August 23, 2025
As Virginia Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears spoke at an Arlington School Board meeting, a crowd of citizens rallied outside in support of trans students, where a racist sign targeting Earle-Sears was also displayed.
While Virginia Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears addressed the Arlington School Board on Aug. 21, supporters of trans students held a rally outside the meeting.
At the meeting, the school board was slated to discuss its policy regarding a bathroom policy for trans children after the district received threats from the U.S. Department of Education that it would cut federal funding if trans children were allowed to use gender neutral bathrooms.
Unbeknownst to Earle-Sears, one sign held up by an older white woman outside of the meeting that referred to her by name also seemed to equivocate her stance on gender neutral bathrooms with whites-only water fountains of the Civil Rights era.
On one side, the poster read, “Hey Winsome, you have a gender neutral bathroom in your house,” but on the reverse side, it read, “Hey Winsome, if trans can’t share your bathroom, then Blacks can’t share my water fountain.”
As ABC 8 reported, that sign has been decried by Virginia’s Republicans and Democrats alike, including by Earle-Sears herself, as racist.
Earle-Sears, aligned with the Trump administration and its Department of Education stance on gender-neutral bathrooms, recently claimed—despite widespread debunking—that the policy could allow male sex offenders to enter girls’ restrooms by identifying as transgender.
As the sign’s prominence spread online, amplified by local Virginia journalist and the man who runs Virginia Scope, Brandon Jarvis, the criticism of the sign took on a strange dynamic, while Democrats decried the sign, including the Democratic nominee for governor, Abigail Spanberger, Republican supporters seemed to believe that their state’s Democrats largely supported the sign’s message.
However, according to Jarvis, Spanberger’s communications team sent him a response decrying the sign, “Abigail condemns this repulsive display. It’s racist, abhorrent, and unacceptable.”
In response to Earle-Sears’ statements at the meeting, Spanberger released a seperate statement focusing on her opponent’s record as it relates to defunding public schools.
“While Abigail’s opponent, Winsome Earle-Sears stokes division and backs the Trump Administration’s threats to strip funding from Virginia schools, as Virginia’s next Governor, Abigail will work to protect public school funding, address the Commonwealth’s chronic teacher shortage, and contend with our last-in-the-nation math recovery ranking. While Winsome Earle-Sears has a decades-long record of trying to defund Virginia’s public schools — and has offered no plan to increase student achievement, Abigail will continue to focus on preparing students for success and bringing Virginia parents to the table,” Spanberger said.
As Virginia debates the merits of gender neutral bathrooms, Colorado’s East High School has responded to a Department of Education investigation by making two of its boys and girls bathrooms into gender-inclusive bathrooms.
Meanwhile, the DOE ruled on Aug. 20 that five northern Virginia school districts, including Arlington, were in violation of Title IX by allowing students to use restrooms or locker rooms that align with their gender identity. DOE Secretary Linda McMahon described the ruling as their punishment for “choosing to abide by woke gender ideology in place of federal law.”
RELATED CONTENT: Virginia’s Black Female Republican Lt. Gov. Slams Jemele Hill After Sports Writer Blames White Supremacy For Her Win
