New federal rule bars transgender school bathroom bans, but it likely isn't the final word
New federal rule bars transgender school bathroom bans, but it likely isn't the final word
The clash over bathroom policy and other elements of a federal regulation finalized last week could set the stage for another wave of legal battles over how transgender kids should be treated in the U.S.
The clash over bathroom policy and other elements of a federal regulation finalized last week could set the stage for another wave of legal battles over how transgender kids should be treated in the U.S.
I haven't read the law, but my knee jerk reaction is it doesn't pass muster against the new Title IX.
Solution? No one needs to hang out in the bathrooms, anyway. America needs to end the culture of cliques hanging around the sinks in the bathrooms, waiting to start a verbal confrontation with people that are also using the bathroom. Why does the bathroom need to be in a room? It isn’t a social lounge.
I know it isn’t glamorous, but the fights around the sinks would end:
So, genderless bathrooms? Seems to be the solution for most of this. One of my first thoughts when all this bathroom stuff came up was, "Hm, I suppose I never considered how gendered the removal of bodily waste products is. Seems antiquated now that I give it some thought."
At least your solution is gender neutral, on that I agree. And you have the added benefit of complete isolation, proper doors! Something I think most Americans would like given the state of most bathroom doors here! Though I admit I'm not sold on the Porta-Potty presentation, though it does have promising attributes.. not the easiest on the eyes.
So if pooping and peeing is not gender specific, why should bathrooms be? Sure, gendered bathrooms can still exist for those who prefer, but I don't think it should be the default.
Just have one poopy pit, problem partially solved. No one needs to admit their gender to use the poopy pit.
Sorry... are you suggesting schoolkids should use (pretty unsanitary) outdoor porta potties?
In the Midwest? In February?
I spent my childhood using port-o-potties during summer athletic events/tournaments, with weather that was above 105F. In the winter, I played on travel sports teams that practiced in places that had no other bathroom facility except port-o-potties. Sometimes the weather was around 32F during those winter mornings. So, yeah, I guess I’m saying you’ll survive it.
Another alternative is to build single stall bathrooms that have a door which opens into the main hallway of the school. Many schools have already built these for faculty use. It’s just a small room that contains one toilet, one sink, and has ac/heat for climate control. They would need an entire wing of these for student use, to accommodate everyone, but at least there wouldn’t be a large open room for students to congregate and cause fights. No one is going to be beating another student’s head against a sink, or the floor, in a single occupant bathroom.
Or, you know, people could just stop caring which bathrooms other people use. It's not a big deal.
My concern is for the safety of children using the bathroom. I don’t want someone to be beaten to death in a bathroom, for any reason (gender or otherwise). I think the problem starts with young people being allowed to use the bathroom areas as a place to hang out and talk with their friends, or as a place to arrange fights. That whole area between the sink and the stalls needs to go, in my opinion. People should be in public view as soon as they exit a stall. I know that might sound extreme, but it prevents some poor child from being cornered by a group of bullies and being beaten to death before a school staff member, or security guard, realizes what is happening in that room. I don’t want anyone’s child to be beaten to death. You can’t change everyone’s mind, but you can safeguard the bathrooms eliminating the isolation factor of the stalls.
The reason highschool. Authors act like a social lounge is because generally there’s very limited faculty oversight.
It’s why kids go there to smoke (or used to… smoke detectors….); do other drugs, bully kids, or anything else that they know faculty would not approve of.
The only real way to end that is to put monitors inside the bathroom… which gets fucking creepy rather quickly,