Senate Bill 442 formally allows foster and adoptive parents to raise transgender children as their "biological sex" without being subject to child abuse petitions. That includes misgendering their child and making health decisions "based on the child's biological sex," which the law states would not constitute serious mental injury.
The Parents Protection Act also prohibits adoption agencies from discriminating against potential parents based on race or their refusal to respect a child's gender identity. Republican Rep. Donnie Loftis co-sponsored the House version of the bill. He cited several custody disputes relating to gender identity as the reason for the provision, including an Oregon woman who was rejected by an adoption agency for opposing gender transition.
"The Parents Protection Act ensures that this does not happen in North Carolina," he said during a committee hearing. "It makes clear that no parent will be labeled abusive or unfit simply for believing that boys are boys and girls are girls."
The bill's primary sponsors were Republican Senators Jim Burgin, Amy Galey, and Benton Sawrey. Galey explained during a Senate committee meeting that the bill would still allow parents to be prosecuted for other forms of child abuse.
"[The Parents Protection Act] shields them from prosecution for that act alone, only the fact of refusing to affirm gender transitioning," she said.
Democratic lawmakers repeatedly criticized the bill. Rep. Maria Cervania said during a House committee meeting that the bill was unnecessary and harmful.
"Refusing to acknowledge somebody's identity is some of the worst emotional and psychological abuse somebody can receive," she said. "We already have protections in our laws to protect children, but to add this added language, why was it necessary?"
Stein announced he had signed the legislation along with seven other bills on Thursday. While he did not explain his decision to make the bill law, he did expand on his choice to veto four bills which he stated would "marginalize vulnerable people." Three of those bills related to Republican efforts to root out DEI policies in public education and in state government.
The fourth was House Bill 805. Originally a bipartisan attempt to strengthen protections for victims of sexual exploitation, the bill was later amended by Senate Republicans to include several anti-trans provisions, like only recognizing two sexes and banning the usage of state funds on trans healthcare for prisoners. Stein decried the bill collectively as "mean-spirited."
"At a time when teachers, law enforcement, and state employees need pay raises and people need shorter lines at the DMV, the legislature failed to pass a budget and, instead, wants to distract us by stoking culture wars that further divide us," he wrote in a statement. "I stand ready to work with the legislature when it gets serious about protecting people and addressing North Carolinians’ pressing concerns."
Republican House Speaker Destin Hall criticized Stein's decision to veto HB805.
"By rejecting this bill, he has sided with radical activists over the overwhelming majority of North Carolinians who believe in parental rights, biological reality, and protecting women and children," he wrote in a press release.
The Governor has not yet responded to WHQR's requests for comment.
