North Carolina School Districts Wrestle With Parents’ Bill of Rights

After a months-long delay, one North Carolina school board has acquiesced to state law requiring the adoption of a parental rights policy, while another refuses to abide by the law. “At its core, we know that SB 49—or the so-called Parents’ Bill of Rights—seeks to harm our queer youth and families,” said Asheville City Schools Board Chair George Sieburg at a Feb. 12 school board meeting. “As misguided and obtuse as this legislation is, it is written in such a crafty way that as a school board, our hands have been tied.” SB 49, or the Parents’ Bill of Rights, was among the state bills mischaracterized in some media as “Don’t Say Gay” laws, named so because opponents of the legislation believe the bills target gay and transgender people....