The South Carolina superintendent of education recommended ignoring new federal protections expanding the definition of sex discrimination under Title IX to protect queer, trans and gender-nonconforming students. In addition, the superintendent also stated she believed once the rules go into effect August 1, they will most likely be challenged in court.
President Biden’s administration announced during the third week of April a new federal rule blocking “blanket policies,” barring trans students from using the restrooms of their gender identity in school facilities. This rule was placed in response to anti-trans and anti-LGBTQ+ policies being passed in predominantly Republican-led states, including in South Carolina.
“South Carolina students are not pawns to be sacrificed in cynical political gambits,” Republican Ellen Weaver wrote. “Accordingly, our State will defend the inherent dignity of every person, while refusing to upend long-standing federal law, violate common sense, or acquiesce to radical attempts to redefine biological reality by bureaucratic diktat.”
Just last month, South Carolina legislators proposed H.4047, a bill that would prohibit transgender people under the age of 18 from receiving gender-affirming healthcare and would make it a felony for medical professionals to provide transition-related care to transgender minors.
“My heart is heavy with the gravity of what this bill means for our transgender youth in South Carolina,” Executive Director of Gender Benders Ivy Hill said in response to H.4047. “Under the proposal, youth could not confidentially turn to a supportive teacher or counselor to express feelings that they might be transgender. They would not be able to go to their medical provider to receive health care that could save their lives. Where are they supposed to go?
“To live their lives with dignity and confidence, trans kids would be put in the position of begging their doctors to risk prison time and urging their teachers to break the law.”
Weaver is in her second year as the state superintendent, and LGBTQ+ advocates have slammed her recent statement regarding the new Title IX protections.
“While Superintendent Weaver may not personally support the rights of LGBT+ students, she has the responsibility as the top school leader in our state to ensure that all students have equal rights and protections,” said Chase Glenn, executive director of the Alliance for Full Acceptance.
Given Weaver’s background, it should come as no surprise that her defiant attitude and lack of concern for LGBTQ+ students is part and parcel of what she believes education in South Carolina should be. According to public records, Weaver served as President and CEO of the Palmetto Promise Institute (PPI), a conservative advocacy organization and “think tank,” previously known as the Palmetto Policy Forum and the Palmetto Fort Foundation.
PPI was originally founded by notoriously anti-LGBTQ+ former SC Senator and Heritage Foundation president Jim DeMint in 2013. Weaver, who had previously served as a staffer for DeMint, joined PPI in its beginning days, eventually working her way to the president and CEO position prior to capturing the role of South Carolina’s State Superintendent of Schools in 2022.
The organization enthusiastically supports SC H. 4289, legislation passed by the South Carolina House of Representatives in late March that would bar DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) practices in hiring, promotion and admission policies at all state colleges and universities.
On their website, PPI’s statement of purpose states they promote policy solutions that would purportedly allow “every individual” the opportunity to reach their full “God-given potential.”