ASHEVILLE, N.C. (AP) — A civil rights group alleged Tuesday that North Carolina’s public schools are “systematically marginalizing” LGBTQ youth while new state laws in part are barring certain sex-related instruction in early grades and limiting athletic participation by transgender students.
The Campaign for Southern Equality filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights against the State Board of Education and the Department of Public Instruction, alleging violations of federal law. The complaint also alleges that the board and the department have failed to provide guidance to districts on how to enforce the laws without violating Title IX, which forbids discrimination based on sex in education.
“This discrimination has created a hostile educational environment that harms LGBTQ students on a daily basis,” the complaint from the group’s lawyers said while seeking a federal investigation and remedial action. “And it has placed educators in the impossible position of choosing between following the dictates of their state leaders or following federal and state law, as well as best practices for safeguarding all of their students”.