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STAFF ED: How Can We Make CHS An Accepting Place For All Genders?

May 13, 2017

A restroom in the athletic office at CHS which is available for transgender students. (Photo by Michael Melinger).

A restroom in the athletic office at CHS which is available for transgender students. (Photo by Michael Melinger).

Clayton has always prided itself on its progressive image and its acceptance of students of all races, religions, sexual orientations and backgrounds. This tenet of the Clayton community was tested when President Trump rescinded the Obama Administration’s federal guidelines that protected the rights of transgender students to use the bathroom that matches their gender identity.

CHS principal Dan Gutchewsky spoke to the issue, asserting that the new law will not prevent students from using the bathroom of their choice.

“Regardless of what the president’s order says, students can use the restroom of whatever gender they associate with,” Gutchewsky said.

The high school also has four gender-neutral bathrooms which are available to any student who would prefer to use them.

While it is important and commendable that students have the option to use such bathrooms, the locations of the bathrooms are often inconvenient and contribute to the stigmatization of certain gender identities.

Located in the nurse’s office, main office, counseling office and the gym hallway, the isolated bathrooms force students to leave the realms of normal student activity.

Rather than providing students with an accessible option, using the gender neutral bathrooms can decrease efficiency and cause those who use them to feel like an outsider.

Furthermore, to use the restroom in these offices, students must walk past the desks of staff members. While we understand that safety regulations may push single bathrooms to such a location, this infringes upon students’ privacy – especially taking into consideration the fact that many transgender people feel may most vulnerable when in the bathroom.

However, the most concerning piece is that non-cisgender students do not know these options are available to them.

“As a trans male, I didn’t know we had any options at the school,” CHS junior Em Calsyn said. “You’d have to know another trans kid or come out to a staff member — which is forcing people to come out, which they may not be comfortable with.”

Most other members of the Clayton community are also unaware that CHS has more than one gender neutral bathroom.

Calsyn still uses female restrooms at school; the question of which bathroom to use was one that riddled him with fear.

He believes the addition of more gender neutral bathrooms would make CHS a much better place for the LGBTQA+ community.

“When I was a freshman, I was terrified of what bathroom I was going to use. I was scared to tell people. I was scared for people to see me in the correct bathroom — one they deemed ‘incorrect,’” Calsyn said. “I still use the female bathrooms at school. It’s because how scared I am of my classmates, how scared I am of their judgment. It’s terrifying. Add many gender neutral bathrooms.”

How can our District live up to its face of progressiveness if its own students are not satisfied with the actions that CHS is taking to make its learning environments more comfortable and safe for all identities?

Why is our community and student body so uninformed on the actions that the District takes?

In this shifting political climate, we ask that the administration prove that Clayton is still a welcoming place for all. This means change, and making gender neutral bathrooms more accessible to students is the perfect place to start. Adding a gender neutral bathroom nearby the men’s and women’s bathrooms would help to expel the idea that being transgender or gender-fluid is something to hide.

Let’s make sure that Clayton’s image matches exactly what goes on inside the school walls.

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