Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools promotes resource to change science curriculum to achieve “Gender-Inclusive Biology”; has “LGBTQIA+ affinity space” for staff; promotes “Gender Unicorn” to elementary students

Parents Defending Education submitted a public records request to Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools seeking any guidance the district has regarding transgender issues. The district provided PDE with multiple links to the district’s website. The first link was to a page titled “Staff Resources.” The page contains numerous LGBTQ resources for staff, including a “LGBTQIA+ affinity space listserv.” Affinity spaces are groups of people segregated by their characteristics, such as race and identity. The page offers staff resources from known LGBTQ organizations that target children, including Gender Spectrum, Human Rights Campaign, Learning for Justice, and GLSEN.

Resources include several lists of LGBTQ books targeting children and a resource titled “Gender-Inclusive Biology.” This resource states: “Our students will face decisions about health, science, and medicine that we can hardly imagine. Gender and sexuality diversity are more visible than ever, and our science curriculum must adapt if it is to serve our students and prepare them for the future.” This resource offers additional resources to include LGBTQ lessons into biology classes. Questions to be answered in these lessons include:

• How can we affirm our transgender and intersex students when we​ talk about X and Y chromosomes?
• How will students with same-sex parents interpret and internalize our lessons about meiosis and sexual reproduction?
• How do all gender identities and sexual orientations fit into our understanding of science, development, and evolution?
• Can we create safe spaces of scientific exploration and protect trans youth in schools?
• How can we create a rigorous, NGSS-informed curriculum that gives students tools for understanding their world?

Another link the district provided to PDE was a page titled “LGBTQ+ Resources & Support” targeting students. This page promotes “Coming Out as YOU!” This page promotes LGBTQ organizations such as the Trevor Project and the LGBTQ Center of Durham. One link on this page directs students to a document from the Trevor Project that teaches children “biological sex” and “gender identity” are on a spectrum with a graph.

The district’s website has a page specifically for elementary students on LGBTQ issues. This page promotes resources titled “How to Talk to Kids About Gender Identity,” “Teaching Kids About Gender Pronouns,” “Diverse LGBTQ Inclusive Picture Books,” and “Defining LGBTQ+ Words for Elementary School Students.” One resource on this page is the “Gender Unicorn.” The “Gender Unicorn” is an image that schools have used in an attempt to teach children that gender exists on a spectrum.