Parents of children in the Charlotte Mecklenburg School District of North Carolina (CMS) are outraged by the revelation of a new teaching tool to be used in the school district – the “Gender Unicorn” – which is designed to help children explore who they “go to bed as” and who they would like to “go to bed with.”

Charisma News is reporting on the new cartoon-like character which looks a cross between a purple Barney and a unicorn. The figure has a gender symbol placed over its private parts.

The introduction of the Gender Unicorn was accompanied by a CMS training presentation for teachers which redefined parental rights, teachers’ classroom gender references and school activities.

The NC Values Coalition highlighted just a few of the more disturbing features of the program:

1. Parental involvement dependent on student's permission: "Involvement of parents in the plan is determined in working with the student, considering the student's age and health, well-being and safety concerns" (p. 34).

2. Students can choose their bathrooms and changing facilities: "Students must have access to the restroom/changing facilities that correspond to their gender identity" (p. 42).

3. CMS will remove some gender-based activities: "CMS will evaluate all gender-based activities; maintain only those that have clear and sound pedagogical purpose" (p. 46).

4. Students can choose their gender-based activities (intramural sports, dress codes, classes, ceremonies, photos, extracurricular activities and so forth). This includes choosing which gender they participate in during overnight field trips: "Students are permitted to participate in gender-based activities consistent with their gender identity" (p. 46).

5. Students shall not be referred to as "boys and girls" in classrooms, but "scholars" or "students": "Avoid gender specific classroom management techniques" (p. 46).

The Coalition issued a strong statement against the school’s intended practice.

“It’s a serious offense for Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools to openly ignore and violate state statute and the common sense safety and privacy protections HB2 affords children, but it’s a whole other level to guide teachers on keeping parents in the dark, and allowing students to choose which dressing room they use, or which gender they’ll stay with at overnight field trips,” the Coalition states.

In reference to the Gavin Grimm case, which involved a girl receiving a court’s permission to use the boys’ room in a California school – a decision which was put on hold by the U.S. Supreme Court just a few weeks ago, the Coalition reminded the CMS that their new policy is going “directly against” the high Court’s ruling.

For good reason, parents have been very vocal in their opposition to the district’s plans.

“It was really slick. It is friendly looking and deceitful because that unicorn, to me, represents the religion of sex. It is silencing and penalizing those of us who believe we were created male and female and should be able to use those terms,” said Donica Hudson, a mother of two students, to WCNC.

"I think they should use something else and they should educate teachers on things that are really important that protect the rights of speech and rights of our students," said another parent named Lori Dale who feels her children’s rights to freedom of speech are being threatened by the CMS materials.

"We definitely need to allow for LGBTs to have their say and their voice, but eliminating gender specific pronouns is not the way to do it," Dale said.

The argument has also spilled over onto the district's Facebook page where Amy Shaffer Vigness wrote that because the number of transgender children is so small, the school ought to handle the issue when it arises, rather than strip everyone else of their privacy rights.

“Children are considered minors until 18 years of age," Vigness writes. "Kids should not be using the same locker rooms or bathrooms with the opposite sex until they are old enough to make those decisions on their own. I would think any parent would feel that way. It's not up to the federal, state and local government to make these types of decisions for our children.”

Instead, she offers a more common sense approach such as allowing the parents of a transgendered child to meet with school officials to decide on a plan that will allow their child to be comfortable while still protecting the rights of others.

“ . . . I would not ask that any child be considered a 'protected group' because I consider them to all be protected . . .” she writes.

Even the Rev. Franklin Graham weighed in on the controversy, warning everyone that the innocent-looking purple unicorn seems harmless but is actually being used as a tool to brainwash children into accepting homosexuality and transgender behavior.

"Parents, watch out,” he warns on his Facebook page. “They are using this unicorn to grab the imagination of children and make this seem acceptable. Their new school policy, set to go into effect August 29, includes very concerning gender neutral bathroom/locker room policies and more."

Even though the Supreme Court ruling in the Grimm case has caused the school to put a hold on its policy of opening restroom and locker room facilities to students according to the gender identity, they insist that the Gender Unicorn regulations “will remain intact as we welcome students back to school later this month.”

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