Assignment task:
2000 words. Unit 12: Mental Health Policy Paper. North Carolina Senate Bill 49
Instructions:
For this assignment, you will write a paper summarizing SENATE BILL 49. The paper should contain the following main points as listed below:
1. Select SENATE BILL 49 for this topic focuses on how it impacts psychiatric mental health care advanced practice nursing. Be sure to note if the bill is federal or state-level legislation and indicate the state, if appropriate. Also note if the bill was passed and the date, if in committee [house or senate], or if awaiting the president's signature).
2. Discuss your encouragement or opposition of the Bill based on ethical, legal, and policy considerations, and the nursing view and perspective for patient care.
3. Discuss how the bill impacts or will impact, the role of the PMHNP. Discuss the impact on health care quality and outcomes for psychiatric mental healthcare.
4. Discuss how the policy negatively or positively contributes to collaborative care for psychiatric mental healthcare and increased access to care for psychiatric mental health diagnoses.
This paper must be written in current APA format, be 5 pages (excluding the title page and reference page), and have at least 4 scholarly, peer-reviewed references within the last five years in addition to the course textbooks.
Senate Bill 49, also known as North Carolina's "Don't Say LGBTQ+" bill, was enacted in August 2023 following the NCGA's override of Governor Roy Cooper's veto. The anti-LGBTQ+ curriculum censorship and school policy law is a cruel attack on LGBTQ+ students and educators. Its implementation is currently being determined by individual school districts in North Carolina, and it's up to all of us to push back, speak out, and take action against this shameful law.
This S.B. 49 resource hub compiles information about the law, why it is in stark violation of federal law, and how you can take action.
Note: This resource hub focuses on a North Carolina law. Please feel free to adapt these strategies to similar laws in your state. If we can support you in fighting anti-LGBTQ+ laws affecting students in your state, please reach out to the Supportive Schools team at CSE.
Navigate This Page: SOUTHERNEQUALITY dot ORG/SB49/
- SB49 Overview
- Title IX Complaint
- Legal Memo
- What is allowed under SB49?
- How communities are responding
- Template Materials
- News Clips
- Videos
- Share Your Story
- Stories of Resistance
What is S.B. 49 and what is its Impact on North Carolina Schools?
S.B. 49 censors LGBTQ+ students themselves and LGBTQ-related school curriculum in several ways, including the following:
- Prohibiting the discussion of gender identity, sexual activity, or sexuality in Kindergarten-4th grade
- Requiring that schools create a process for parents to inspect and review all textbooks and instructional materials that will be used in their child's school, as well as access their child's records at the school library
- Requiring that school personnel notify parents about changes in the name or pronoun used for a student at school. This has been called the "forced outing" provision of the law.
The impact of S.B. 49 is already being felt in North Carolina. It is a disturbing attempt to take away two proven lifelines from LGBTQ+ students in North Carolina: supportive teachers & school materials/books that affirm their identity.
Want to learn more about S.B. 49? View this FAQ document compiled by Equality NC, Campaign for Southern Equality, and Planned Parenthood South Atlantic.
VIEW FAQ:
What is allowed under S.B.49? The impact of the settlement of Florida's Don't Say Gay law
S.B. 49 and other similar laws are based on Florida's 'Don't Say Gay' law, H.B. 1557, signed into law by Governor Ron DeSantis in March 2022. The language of these bills is deliberately vague, leaving educators and districts confused and unsure about what the laws require.
In March 2024, civil rights attorneys from Equality Florida, NCLR, and Family Equality reached a settlement with the State of Florida, clarifying and limiting the law's requirements. Key elements of the settlement include:
Educational Materials and Classroom 'Instruction':
- Students and teachers can speak and write freely about sexual orientation and gender identity in classroom participation and assignments.
- Teachers can respond to students who choose to discuss their own families or identities and can grade essays that include LGBTQ topics.
- Teachers can make reference to LGBTQ people in literature or history.
- The law also does not apply to books with incidental references to LGBTQ+ characters or same-sex couples, "as they are not instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity any more than a math problem asking students to add bushels of apples is instruction on apple farming",
- The law cannot ban library books with LGBTQ topics not being used for instruction in the classroom.
- The law cannot prohibit references to LGBTQ+ individuals, relationships, families, or topics in any educational or extracurricular context.
- The law is neutral - meaning what applies to LGBTQ+ people also applies to heterosexual and cisgender people.
School Safety and Protection from Bullying:
- The settlement reinforces safeguards against bullying based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
- Schools can explicitly protect LGBTQ students in anti-bullying efforts, and teachers can have "safe space" stickers in their classroom.
- Targeting LGBTQ+ persons, couples, families, or issues under the guise of this law is explicitly forbidden.
Students' Rights To Free Speech And Expression:
- Student-to-student speech and classroom debates can touch on LGBTQ issues.
- Students of the same gender can dance together at school dances and wear clothing considered inconsistent with their gender assigned at birth.
- Participation in and support of LGBTQ+ student clubs and cultural presentations remain unaffected.
- Schools cannot prohibit participation in extracurricular activities (such as 'Gender and Sexuality Alliances' or book fairs)" or "after-hours tutoring."
- GSAs are officially protected, providing students with essential support and advocacy spaces.
The settlement agreement can be found here. It is not legally binding outside of Florida, but it provides the clearest interpretation of these laws, to date. Students, families and educators challenging overcompliance with S.B.49 in North Carolina schools can refer to the Florida settlement, and ask their district to provide legal justification for its actions and interpretations, when Gov. DeSantis' attorneys could not.
Federal Title IX Complaint Against the NC State Board of Education and the NC Department of Public Instruction
In January 2024 the Campaign for Southern Equality filed a Title IX complaint with the U.S. Department of Education and U.S. Department of Justice against the North Carolina State Board of Education (SBE) and the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (DPI). The complaint alleges that North Carolina's public schools are systematically marginalizing lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) students. In doing so, they violate civil rights protected by Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972 and North Carolina schools' obligation to provide every student with a safe school environment free from discrimination.
The complaint is based on information provided by over 100 individuals reporting on the consequences of S.B. 49 through testimony to school boards, an online submission form, email communications, and personal interviews. Of these, 24 individuals - including parents, students, educators, administrators, and school board members, agreed to be quoted directly and consented to speak with OCR investigators upon request.
Investigation of the complaint is currently pending.
Read the complaint