North Carolina schools increasing protections for trans students

The Wake County school board, the largest school system in the US state of North Carolina, voted unanimously to extend anti-discrimination policies to transgender students and school staff on Tuesday November 24. Discrimination on the basis of ‘race, colour, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, disability or age’ is already prohibited, with revisions providing protection from discrimination and harassment on the grounds of someone’s gender identity.

Heather Scott, a board member, said during the meeting: “This is extremely important, and I’m very thankful to see the changes, not just in response to court cases…But I think this shows that our district is very concerned about being an open place for everyone.” Jonathan Blumberg, the school board attorney, said he hopes the new regulations will provide “protections for potentially vulnerable populations that have historically been victims of discrimination.”

He highlighted that earlier this year, the US Supreme Court ruled federal employment discrimination law applies to transgender people, adding: “This is an opportunity for the Wake County Board of Education, which has been a champion overall in the area of providing justice and equity, for you all to incorporate this into your policies.” While the majority were supportive of the new regulations, some criticised the school board for ‘prioritising’ LGBTQ+ issues over Covid-19 homeschooling, with one Twitter user saying: “As students are failing because of predictable extended remote learning protocols, Wake County School Board’s #1 priority is how to label transgendered students?”