered them to pay to defend their son, who was suspended and found liable for sexual assault after a transgender classmate objected to his use of a boys-only locker room in court.

Parents who sued the Loudoun County Public Schools district had raised more than $125,000 by Friday and even met the deadline set Wednesday before the extension was granted.

They were first ordered by a federal judge last Friday to provide the funds by the end of the day Wednesday if they wanted to continue fighting for their son in court. Case judge Leonie Brinkema granted bail of $125,000. Brinkema said the money is to ensure parents can pay the school district’s attorney fees if they lose.

“We have serious doubts that such bail would be legally required, and this requirement that the plaintiffs deposit money to pay the government’s attorney’s fees is certainly very unusual and unexpected, especially given that the government has acknowledged in court that its insurance policy covers legal costs,” the parents’ co-lawyer Josh Hetzler said in a statement to Fox News Digital. he said.

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Before taking the case to federal court, Hetzler, Wolfe and Smith sought other ways to ensure the two boys would not be suspended or marked as sexual abusers on their permanent records. They sought to appeal a Loudoun County Public Schools Title IX sexual harassment investigation finding that emerged after the men were videotaped in a locker room by a biological female who identifies as transgender. The video showed them openly complaining to each other about a girl using their facility, which led to the boys being suspended and the district issuing a harassment order.

But the appeal was ultimately rejected by the district, so it was decided to take the matter to federal court with the help of the Trump-affiliated legal group America First Legal (AFL).

Meanwhile, on Friday, Judge Brinkema of the Eastern District of Virginia extended a temporary stay on the children’s suspensions so they can attend classes while the case is decided. But at the same time, Brinkema also stated in another ruling the same day that there were “significant weaknesses in some aspects of the plaintiffs’ claims”; This decision ultimately required Wolfe and Smith to raise $125,000 within the next three business days if they wanted to continue fighting the matter in court.

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Ian Prior, the AFL’s lawyer assisting with the case, said “fortunately we have an extension until Friday” as the bond deadline approached on Wednesday and said it appeared they might not have the funds.

According to Prior, it is not entirely “unusual” for the party who prevails in an injunction to have to post bail. But Prior noted that in public interest cases like this, bond requirements are often set very low, sometimes even $0. Prior also said he was not aware that a bond was required to cover attorney fees.

A trans flag flies (left) at an undisclosed location on an undisclosed date. The judge uses his gavel (right). The parents are due to face a $125,000 bail date on October 15 in Loudoun County, Virginia. (Getty Images/iStock)

“In most cases, this is done where a company is prohibited from doing something, like selling a certain type of widget, and the measure would cost them something,” Prior told Fox News Digital. “Bonds help ensure that if the prevailing party is ultimately not successful, the other party will be spared the impact of the injunction. However, we do not know that bonds are necessary to cover attorneys’ fees.”

Brinkema’s order made clear that the bond was to ensure that “if the defendant grants pre-trial disposition requests, he will be able to recover attorneys’ fees from that bond.”

Following the bond order, Wolfe and Smith set up an online fundraiser to help them raise the funds. As of Wednesday morning, the online fundraiser had raised nearly $50,000, but before the day was out, a single $50,000 donation from apparent angel investor Michael Dearing had brought the parents within $25,000 of the $125,000 goal.

Video of a transgender man in the men’s bathroom in the locker room at Stone Bridge High School. (Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office)

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When asked what their plans would be if they were unable to raise the full amount, Prior stated there were “numerous options” that could be pursued.

“The more money students raise, the easier it will be to post bail, even if they don’t get the full $125,000,” Prior told Fox News Digital. “To be clear, the case is not dismissed without bail; instead, we lose the injunction, suspensions are immediate, and findings are placed on students’ records at a time when students are most likely to apply for higher education.”