Chuck Hughes, BoE member living in Salisbury, N.C.
On May 11th the Associated Press sent an article across the wires alleging that “A North Carolina school system has adopted a policy allowing high school students to carry pepper spray this fall; a policy one board member said may be useful for students who encounter transgender classmates in the bathroom.” The AP’s report quickly went viral without any attempt to confirm its accuracy or to speak with the board member, Chuck Hughes, before rushing to judgement.
Mr. Hughes states he never suggested a connection between pepper spray and LGBT students when he said “Depending on how the courts rule on the bathroom issues (NC HB2), it (pepper spray) may be a pretty valuable tool to have on the female students if they go to the bathroom, not knowing who may come in.” A review of the board’s videotaped meeting by the Rowan Free Press supports his statement.
Mr. Hughes provided the Rowan Free Press with these follow-up comments:
“My comment only suggested that pepper spray might provide a layer of protection for all females, and by definition, all females includes transgender and transsexual students as well. I would add that statistics strongly suggest that those who are most likely to take advantage of our female students, straight or LGBT, in or out of school, come from the ‘straight’ community.”
The question is, will any of the numerous papers that took AP’s article as factual, retract their accusations?
