CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Campaign for Southern Equality, an Asheville-based civil rights group, filed a Title IX complaint against North Carolina Senate Bill 49. They said Bill 49, the Parents’ Bill of Rights, is discriminatory against LGBTQ+ students despite the bill’s purported aim to defend parental rights.
The complaint came nearly two weeks on Jan. 30 after Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools officials said it would not adopt two portions of the law at their meeting on Jan. 18. These portions would limit conversations about gender identity and mandate reporting of any changes in identity to parents according to a comparison between the Parents’ Bill of Rights statute and those included in the law.
The Parents’ Bill of Rights was passed in Aug. 2023. According to the bill’s text, this law protects parents’ rights to make decisions regarding their child’s education and health, whether mental or physical. The Title IX complaint, however, said that “discrimination is ongoing against LGBTQ students in the form of a hostile learning environment.”
Members of Campaign for Southern Equality reached out for assistance from the U.S. Department of Justice and U.S Department of Education and LGBTQ+ activists in the Triangle said they are waiting to see what will happen.
Organizations like the LGBTQ Center of Durham said they will work to make sure LGBTQ+ children can find safe spaces outside the classroom.