LGBTQIA+ Students Criticize School Official's 'Bigoted Comments'

FAIRFAX, VA — An LGBTQIA+ advocacy group representing Fairfax County Public School students criticized at-large school board member Abrar Omeish for "bigoted comments" they say she made during a phone call last month.

In a letter posted online at noon Friday, the Pride Liberation Project said a delegation of queer Muslim and brown students from FCPS talked with Omeish by phone on June 21 to discuss the challenges queer students of South Asian, Middle Eastern, and North African background encountered in the school system.

During the phone meeting, Omeish told the students she didn't believe she could be a "100 percent ally" of the queer community, according to the letter, and she claimed it would be a "challenge" to outwardly endorse or encourage queer students.

The PLP letter said that during the call Omeish drew a distinction between "going after oppression and endorsing" students who were LGBTQIA+.

"We viewed Miss Omeish as a relentless advocate for equity," said a PLP spokesperson, who asked not to be identified and was on the call. "When we went into this meeting, we found out that she wasn't necessarily there for the queer community and that she did have problematic aspects."

In its letter, PLP called on Omeish to apologize for the remarks they say she made during the June 21 meeting.

"This apology should explicitly acknowledge that Ms. Omeish cannot be an equity advocate if she is not a 100 percent ally of the LGBTQIA+ community, that it is impossible to dismantle the oppression that LGBTQIA+ students face without public statements of unequivocal affirmation and validation, and that exclusively condemning overt bigotry is not the same as empowering queer students."

PLP's letter also asked Omeish to clarify her position on a school board motion made at a June 17 meeting to include non-traditional family structures in the Family, Life, and Education curriculum. FCPS records show Omeish was marked "not present" for that vote and was the only member not to record a "yes" vote.

The letter also asked Omeish to commit to centering marginalized students, including those in the LGBTQIA+ community, in her advocacy, and promote queer visibility and representation in the future.

In addition, PLP requested the school board go beyond just rejecting harassment of LGBTQIA+ students and validate "the existence and identity of queer Muslim students, as well as the right for queer Muslims in FCPS to have access to safe and affirming schools and homes."

The PLP spokesperson, who is a rising senior at Westfield High School, told Patch the group had made a deliberate decision not to ask for Omeish's resignation but to request an apology instead.

The letter had two purposes, they said: "To both inform the community that we need to hold our elected officials accountable, and to let Miss Omeish know that you said some things that were wrong. You said some things that were prejudiced, but we can work together and we can still move forward from this provided that you now send signals of affirmation to queer youth."

PLP's letter came a day after the school board voted unanimously to approve an update to the student rights and responsibilities document stating rights and protections for transgender and other gender-expansive students for the first time. Omeish voted "yes" with the rest of the board to pass the measure.

Omeish, a life-long Fairfax County resident and the board's only Muslim member, drew criticism earlier in the year from conservatives for publicly expressing her opposition to Israel's treatment of Palestinians and a commencement speech she gave at Justice High School, where she urged students to embrace diversity and not to give in to bullies.

PLP members were among those who rallied outside the June 15 school board meeting in support of Omeish, according to the spokesperson.

On Friday, PLP also criticized right-wing groups like the Open FCPS Coalition and its supporters who are using their letter to attack Omeish with misinformation.

"I just want to make it clear that everyone at the Pride Liberation Project denounces those groups and denounces what they stand for," the spokesperson said.

In November, FCPS released its survey of LGBQ youth, which showed that 50 percent of the LGBTQ students in 8th, 10th and 12th grades self-reported they experienced depressive symptoms compared to 26 percent for non-LGBTQ students.

PLP started in March, when five queer students from across the county got together to raise awareness of these disparities and advocate for change in the school system. The spokesperson estimated PLP's membership has grown to more than 50.

"Part of the reason why we met with Miss Omeish is because we really wanted to connect to her on how the South Asian and the Middle Eastern and North African perspective on queer issues and how that impacted us in unique ways," they said. "We started off with five students and we really are about intersectionality. We're pushing for transformative change for the average student in FCPS."

Patch contacted school board member Abrar Omeish for comment but no reply was received.

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• Residents Rally For Fairfax County School Board, Muslim Member
• Support After Tweet About Israel Grows For School Board Member
• Racist, Antisemitic KKK Flyers Rebuked By Fairfax School Leaders

Thread (1/5): Today at noon, the Pride Liberation Project released a press release discussing harmful statements made by @AbrarOmeish during a private meeting with Brown, Muslim, South Asian, and North African student representatives of the PLP. pic.twitter.com/VMQ0pZNg7t
— FCPS Pride Liberation Project (@PrideLiberation) July 16, 2021