The NAACP is standing behind its Spokane Branch President Rachel Dolezal after reports surfaced Thursday that she is pretending to be African-American. Rachel Dolezal’s parents revealed they are both white as the driven snow and that further details of Dolezal’s biography are pure fiction. (For example, she was not born in a teepee.)

News reports also call into question Dolezal’s repeated allegations of being harassed. Just days ago, police investigating her claim of having received threatening hate mail discovered the envelope was never time-stamped or cancelled, and was placed in a box only accessible by postal workers or someone with a key.

Despite the concerns over her identity and veracity, the civil rights organization made clear it has her back, saying in a statement released Friday:

For 106 years, the National  Association for the Advancement of Colored People has held a long and proud tradition of receiving support from people of all faiths, races, colors and creeds. NAACP Spokane Washington Branch President Rachel Dolezal is enduring a legal issue with her family, and we respect her privacy in this matter. One’s racial identity is not a qualifying criteria or disqualifying standard for NAACP leadership.  The NAACP Alaska-Oregon-Washington State Conference stands behind Ms. Dolezal’s advocacy record.  In every corner of this country, the NAACP remains committed to securing political, educational, and economic justice for all people, and we encourage Americans of all stripes to become members and serve as leaders in our organization.

Hate language sent through mail and social media along with credible threats continue to be a serious issue for our units in the Pacific Northwest and across the nation. We take all threats seriously  and encourage the FBI and the Department of Justice to fully investigate each occurrence.

When asked directly about her race and ethnicity Thursday by the Spokane Spokesman-Review, Dolezal was vague:

“That question is not as easy as it seems,” she said after being contacted at Eastern Washington University, where she’s a part-time professor in the Africana Studies Program. “There’s a lot of complexities … and I don’t know that everyone would understand that.”

Later, in an apparent reference to studies tracing the scientific origins of human life to Africa, Dolezal added: “We’re all from the African continent.”

She did little better when confronted by KXLY with a photo of her posing with an African-American man she says is her father, doubling down on the lie before abandoning the interview for the safety of a city boutique.

Even if the NAACP is okay with her racial role-playing, Dolezal does face a potential problem with the Office of Police Ombudsman Commission. In her application to join the commission Dolezal represented herself at least partially as”African-American.” The Spokane City Council is investigating if lying about one’s race violates city policy.

And as if the story wasn’t curious enough to set social media on fire, commentators have been quick to tie Dolezal and her racial self-identity with a certain Olympic hero turned Vanity Fair cover girl.

If Rachel Dolezal Isn’t Black, How Is Caitlyn Jenner A Woman? – http://t.co/ncjC6NMCsb via @FDRLST

— Mollie (@MZHemingway) June 12, 2015

It’s going to be a long, strange summer.