In the spring of 2020, many hospitals delayed or canceled gender-affirming surgeries, along with other procedures deemed elective or nonessential to make space for COVID-19 patient
North Carolina LGBTQ advocates argued for years that the use of legal names not only put some students at risk of being outed, potentially leading to harassment from other students, but was also an issue of privacy and safety.
The Asheville-based Campaign for Southern Equality has been working with the Department of Public Instruction since 2017 in an effort to update the system. Craig White, the supportive schools director for the campaign, said that parents and educators were working on the issue even before them.