Emails reveal Virginia school officials approved an LGBTQ+ club — until conservative backlash hit

The new school year in King George County, Virginia, was one day old when a 13-year-old student asked a federal judge to order their middle school to allow an LGBTQ+ student organization to meet immediately.The student, identified in court records as Z.J.W., is beginning eighth grade — their final year at King George Middle School. They spent much of the previous school year trying to form a Gay-Straight Alliance, only to watch administrators halt it after public opposition and the school board rewrite its policy governing student organizations.Now, internal communications filed in federal court show how the reversal unfolded in school officials’ own words.Principal Casey Nice acknowledged that he had approved the GSA, said the response on social media surpassed anything he had expected, and later suggested that the board might accept a “Kindness Club” if students avoided discussing sexuality or LGBTQ+ topics.Related: These LGBTQ+ Virginia kids found support and community in school. Then, bigoted adults took that awayAttorneys from the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia and Potomac Law Group filed a motion for a preliminary injunction on Thursday, asking U.S. District Judge Robert E. Payne to allow the GSA to form while the lawsuit proceeds.The motion came one day after classes began for all King George County students on August 12, according to the district’s 2026-27 calendar.“Every day this continues, Z.J.W. loses more of their limited time left at KGMS to ever benefit from the club they fought to create,” the student’s attorneys wrote.They call the district’s actions “textbook viewpoint discrimination” that violates the First Amendment and the federal Equal Access Act, which requires covered public schools that allow at least one noncurricular student organization to provide other groups with equal access, regardless of the content of their speech.The school defendants have not filed a response to the motion, and the court has not ru