In early March, the North Carolina Public School System announced they would be making a change in Powerschool, the online grade book used throughout the state, that would allow students to input a chosen name to be shown on their school records.  

So what changes? Now, students will be able to protect their privacy and have their chosen name appear on documents such as report cards, the teacher’s grade book, rosters, and state reports. Students’ legal names will still have to be used on official documents such as their official transcripts, but those are not seen by anyone except for family members and the schools where you apply experiencing hatred with their dead name displayed. Being able to input a chosen name will now give these students a metaphorical wall of protection. Even though this is a relief for many students, there still has been a lot of backlash from some communities.

Jim Quick, a spokesperson for the N.C. Values Coalition, and John Rustin, the President of the N.C. Family Policy Council, have been giving the most backlash publicly. Rustin was interviewed by The News & Observer where he stated, “It’s more than just a change in a student database. He said it’s a concern because many young people who assume a different gender identity choose to go back to their biological sex.”

There was no information found to back his claims.