Gay teacher, LGBTQ-supportive parent win $1 million in Fairfax County defamation lawsuitshttps://www.washingtonblade.com/2026/07/08/gay-teacher-lgbtq-supportive-parent-win-1-million-in-fairfax-county-defamation-lawsuits/ 🔗Lou Chibbaro Jr. (8 July 2026)
Juries in two separate civil trials in Fairfax County, Va., last month awarded a gay teacher and an LGBTQ-supportive parent a combined total of just over $1 million in damages from a conservative group and its leader accused in their lawsuits of falsely and maliciously linking the two to a "child abduction ring" and other illegal actions involving children.
The teacher, Robert Rigby Jr., and the parent, Vanessa Hall, have been active members for many years of Fairfax County Public Schools Pride, an organization of teachers, school administrators and parents that advocates for LGBTQ-supportive school policies.
Their respective lawsuits were filed last year against what they describe as a Republican-supportive political action committee or PAC called the Virginia Project and its founder and chairperson, David Gordon.
The juries awarded Rigby $350,000 in compensation for damages from the Virginia Project and Gordon and awarded $750,000 for Hall. It couldn't immediately be determined if Gordon and his PAC have the financial resources to pay that money.
