By Julian White-Davis, Photo Editor
Coming this fall, students of any sexual orientation or gender identity will be able to use the bathroom of their choice at the high school. There will be no need to worry whether it’s the women’s or the men’s because there won’t be any gender assignment in one set of bathrooms.
The School Board has approved a trial period to test the efficacy of gender-neutral bathrooms at the high school. Either the upstairs or downstairs bathrooms will be non-gender specific — so anyone will be able to access them.
The Queer Spectrum Alliance (QSA) was a major supporter of the decision.
“I think that having a gender-neutral bathroom at the high school is really important,” junior QSA member Iris Sackman said. “Especially because this is a time when a lot of kids are discovering who they are [with regards] to gender and sexuality.”
This idea had already been in the works for two years when QSA finally presented their proposal to the school board.
“We went before the board and … talked about our points and how to do it and why it would be valuable,” senior QSA President John Kehl said. “They thought it was cool and wanted to take it up themselves.”
The Vashon Island School District administration is still discussing the logistics of how the pilot will work.
“For the last week, facilities and capital-project folks have been touring the facility and male and female bathrooms and looking at what would need to be changed,” Principal Danny Rock said. “We have decisions in front of us around what to do, if anything, about the urinals and how long to make the pilot — we’re thinking about three months.”
One issue that has come up is the money required to renovate the bathrooms. It is a capital project cost, so the district has to decide how much money to put into the pilot in order to make it effective and how much money to save for making it permanent if it works out.
This idea has been implemented at high schools across the country, including West Seattle High School. One problem that came up at that school was a lack of education regarding the change — students were confused about what it meant and why it had happened.
“Some thought the new bathroom would be only for students who identify as transgender,” Paige Cornwell, in a Seattle Times article, said. “Others didn’t know what transgender meant, or why someone might feel uncomfortable using a restroom designated for women or men.”
However, this problem could be remedied by pre-emptive action at VHS.
“[We need to] educate the student body and make sure they know what those bathrooms are for, and not abuse them, and make sure that those who do abuse the bathrooms face consequences,” Sackman said.
Some have brought up a fear that the gender-neutral bathrooms will be an inconvenience for them and will be an unnecessary change. However, it appears that there will actually be very little change for the student body.
“The short of it is that the new plan really won’t affect most students,” Kehl said, “but for those it does [affect], it could make a huge difference in feeling comfortable in the learning environment, and that’s something really valuable.”