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Fairfax County Public Schools is facing national political pressure over the possibility of introducing gender identity instruction at the elementary school level.

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin and Elon Musk amplified a February video featuring Fairfax resident Caleigh Weichbrodt, who said the potential curriculum change was making her family reconsider whether to enroll her preschool-age son in the public school system.

Weichbrodt told officials that topics involving gender should be introduced sensitively by parents. She accused FCPS of treating parents as obstacles rather than partners.

Musk shared the video on X without adding a comment. Youngkin used it to argue that Fairfax County’s policies were driving families away, pointing to the school system’s ideology, county taxes and public-safety policies. A report released earlier in the year, however, identified housing costs as the leading reason young families were leaving the area.

The controversy follows a unanimous Fairfax County School Board vote in June 2024 accepting recommended revisions to Family Life Education, the district’s sex education curriculum. One approved change added a PBS puberty video for seventh graders that acknowledges transgender, nonbinary and agender people.

The board also asked its Family Life Education Curriculum Advisory Committee to examine whether gender identity should be taught in elementary schools. The committee discussed the issue during three meetings in late 2024, but its January and February meetings were canceled. The School Board voted March 13, 2025, to disband the committee.

The dispute comes as the Trump administration takes steps affecting transgender and nonbinary people, including executive orders barring transgender people from military service and directing the federal government to recognize only male and female sexes on official documents.

The U.S. Department of Education also opened investigations into FCPS and other Northern Virginia school districts following a complaint about policies that accommodate students according to gender identity.

Youngkin broadened his criticism to Fairfax County’s nearly $300 million budget shortfall. The Board of Supervisors voted to advertise possible tax increases, while county officials have argued that greater state funding—particularly for public schools—could reduce pressure on local taxpayers.

In a March 25 post, Youngkin urged Fairfax voters to replace members of the Board of Supervisors and School Board. Both bodies are composed of Democrats except for longtime Springfield District Supervisor Pat Herrity.

“Elections have consequences, and Fairfax citizens’ vote matters — time to change school boards and supervisory boards,” Youngkin wrote.

Members of both boards were most recently elected in November 2023.