Liberty Counsel sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the Department of the Navy (DON) on behalf of more than 20 female employees objecting to the invasion of women’s restrooms by male employees. Liberty Counsel requested the VA and DON provide oversight and enforce existing laws and recent executive orders meant to protect women’s rights.

Women employees at the federal VA contractor Exela Technologies, which processes administration records, raise concerns about a gender-confused male who not only uses the women’s restroom but also wears unprofessional “female” attire at work and has posted violent imagery and threats on social media indicating support for violence against political conservatives. According to reports from the women employees at Exela, the man is permitted to wear unprofessional everyday attire such as “cat ears,” a choker collar, and “baby doll” dresses that are above the knee even though the dress code requires dresses for actual women be below the knee. A woman employee also reports seeing the man at work with a baby’s “pink pacifier” in his mouth, and “meowing” at people. Another woman employee reported that the man has used a women’s bathroom stall standing up, with the door open, and has left urine on the seat and on the floor.

A review of the man’s social media profile revealed numerous concerning posts threatening revenge and violence. One post stated: “Nobody is coming to save us” and “Siblings, pick up your weapons.” The associated image consists of a man in battle dress armed with an AR-15 superimposed on a “transgender flag” of pink and blue colors. Another post depicts a character pointing a gun with the muzzle toward the first-person viewer stating that “TERFS [so-called “trans exclusionary radical feminists,” or feminists who do not recognize men as “women”] ain’t welcome round these parts.” These posts supporting violent gender ideology cause legitimate concerns of retaliation among his female coworkers.

However, the women’s concerns were rejected by Exela’s human resources department. The women were told that the man has the right to use the women’s restroom and that the women can “deal with the situation or leave.”While these women simply wish to use their restrooms in safety, privacy, and with respect to their religious beliefs, the presence of a man in their private spaces and the violent threats have created a hostile work environment violating their Title VII rights.

At the Navy Undersea Warfare Center in Newport, RI, at least two men claiming to be women are using the women’s restrooms.  The base’s legal office issued a directive allowing them to do so based on the state’s nondiscrimination laws that make “gender identity” a protected class despite this law having no bearing on a federal installation. Under Title VII, female DON employees have the right of equal access to private restrooms without biological males present.

In the letter, Liberty Counsel notes that it is unlawful under Title VII to have practices that cause unequal treatment based on sex. Under Title VII, it is not discrimination to maintain sex-based privacy provisions, such as bathrooms designated only for biological women. As for Exela’s objective dress code, it applies to all individuals, and it is also not discriminatory to hold a gender-confused male to those standards. 

Liberty Counsel requests these departments enforce several recent executive orders from President Donald Trump requiring that protections will be based on sex alone and not gender identity. In executive order 14183, which prioritizes military excellence and readiness, the administration states that the harmful gender ideology “dilutes” readiness and cohesion. The order further states that “a man’s assertion that he is a woman, and his requirement that others honor this falsehood,” is inconsistent with “the humility and selflessness” required for those who serve. 

In executive order 14168, “Defending Women From Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government,” the administration states that policy needs to be based on “truth” rather than ideology. The order established policy to deny the ideological view that permits “men to self-identify as women and gain access to intimate single-sex spaces and activities designed for women.”

Liberty Counsel’s letter reads, “Accordingly, the administration commits to ‘defend women’s rights and protect freedom of conscience by using clear and accurate language and policies that recognize women are biologically female, and men are biologically male.’ This commitment first begins by the definition of terms, including ‘sex,’ ‘gender ideology,’ and ‘gender identity.’ In defining these terms, the executive order establishes that classification will be based on sex alone and does not include gender identity.” 

Regarding speech advocating “transgender” violence against women objecting to invasions of their privacy, Liberty Counsel stated that type of speech is not protected by the First Amendment. According to U.S. Supreme Court precedent in cases like Brandenburg v. Ohio and United States v. Stevens, serious expressions that incite or express intent of unlawful violence to a particular individual or group, regardless of whether it is actually carried out, is unprotected speech.

Liberty Counsel Founder and Chairman Mat Staver said, “Women have the right to use private restroom facilities in privacy, safety, and in accord with their sincerely held religious beliefs. This right belongs to women in all workplace environments, including in federal workplaces and those who work for federal contractors. Restricting male access to women’s restrooms is not discrimination, but rather an act in preservation of the rights of women. There is also no place in the workplace for employees who express violent ideology on personal social media. Biology is fixed at birth and giving legal credence to fiction undermines the law and causes chaos and significant harm.”