New gender identity protections get Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools board member support
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools board members want to add gender identity protections to its harassment policies for students and employees.
The previous policy, created in 1992, has been updated a number of times, the last of which was in 2016. It only included protections on the basis of “race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin or disability.” Last week, the board of education’s policy committee unanimously voted to add language also prohibiting discrimination based on “gender identity and expression” for students and employees.
Next, the board will hold a public hearing of the changes to the policy Oct. 8 before the full board takes a vote Oct. 22.
Board members Dee Rankin, Lisa Cline, Melissa Easley and Lenora ship are on the policy committee.
“We have these kinds of policies to make sure all our students and staff feel protected,” said Rankin, vice chair of the CMS Board of Education.
The new policy characterizes harassment as “conduct that has the purpose or effect of substantially interfering with a student’s educational opportunity or employee’s employment; creates an intimidating, hostile or offensive school environment; or otherwise affects a student’s educational opportunities or employee’s employment.”
It provides examples such as verbal or physical attacks, including “epithets, insults, jokes, slurs, negative stereotyping or threatening, intimidating or hostile acts.”
CMS’ policy on multiculturalism has included language against discrimination based on gender identity and expression for a number of years, and Rankin says Tuesday’s decision was based largely on streamlining board policies.
“It was brought to our attention that we had it in some policies but that it wasn’t in this one, so we wanted to make sure that it was covered,” he said. “We wanted to make sure we had consistent language across our policies.”
Parents’ Bill of Rights
The North Carolina General Assembly passed Senate Bill 49, sometimes referred to as The Parents’ Bill of Rights, in August 2023. As part of the statute, school employees are required to inform a student’s parents if the student asks to use different pronouns or a different name in school. Regardless of the updates to CMS’ harassment policy, the district is still required to comply with state law, including all parts of SB 49.
Opponents of the legislation have argued that it infringes on students’ safety and privacy, particularly for LGBTQ students. Proponents argue parents have a right to know if their child is questioning their gender identity.
CMS was one of the first districts in the state to comply with SB 49 after it was passed, though many community members voiced opposition to the law.
Board member Melissa Easley, who identifies as bisexual and whose spouse identifies as gender-fluid, gave an impassioned speech in opposition to the law in August of last year, saying she feared the harm it would cause to LGBTQ students and families like her own.
Rankin said the board would have amended its harassment policy whether SB 49 were in effect or not.
“Even if SB 49 hadn’t passed, we would still need to make this change to make sure all of our students and staff feel protected,” he said.
This story was originally published September 23, 2024 at 6:00 AM.
