It gets worse in North Carolina: High school board member says allowing students to carry mace will protect women in bathrooms

"It may be a pretty valuable tool," a board member said, "if they go to the bathroom, not knowing who may come in"

Published May 11, 2016 2:46PM (EDT)

   (<a href='http://www.shutterstock.com/gallery-2404p1.html'>hd connelly</a> via <a href='http://www.shutterstock.com/'>Shutterstock</a>)
(hd connelly via Shutterstock)

A high school in Salisbury, North Carolina, voted Monday to allow students to carry mace in the 2016-2017 school year, according to a report from the Salisbury Post.

The Rowan-Salisbury Board of Education's counterintuitive new policy comes on the heels of the state's controversial "bathroom bill" (HB2), which requires transgender individuals to use public restrooms that correspond to their birth gender rather than that with which they identify.

"Depending on how the courts rule on the bathroom issues, it may be a pretty valuable tool to have on the female students if they go to the bathroom, not knowing who may come in," said board member Chuck Hughes, implying pedophiles might exploit protections for transgender North Carolinians, echoing arguments made by state Republican lawmakers.

In addition to permitting students to carry "mace, pepper spray, or any other type of defensive spray," the Board approved a similar amendment to allow disposable razors "for personal shaving reasons only."

Read a detailed account of the board meeting over at the Salisbury Post.


By Brendan Gauthier

Brendan Gauthier is a freelance writer.

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Anti-transgender Bathroom Bill Hb2 Lgbt Rights North Carolina Pepper-spray