For the second time this month, more than a dozen Wake parents and community members took sides on the hiring of a teacher some are claiming is nonbinary or transgender.
The issue has divided the community since late last month.
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The issue has also been taken up by political social media accounts across the country.
It took off after state Rep. Erin Paré, R-Wake, posted on social media about the issue after hearing concerns from parents about the possibility of a transgender teacher in their southern Wake County elementary school, describing the teacher as a "biological male who dresses as a woman."
Paré has floated requiring a sex-based dress code or finding some other way to ensure elementary-age children don't talk about gender identity issues before she believes they are ready.
The state has a law, known as the Parents' Bill of Rights, that prohibits instruction on gender identity and sexuality before fifth grade. The law says that answering students' unsolicited questions on those topics doesn't count as instruction.
WRAL is not naming the school or the teacher to protect their identity.
Parents opposed to the teacher’s hire say they want to opt their children out of the class but have been told no.
Others say those parents’ requests are tantamount to discrimination.
Gina Carruci, a member of Moms for Liberty, said she believed the teacher's presence put pressure on children.
"Our children should be able to attend school without being pressured to adopt a particular belief or worldview," Carruci said. "Teachers have an important role in the classroom, but that role is to educate students, not to use their position of authority to influence students' personal beliefs."
Kelli Wilhelm, president of the Raleigh-Apex NAACP, worried that parents were trying to remove the teacher from the classroom altogether.
"I believe we should be a community that says to every qualified educator who wants to serve our children, you belong here," Wilhelm said. "Your work matters and we will not allow you to be bullied out of the classroom."
School board member Lynn Edmonds, during a school board meeting earlier this month, said the teacher's hire didn't break any rules and that the district can't discriminate against transgender people in hiring.
Board Member Jennifer Job echoed Edmonds during that meeting and noted that courts have ruled against sex-based dress codes, as proposed by some parents. Job and Edmonds were disappointed in how much attention the teacher's hire was getting, and they were concerned about the teacher's well-being, too.
"People online and in this room are willing to sacrifice this person's life for their culture war," Job said.
Legal precedent on hiring, dress codes
Federal court decisions in recent years have protected employees from discrimination against their gender identity. One North Carolina charter school had its dress code — which required girls to wear skirts — struck down for violating Title IX, a federal law that prohibits sex-based discrimination.
The Wake County Public School System’s policy bars discrimination in the hiring process of anyone on several things, including their gender identity.
“The district prohibits unlawful discrimination while taking into account all requirements in state and federal law," the district said in a statement to WRAL News.
In 2020, the school board changed a handful of policies to reflect various recent federal court decisions related to gender identity. That included its hiring policy.
The U.S. Supreme Court's 6-3 decision in Bostock v. Clayton County, Georgia, said civil rights protections based on sex also included protections from discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. That's because sexual orientation and gender identity are inseparable from sex, the majority contended in that 2020 decision.
The Supreme Court more recently has ruled against certain protections for the transgender community, including recently upholding state laws that prohibited transgender girls from competing in girls' sports.
When it comes to dress code, federal courts haven't been as clear.
The Supreme Court in 2023 declined to hear a case brought against Charter Day School in Brunswick County, leaving a federal ruling in place. That ruling had struck down the school's sex-based dress code, which required girls to wear skirts. The court ruled that sex-based dress codes constituted sex discrimination under Title IX.
In 2024, Wake County updated its faculty and student dress codes to state that they cannot be applied in a way that is discriminatory against a protected class. The district includes gender identity among its protected classes.
Paré has represented her southern Wake County district since 2021. She’s seeking reelection in November in what could be one of the more competitive legislative races. The district includes parts of Holly Springs and Fuquay-Varina. Paré won it by about 6 percentage points in 2024, down from almost 8 points in 2022. Democrats are hoping to flip the seat blue following strong showings in suburban Wake’s municipal elections in 2025. Winn Decker won the district’s Democratic primary in March.
Republicans in North Carolina and other states have taken up a focus on transgender topics in recent years. The issue has energized voters in the GOP base. Republican lawmakers passed multiple laws in recent legislative sessions focused on medical care and athletic team participation by transgender children.
WRAL has asked Wake County Schools whether it plans to address the issue with parents and how the district will balance parents’ concerns with the rights of its employees. A district spokesperson said a response is being prepared.