Why not gender neutral and gendered washrooms?
While I applaud the inclusivity intended by this concept, I can think of so many ways it could be harmful. Bad things can happen in washrooms.
Children of all genders could get constipated because they don’t want anyone to know they have normal body functions, for one. Worse, there will be some students who’ve experienced sexual abuse that won’t ever feel safe in a mixed-gender washroom. And I recall that Royal Jubilee Hospital had co-ed wards, up until a male patient sexually abused a female patient on the same ward.
It seems wise to minimize opportunities for bullying, shaming or abusing others.
All of that can happen in same-sex washrooms, but could be even more harmful when done by or in front of other genders. Couldn’t plans include both neutral-gender washrooms as well as washrooms for males and females?
Grace Wyatt
North Cowichan