‘It is personal’: Durham County joins city in condemning anti-LGBTQ legislation

Wendy Jacobs fought back tears Monday night as she voted with her fellow Durham County commissioners to condemn proposed North Carolina legislation that critics say targets LGBTQ children.

“For me, this is two of my three children. It is personal,” Jacobs said in sentences clipped by emotion. “I want to be able to celebrate that my daughter and her partner have become engaged and are going to be married, and I don’t want to have to live in fear because of their love for each other.”

The resolution in solidarity with Durham’s LGBTQ community was unanimously passed by the Durham County Board of Commissioners.

It expresses support for students’ privacy and condemns two bills proposed by Republicans in the N.C. General Assembly in the past month: the so-called Parents’ Bill of Rights, which would limit discussions around sexuality and gender in most elementary school classrooms, and another that would limit access to gender-affirming health care for transgender youth.

Jacobs said they were both “hate bills,” but addressed the Parents’ Bill of Rights in detail.

“This bill, which is being targeted specifically at our schools, is a diversion and a distraction from the real harm that is hurting our children,” she said. “And that is the defunding of public education in this state. North Carolina now ranks 50th in public school funding — 50th, 38th in teacher salaries and 48th in per-pupil spending.”

Commissioner Heidi Carter proposed the resolution. She said her sister, a high school teacher in another state, has had three students come out to her this school year.

“One of them said to her that they probably would have committed suicide if she had not been there for them,” Carter said. “These bills will prevent adults in our schools from connecting with our children in ways that they may need.”

Commissioner Nimasheena Burns noted the increase in student suicides at nearby N.C. State University.

“I get that some of these things that we talk about up here may not be your flavor of the week,” Burns said to a room fuller than usual due to Monday night’s packed agenda. “But I need everybody to understand that this is an attack on our civil rights and an attack on children. ... Kids need to be able to go into affirming spaces.”

Natalie Watson, interim executive director of the LGBTQ Center of Durham, thanked the commissioners and noted other legislation targeting LGBTQ people in Tennessee, Florida and elsewhere.

“Y’all make me proud to be from Durham,” Watson said. “I am standing here as a representative of the LGBTQ Center of Durham, but I am also a queer Black trans person. I am a drag king. There’s a lot coming at us right now.”

NC laws would impact LGBTQ+ kids

The Durham City Council last week also voted to condemn the legislation, despite initially struggling to agree upon the wording.

The resolutions, which closely mirror each other, reference two bills:

• Senate Bill 49, the Parents’ Bill of Rights

• House Bill 43, a bill that would restrict gender-affirming treatment for minors

The Parents’ Bill of Rights bans curriculum addressing gender identity, sexual activity or sexuality in kindergarten through fourth grades. It also requires teachers to tell parents if students change their pronouns, potentially outing them.

Republicans passed it along party lines on Feb. 7, leaving it in the hands of the state House. Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat, will likely veto the bill if it reaches his desk, which Republicans would attempt to override. They are one vote short of a supermajority.

Critics have compared the bill to Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” law, passed last year in the Republican-controlled state.

House Bill 43, meanwhile, has not yet moved out of committee.

Durham County resolution supporting LGBTQ+ students by Mary Helen Moore on Scribd