Gender Neutral Bathrooms In Schools: Sexual Assault

This data shows that a majority of students on campus are willing to implement gender neutral bathrooms, while a minority is not. It is obvious that gender neutral bathrooms should be included in our campus to make sure all students are comfortable going to the bathroom. However, it was surprising that some students did not support gender neutral bathrooms. We believe that, due to the other questions asked in the survey, the students who answered that they did not support gender neutral bathrooms believed that the question was asking should all bathrooms be made gender neutral on campus, or should pre-existing unisex multi-stall bathrooms be replaced by gender neutral bathrooms. However, this is not the case. Due to knowledge gained later in

Thesis Statement: Gender identity should not allow people to choose which bathroom they go into because it intrudes on the privacy of other people, it desensitizes children, and increases the chance for a sexual predator to intrude on an individual.

By having all gender facilities, the public could be put in harm's way but more specifically women and girls. The National Sexual Violence Resource Center states “91 percent of the victims of rape and sexual assault in the U.S. are female”. This means that having men and women share a restroom/locker room there will be a greater chance of rape/assault occurrences. The bathroom, as there are no cameras, could potentially become an area that predators go to to look for another victim.

Transgender rights and policies have always been an ongoing debate. In the article, “Bathroom Battlegrounds and Penis Panics,” Schilt and Westbrook (2015) argued that in order to push gender equality forward, we must consider the rights of transgender people by allowing them to have access to bathrooms that support their gender identity rather than their biological sex. In doing so, authors believed that it would make progress in alleviating discrimination against transgender people. However, in this conscious effort to fight for transgender rights and their access to sex-segregated spaces,

It is a known fact that both men and women use the restroom. What many are not aware of, is that using the toilet in public areas reinforces the differences between male and female. For instance, the very first thing any individual sees when entering a public restroom is the little dolls of a man or a woman as an indication of a female restrooms and or the male restrooms. This simple sign reaffirms the sexual differences of gender and also unconsciously the individual’s identity for that matter. The concept of gender neutral bathrooms is to break the imaginary wall of gender separation thus allowing either sex to use one single restroom. If we think about it, in our home we share one restroom, and are pretty much accepting of the fact that we all use the toilet. The book states that gender salience is the relation of gender across activities and spaces. The book further discusses that when teachers would place children alphabetically versus by gender the importance of gender reduced. Gender is a persistent element in any school. The concept is simple when it boils down to education the main purpose is to place the students together by groups of the ones that are getting the material and are able to proceed to the next or placing them in a group of students that need more time grasping the given material and curriculum. Although gender salience is like a roller coaster in different parts of the elementary school experience the flow of gender is a persistent element in education. Gendered bathrooms, as previously discussed reinforces the differences between male and female. Back in the Victorian era, they created restrooms for women with a special room that had a resting area before entering the section in which the restrooms were located. This was primary because back then it was not lady like to dispose bodily fluids. They believe that women should keep such matters private, and it was pretty much unheard of for women to even use the restrooms the way it is indented. Till this day many women restrooms still have a resting area before entering the restroom section. Bathrooms are designed with an assumption that everyone is heterosexual. Thus not allowing the possibility of that many individuals don’t

Kansas passed a bill on Wednesday, March 16, 2016 that denies transgender students from using the restroom, as well as other facilities retaining to gender “when they are in various states of undress” (Committee on Federal and State Affairs, page 1; sec. 2; subparagraph b; lines 8-12), based on their preferred gender and forces them to use the restroom based on their birth sex. This bill was passed by the Committee on Federal and State Affairs in order to protect the privacy of students and to prevent “potential embarrassment, shame and psychological injury to students” (Committee on Federal and State Affairs, page 1; sec. 2; subparagraph f; lines 27-29). This bill also allows for students to sue a transgender student for two-thousand five hundred dollars if they are found in the “wrong” restroom. Forcing the transgender students in Kansas to use the restroom based on biology is wrong because forcing someone to disregard a personal preference to accommodate another is inhumane and has potentially deadly effects.

Imagine that you were in a classroom full of your gender how would you feel? Well, if you feel that you're not ok with that well, In school year 2004-05 122 public schools offered single sex classes and 34 public schools were single sex classes mandatory according to “Old Tactic Gets New Use: Public Schools Separate Boys and Girls.” Article. Close to 70% of kids in single sex classes raised their math and reading scores in “Old Tactic Gets New Use: Public Schools Separate Boys and Girls.” Article. Although this may seem bad and shouldn't happen it's really not. Kids in single sex classes will have more of a chance to succeed than students in non single sex class because of most kids have no problem with this in their school, less discipline, and most of all higher grades.

The changing norms of the generation has brought upon commotion between various states because of the presidents judgement. The transgender bathroom policy allows transgender students to use the bathroom they identify as and not by the sex on their birth certificate (Fox News, 2016). The transgender bathroom policy has both successes and failure to ensure safety for transgender students resulting to its change being for not only trans-gender. Gender neutral bathrooms allows safety for those who are not only transgender, but also a part of the LGBTQ community, etc. but it causes a conflict with gender segregation. Adding additional bathrooms to suite other gender preferences costs more money and not everyone is going to accept what they walk into the bathroom and see. The gender neutral bathroom policy should be taken off of hold and be put into action because everything is constantly changing and those who do not identify as the sex they were assigned at birth are at risk for harm.

Finally, by day 4/lesson 4 students made clear their understanding. In Student 1 Work Sample, this is apparent. In an attempt to suggest their own personal biases of the possibility of further construction for universal bathrooms, the student made specific choices in which words to use to further portray their personal biases. The student used certain words and phrases such as: safe place, remarkable, progressive, immense progression, and exist without fear, to accurately demonstrate their biases on the possibility of further construction for universal bathrooms. It is very clear that this student supports the idea of universal bathrooms existing in public places. Likewise, in Student 2 Work Sample, the author’s bias is clearly portrayed to show this students support of the United States sending military aide to help immigrants who are arriving in Greece and Turkey. This student used words and word phrases in his/her newspaper article such as: fatality, provide aide, expand, refugee, help wanted, defend, send military, to accurately portray his/her personal

While a great deal of crimes go unreported in the United States, by far the most common is sexual assault. While this crime is usually associated with women being the victims, men can also be assaulted. Sexual assault is different from other crimes, in that the victims often feel like it is their fault that the crime happened. The majority of these victims are attending college, and are on campus when the crime takes place. A multitude of colleges in the past have been pushing sexual assault cases under the rug. Recently, new laws and efforts have been made so that people are aware of what happens at colleges and are not afraid to speak up about their sexual assault experiences. Sexual assault is the most underreported crime in America due

A sign protesting a recent North Carolina law restricting transgender bathroom access is seen in the bathroom stalls at the 21C Museum Hotel in Durham, North Carolina May 3, 2016. (REUTERS/Jonathan Drake/File Phot by Colleen Jenkins

Kira said, “I think gender neutral bathrooms are great things for all schools to have because at our age, people are figuring out who they are and they might not feel comfortable changing around

There is a long history of social groups being repressed within the United States of America. With an ever-changing culture and a strong force against certain changes, certain ethnic and social groups appear to be neglected by the lawmakers of America. One of the more recent occurrences of this has been the LBGT community. Up until 2014, marriage was not even legal between a same-sex couple. After gay marriage was ruled legal, a landslide of other reforms were brought to attention. One of the more controversial topics being discussed today is the rights of the LBGT community in accordance to public bathrooms. They argue that anyone should be able to use whichever bathroom that matches with their identified gender. The definition of gender and the rights that accompany them is constantly being updated and adjusted. Because of this sudden movement, social issues are sparking outrage and debate on whether this argument should be implemented into society. This issue has dominated the media and has caused chaos on both sides of the spectrum. Members of the LBGT community should not be able to use whatever bathroom they please.

Gender equality is a pressing issue in the United States. The definition of gender, and the rights that accompany them, is constantly being updated and adjusted. The LBGT community is fighting for equality after being repressed for many years. Because of this sudden movement, social issues are sparking outrage and debate on whether a certain law or right for LBGT people is to be initiated. In many instances, these issues dominate the media, and cause for chaos on both sides of the spectrum. The bathroom controversy exemplifies this. The LBGT community argues that anyone should be able to use whichever bathroom that matches with their identified gender. Members of the LBGT community should not be able to use whatever bathroom they please.

In past generations, it has been clear to society that males and females use segregated bathrooms. It is also known that the rate of transgender people has been growing over the past years. Transgender people constantly face troubles when using a bathroom in public. Nevertheless, as society has become more aware of the transgender population and the issues that they face, many schools have had to decide how they will respond about the issue of school bathrooms when students identify themselves as transgender. A school should be able to provide separate facilities based on sex, but must allow transgender students access to the facility which matches their gender identity.