Using the school restroom is a necessary task that many students experience every day. Imagine only having one stall. For some students, it’s a reality. And with the decreasing time you are given to use the restroom- just 5 minutes at some schools- using the restrooms at school has become an impossible task for one of the most marginalized groups: the LGBTQ+ community. Having only one gender-neutral restroom, a safe restroom, is contributing to this.
Restrooms seem like a small part of someone’s day, but to someone in the LGBTQ+ community, it can be a daunting and unsafe location. For someone who is transgender, being seen in one can ruin your reputation. A transgender man may not want to use the women’s restroom as they are male. However, if they were to use the men’s restroom, they run the risk of outing themself as trans in a dangerous situation. What if they do not pass that day; strangers do not recognize that they’re male? What if they spread that they are trans, and everyone in the restroom starts talking about them as if they are “the girl in the boys’ restroom?” If they go to the men’s restroom, they risk being harassed if they do something not “normal” enough; if they go to the women’s restroom, they could lose their status as male to those around them, out themself as trans, or possibly strike fear and anger to the people there, along with the damage it would do to their mental health.
Instead, many people, like me, use the gender-neutral restroom at the school. There is only one, however, and it is tucked away in the Nurse’s office. At Northwest, most departments’ rules for how long you are allowed to be out for a restroom pass is 5-7 minutes. I take that exact time or longer to get there and back without even using the restroom. During passing period, the time where teachers scold you for not using it to go to the restroom, I physically cannot walk to the restroom and to my class in time. In most cases, I am unable to use the restroom because of time constraints.
Students who need to use the gender-neutral restroom are ignored by the school until they speak up, making visibility key. Having an accessible restroom that is safe to use for people of all identities should be a given. There is gender-neutral restrooms already in place at other locations in the school, restricted to teachers. Opening those up could be an easy and more accessible solution. Another idea is changing the way restrooms are set up in the school. Instead of multiple stalls and urinals in one enclosed, gender specific area, have a line of enclosed stalls (like the family bathrooms in public spaces) with a sink in each. These would replace the gendered restrooms in the school. Not only is this idea more inclusive to everyone, but this would also lower people hanging out, bullying, and drug use in the restroom as it would be harder to have multiple people in one enclosed area.
LGBTQ+ students’ accessibility should not be an afterthought. I talked about my experience with not being able to use the restroom as easily using e-hallpass due to needing to use the Nurse location, and the gender-neutral restroom was added to the list of locations. Change is possible. Set up meetings with your administrators and tell people about the gender-neutral restroom. No one deserves to feel othered because of how they must use the restroom.
