Federal complaint accuses NC Parents’ Bill of Rights of anti-LGBTQ discrimination

An LGBTQ advocacy group filed a federal Title IX complaint on Tuesday accusing North Carolina of discrimination by passing the Parents’ Bill of Rights and a law barring female transgender athletes from playing on girls’ teams.

The Asheville-based Campaign for Southern Equality says both laws are creating a hostile environment for LGBTQ+ students that violates their federal rights. The group wants the U.S. Department of Education and the U.S. Department of Justice to intervene.

The “Parents’ Bill of Rights” requires public schools to notify parents if their child changes their name or pronoun. It also limits discussion of LGBTQ issues in elementary schools. The “Fairness in Women’s Sports Act” says girls’ sports teams in middle schools, high schools and colleges “shall not be open to students of the male sex.”

The complaint cites statements collected from students, parents school board members and school employees about the new laws causing transgender students to be outed to unsympathetic parents and schools removing LGBTQ materials from schools.

“The state’s public education system is now clouded by fear, discrimination, and censorship that interferes with students’ ability to learn,” Craig White, supportive schools director for the Campaign for Southern Equality, said in a news release. “It is time for school districts to stop implementing S.B. 49 (Parents’ Bill of Rights) — because the anti-LGBTQ+ policies that this law requires are patently incompatible with the Title IX protections to which every LGBTQ+ student is entitled.”

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.