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Some speakers demanded Tuesday that the Wake County school board provide alternatives to elementary school parents who don’t want their children educated by a transgender teacher.
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The recent hiring of a transgender teacher at Middle Creek Elementary School in Apex has sparked national headlines with people both opposing and supporting the educator. On Tuesday, the Wake school board heard calls from speakers to allow parents to opt their children out of the teacher’s class.
“I am asking this board to listen to the parents,” said Becky Lew-Hobbs, Wake County chapter chair of Moms for Liberty. “Review what has occurred in the school. Ensure compliance with North Carolina law and provide reasonable alternatives to families who object.”
But some speakers rallied behind the transgender educator, calling opponents “bigots.”
“Keep bigots off our campuses,” Katerina Day, a Wake County grandparent, told the board. “Relocate the children of bigots if needed. Expel the children of bigots if needed.”
The situation first drew public attention in late July when Republican state Rep. Erin Paré posted online about “the hiring of a transgender biological male, who dresses as a woman … in one of our local elementary schools.”
Paré didn’t name the teacher. But others have posted the educator’s name and photo online, including the far-right social media account Libs of TikTok. The News & Observer is not naming the teacher, who has not responded to The N&O’s requests for comment.
Wake County is North Carolina’s largest school district with more than 160,000 students.
The public comment portion at the Aug. 4 board meeting was heavily weighted in favor of people defending the teacher. On Tuesday, the response was more even with a slight majority of speakers questioning the hiring.
Multiple speakers called it “compelled speech” to require students to address the teacher with female pronouns.
“No teacher, regardless of their identity, should pressure students to accept personal beliefs or participate in compelled speech that conflicts with their own convictions,” Gina Carruci, a parent, told the board while wearing a Moms for Liberty shirt.
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Lew-Hobbs said Wake is at risk of being sued. Aaron Driver, a Middle Creek parent, has formed the group Middle Creek Parental Rights, which has talked online about seeking an injunction against Wake.
“God entrusted their upbringing to us, not overeducated administrators with late-stage luxury beliefs,” Driver told the board on Tuesday. “That’s not hatred. That’s fatherhood.”
Colette Emmrich , a Middle Creek parent, complained that her request for an alternative assignment had been rejected.. Emmrich said her only choice seems to be to homeschool her children.
“When I un-enroll my children, it’s not because I’m a stupid narrow-minded conservative bigot that hates the teacher,” Emmrich told the board. “When I un-enroll, it’s because my children are confused. They’re asking questions about advanced human topics before they even know what sex is.”
Other speakers said the teacher’s gender identity shouldn’t matter.
“Instead of finding encouragement, she has become the target of political attacks because of how she wants to show up in the world,” said Kelli Wilhelm, president of the Raleigh-Apex NAACP. “Let me be clear. No teacher should be targeted, harassed or publicly vilified because of their gender identity.”
Renee Sekel, a Wake parent, accused conservative critics of demanding a genitalia check for new teachers.
“Parents are demanding the right to not have their children meet people that the parents themselves don’t like,” Sekel told the board. “Now this one is an argument we’ve seen played countless times in our history against Black students and teachers, against LGBTQIA people, against non-Christians, against disabled people.
“It’s been wrong every time it’s been deployed and it’s just wrong.”
Margaret Bilodeau, a Wake parent, told the school board that how it stands on the issue will send a message to trans students.
”Our LGBTQ+ students are watching and they’re learning something about whether this district will actually protect them or abandon them,” said Bilodeau, who wore a trans rights shirt.
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