By: Ashton seghezzi and Lee Corey
Editor-in-Chief and Staff Writer
The bathrooms at Santa Rosa High School have never been ideal. Our campus bathrooms are often trashed by students with graffiti and unnecessary messes that our janitorial staff have to clean. Students are already avoiding the bathrooms due to the mess caused by fellow students, so where does this leave our transgender and gender-nonconforming population in this situation?
Transgender students are not fond of the bathrooms on campus for several reasons. One of the most important reasons is the fear of being harassed, assaulted or misgendered. The argument of letting transgender people use the bathroom that aligns with their gender has gone on for years. People even go as far as to argue that transgender individuals use the restroom that aligns with their gender because they are “predators.”
With national conversations about transgender people and bathrooms being so volatile, the issue is often on the minds of transgender people. Luckily, negative experiences related to which bathroom transgender individuals choose to use don’t seem to be too common at our school. However, even if harassment isn’t abundant in our school’s bathrooms, it is still deeply upsetting how little our school does to accommodate transgender and gender-nonconforming students when it comes to bathroom usage.
One of the only gender-neutral bathrooms at our school is located in the health office. Transgender student junior Maya Clark said, “I can’t imagine what it’s like for kids who really need those safe spaces, because we don’t have enough of them, or the time to access the only one available.” For some students, using the bathroom that corresponds to their sex assigned at birth might not be much of an issue, but the lack of gender-neutral bathrooms simply fails to recognize the needs of gender-nonconforming students. Those people deserve a bathroom that they feel completely comfortable using. “I just wish there were accessible gender-neutral bathrooms people like me could use, and it wouldn’t be such a hassle or an inconvenience,” said Clark.
Our new principal, Dr. Mark Ryan, answered a few anticipated questions about the issue. “Gender-neutral bathrooms across the entire campus are part of the long-range facilities plan, but that is a 10-year plan,” commented Ryan. He added, “It is very important to me that all students feel comfortable and safe using the restroom.” Adults are posted in DeSoto, the hallway by the library and the main building during break and lunch to help minimize inappropriate behavior.
If students have any restroom issues during class, they can find anyone on campus with a radio and ask for help. “Likewise, they can ask any adult with a phone to call the main office and ask the main office to put out a radio blast for assistance addressing the problem. Everyone is also reminded that they can use my cell at 707-888-8772 and text or call or use the STOPit app to report bathroom problems,” said Ryan.
The health office bathroom isn’t the only gender-neutral one on campus. There are also two single-stall ArtQuest bathrooms. These bathrooms are a warning to our school that giving students gender-neutral bathrooms might not be as simple as it seems. The ArtQuest bathrooms are often closed because when students are alone in a bathroom, they seem to have an impulse to destroy it. Graffiti has always been a prevalent issue in the ArtQuest bathrooms, but recently they have been closed for weeks because of issues like students flushing rocks and other objects down the toilets.
Our administration needs to find a way to give transgender and gender-nonconforming students safe bathrooms that won’t be locked all the time because of disrespectful students. This will be a very difficult task, but it is important. Every student deserves to feel safe and comfortable going to the bathroom at school. There is a lot that should be done to fix the current situation and the stigma that follows transgender individuals using the bathroom that aligns with their gender.
