A North Carolina-based advocacy group filed a federal complaint against the state on Tuesday, claiming lawmakers and state education officials are targeting students and the LGBTQ+ community with two laws passed in the last session.
The Campaign for Southern Equality, which is headquartered in Asheville, entered a complaint to federal court claiming Session Law 2023-106 — better known as the approved Senate Bill 49 or the “Parents’ Bill of Rights” — violates the civil rights of LGBTQ+ students under Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972. Collecting the testimonies of two dozen North Carolina students, parents, teachers, and administrators, the complaint claims the law creates an unsafe or hostile educational environment for queer and trans community members. It represents the latest example of the nonprofit advocating for the rights of LGBTQ+ residents in the south, as the organization has entered lawsuits and complaints in the past challenging discriminatory legislation.
In its complaint, the CSE points to its gathered testimonials and barriers against LGBTQ+ students — from barriers like accessing health and mental health support to being “walled off from supportive educators” — as evidence of rights being infringed upon. The measure argues the North Carolina State Board of Education and state Department of Public Instruction should be required to change the provisions to align with Title IX, which prohibits discrimination within academic and educational spaces based on one’s sex.
“When S.B. 49 passed,” wrote Craig White, Supportive Schools Director for the Campaign for Southern Equality, in Tuesday’s release, “we imagined all of the ways that students, parents, educators, and the North Carolina school system at large would be damaged. This complaint shows that those harms are actually happening right now in schools across North Carolina – endangering and marginalizing LGBTQ+ students and students from LGBTQ+ families. The state’s public education system is now clouded by fear, discrimination, and censorship that interferes with students’ ability to learn. It is time for school districts to stop implementing S.B. 49 – because the anti-LGBTQ+ policies that this law requires are patently incompatible with the Title IX protections to which every LGBTQ+ student is entitled.”
Session Law 2023-106 was initially vetoed by North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper, who is a Democrat, but a supermajority of Republican lawmakers overrode the veto in August to pass it into law. Since then, districts across the state have been working on updating their policies to be in compliance with the state Board of Education and Department of Public Instruction requirements.
The news of the filing came just less than two weeks after the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools Board of Education declined to adopt provisions of SB 49 that the Campaign for Southern Equality is scrutinizing. The district’s elected officials voted against adopting policies requiring educators to alert parents of a name or pronoun change by students and restrictions on gender identity in elementary school education. The move drew ire from some Republican lawmakers — including N.C. Superintendent Catherine Truitt — but board members said the decision was made to be minimally compliant while limiting discriminatory provisions becoming policy.
Andy Jenks, the chief communications officers for CHCCS, told Chapelboro the Campaign for Southern Equality had no formal contact with the district before filing its federal lawsuit. He said the organization emailed a memo to CHCCS’ Board of Education in November along with other boards in North Carolina to share their displeasure over the “Parents’ Bill of Rights” legislation, but no district administration members communicated with CSE about the litigation. CSE briefly mentioned the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools district’s decision to not adopt the policy provisions as an example of dissent while other schools districts in North Carolina have been “monolithic” in their adoption of updated policies.
The CHCCS Board of Education is set to discuss the controversial policies again during its work session on Thursday night. The proposals will come to the board for a second reading as part of its consent agenda.
According to the Associated Press, Truitt said after the federal complaint was filed on Tuesday that she believes the “Parents’ Bill of Rights” law provides transparency for parents and “ensures that parents remain aware of major health-related matters impacting their child’s growth and development.”
In addition to its complaint against Session Law 2023-106, the Campaign for Southern Equality also alleged the “Fairness in Women’s Sports Act” banning transgender athletes from participating in school sports also violates Title IX. The law was similarly vetoed by Cooper, but ultimately approved by Republican lawmakers in the General Assembly.
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