LGBTQ students reflect on first school year under North Carolina’s ‘Don’t Say Gay’ law

ASHEVILLE, N.C. — Last August, shortly before Milo, 16, started his high school junior year, North Carolina enacted a law that would restrict how gender identity and sexual orientation are taught and addressed in public schools.

For the transgender teen, that meant that in this past school year, his Latin teacher no longer asked students for their preferred names and pronouns.

“It would have been more dangerous to do that than to not,” said Milo, who asked that his last name not be published because of safety concerns.

Conservative lawmakers who pushed for the law — the first section of which is titled the “Parents Bill of Rights” — argued that it is necessary to bolster parental control over the education and mental health of their children. Critics have compared the measure to Florida’s so-called “Don’t Say Gay” law, contending that it unfairly targets the LGBTQ community and, specifically, queer kids.A provision in the North Carolina legislation, Senate Bill 49, goes further than the Florida law, requiring educators to notify parents when students ask to be referred to by different names or pronouns. Some opponents to the measure have argued that the provision forces educators to effectively “out” gay and trans children to their parents.

Now, at the end of a full school year with the law in place, some LGBTQ students, parents and activists in the state say SB 49 has prevented teachers from offering queer kids support, prompted further bullying and created a hostile learning environment.

When asked for comment, Blair Rhoades, a spokesperson for the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, referred NBC News to the law’s sponsors. She also noted that the legislation advises educators against alerting parents about a student’s desire to change their pronouns or name if “a reasonably prudent believe that disclosure would result in the child becoming an abused juvenile or neglected juvenile.”

The group of state senators who sponsored the law — state Sens. Lisa Barnes, Michael Lee and Amy Galey — did not return requests for comment.

“Teaching about gender identity, sexual activity, or sexuality has no place in the K-4 curriculum,” Galey said at a news conference before the state’s education committee voted on the bill in February. “Teachers must not determine when it is appropriate to discuss these topics with our youngest, most impressionable children.”

Noah, 13, a transgender…