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A conversation with New Hanover County school member David Perry about gender in schools

The New Hanover County Board of Education recently voted to reshape the district's strategic plan, policies, and procedures to comply with President Trump's recent executive orders on both DEI and gender issues. Board member David Perry recently accused the media of a "blackout" of the latter, so we asked him to come into the studio to unpack his views on the topic.

On today’s show, a conversation with New Hanover County Board of Education member David Perry about how gender is taught and discussed in schools. Last week, Perry, who was elected in November, joined the board’s other Republicans in voting to overhaul the school district’s strategic plan, policies, and procedures. The main focus was removing material to comply with recent executive orders from President Donald Trump — which essentially threatened to withhold federal funding from schools if they didn’t remove DEI and so-called gender ideology from their curriculum.

Over the weekend, Perry took to Facebook to voice his frustration that the news media had ignored the gender part of the story — specifically issues involving trans students — and focusing on DEI, instead. At the same time, I’d heard from a lot of people, including Perry’s supporters but also parents very concerned about his stance on trans students. So, we invited him to come in and discuss his views.

Links:

  • The 2013 Steensma study, referenced by David Perry. The work was conducted by Dr. Thomas D. Steensma et. al. and published in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.
  • 2019 Canadian Medical Association Journal (which I read through the National Institutes of Health’s National Library of Medicine site — it’s not a NIH study, my apologies).
  • Trump’s executive orders on DEI and gender.
  • Last week’s vote: New Hanover County school board votes 5-2 to remove references to DEI
Ben Schachtman is a journalist and editor with a focus on local government accountability. He began reporting for Port City Daily in the Wilmington area in 2016 and took over as managing editor there in 2018. He’s a graduate of Rutgers College and later received his MA from NYU and his PhD from SUNY-Stony Brook, both in English Literature. He loves spending time with his wife and playing rock'n'roll very loudly. You can reach him at BSchachtman@whqr.org and find him on Twitter @Ben_Schachtman.