LGBTQ rights group says NC’s new Parents’ Bill of Rights violates federal law
An LGBTQ advocacy group is urging North Carolina school districts to not follow the ”Parents’ Bill of Rights” law because it says it violates a federal law that bars discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in schools.
The new state law requires public schools to notify parents if their child changes their name or pronoun. It also limits discussion of LGBTQ issues in elementary schools. In a legal memo released on Monday, the Asheville-based Campaign For Southern Equality said the Parents’ Bill of Rights violates federal Title IX law by creating a hostile educational environment for LGBTQ+ students.
“The harmful provisions of S.B. 49 (Senate Bill 49) discussed above make it harder for educators to teach and for students to learn by casting a pall over the schoolhouse,” according to the Campaign For Southern Equality’s memo. “In doing so, these provisions violate Title IX. Accordingly, schools receiving federal educational funding in North Carolina cannot comply with these pernicious and dangerous portions of S.B. 49.”
The memo was shared with the state Department of Public Instruction, State Board of Education and local school boards.
New state law defended
“The North Carolina Department of Public Instruction is aware of the Campaign for Southern Equality’s memo, and our legal department is reviewing this matter,” Jeanie McDowell, a DPI spokesperson, said in an email.
But the N.C. Values Coalition says the Parents’ Bill of Rights is in total compliance with Title IX.
“Anti-parental rights groups seek to distort the facts and misstate the law trying to deny parents their fundamental right to oversee the education and upbringing of their children,” Tami Fitzgerald, executive director of the N.C. Values Coalition, said in a statement Monday.
“These radical activists continue to try and lure children into questioning their gender resulting in mental illness while keeping parents in the dark, which are classic grooming tactics.”
Does Title IX include gender identity?
In June 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the Bostock v. Clayton County case that federal employment discrimination law applies to transgender people. Based on the court ruling, the Biden administration issued federal guidance saying Title IX’s prohibition of sexual discrimination in institutions receiving federal education funding includes discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
The Campaign For Southern Equality says the new state law means students are no longer free to express themselves in ways challenging gender norms or to check out a library book without the risk of educators reporting their activities to their parents.
In addition, the group says the ban on instruction on sexuality or gender identity in kindergarten through fourth-grade classrooms means students are prohibited “from learning about or even seeing examples of role models or families who are not straight and cisgender.”
Should NC schools follow new law?
State lawmakers gave school districts an extension to Jan. 1 to implement the Parents’ Bill of Rights.
School districts across the state are adopting policies recommended by the N.C. School Boards Association to comply with the requirements.
But the Campaign For Southern Equality recommends that compliance be postponed or suspended until DPI has a chance to address the group’s Title IX issues. The group also urges DPI to contact the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights.
“Schools cannot comply with Title IX while following the portions of S.B. 49 gratuitously harming LGBTQ students,” according to the memo. “The choice between Title IX and S.B. 49 is no choice at all; schools must follow Title IX.”
