An important component of Lick-Wilmerding’s new main building is the all-gender bathrooms.
For years prior, there were single-use gender-neutral restrooms on campus. However, because they were single-use, they were often inaccessible.
What was behind the decision to include all gender multi-use restrooms? What did that look like for the administration? What does the student body think?
Dr. Nikkia Young, Counselor and Health Educator here at LWHS says she’s glad for the new gender-neutral restrooms. “There have definitely been students who were not able to safely use the bathroom of their choice or that fit their gender identity.” Young goes on to say that from an institutional point of view, the issue of accessible gender-neutral restrooms was resolved quickly, although “from the point of view of an individual, having real needs, [it] took a long time.” Young notes that often organizations and institutions cannot move at the “pace of human needs and human development.”
Felix Murphy ’20, a Gender and Sexuality Alliance (GSA) leader and a transgender student, had similar comments about the pace at which the school moved at. “[A group of transgender students] had gone to the administration at the beginning of [the 2017-18 school year] and said, ‘This is a problem and there are solutions to this. You can turn one of the other bathrooms into a gender-neutral bathroom’ and they didn’t.”
This was the year that Lick was under construction. Bathroom access was limited for every member of the community, particularly those who needed to use the all-gender bathrooms. There were only six multi-stall single sex bathrooms — three for women, three for men, spaces used, as gym locker rooms were being rebuilt, as changing rooms for sports — and four single use all-gender bathrooms.
Dr. Young believes that as a school it is wrong “to be putting kids in a position to have to make little decisions every day that wear them down and that violate their sense of who they are in the world.” She says that at its core, having all-gender bathrooms is important so that everyone can use the bathroom that fits the gender with which they identify. Now that the all-gender bathrooms are here, both Young and Murphy feel that the environment for students has been made easier.
GSA President Magnolia Finn ’21 says that from what she has seen, the non-binary community at Lick, as well as people who are transitioning genders, has definitely benefited from the all-gender bathrooms. She says the most important reason to have all-gender bathrooms is that the school has to be welcoming to everyone. “I don’t think you can have a high school and safely say, ‘We’re here for everyone, we accept everyone, without having all-gender restrooms.”
Head of School Eric Temple holds the belief that gender-neutral bathrooms are essential for an inclusive high school environment. He says that Lick believes all-gender bathrooms are so important that they were included in the guidelines from the initial phases of the design process of the new building from the beginning in 2016, and were not influenced by any student campaigning. “During our planning sessions with faculty, we were talking about bathrooms. It was the same time that some of the transgender bathroom controversies were going on, I believe it was North Carolina [that] had passed a bill.”
Temple is referring to North Carolina’s House Bill 2, which required all people in government-owned facilities to use the bathroom that matched the sex specified on their birth certificate. According to The New York Times, it was only in July of this year that a settlement was approved which would prevent state government from restricting transgender individuals’ access to bathrooms that match their identity.
Temple continued, “We said ‘well why wouldn’t all of our bathrooms in the new building be all-gender?’ and we couldn’t really think of a reason why that wouldn’t be. Except that we did want to make space for students who may not feel completely comfortable using an all-gender restroom.” Temple spoke about talking with the school board and the student body and recounted all-around support. While the school did not ask parents for their thoughts, Temple has not received any negative comments or pushback from the parent community.
The Lick student body shares similar sentiments to the administration: even those who were hesitant at first now feel comfortable. Naydelin “Anahi” Ruiz ’21, coming from a religious background, was one such student. “The all-gender bathrooms were uncomfortable to me at first. I wasn’t used to going into the same bathrooms as a guy, but as time passed, I got used to it. I didn’t mind it as much, so I kind of forgot they were all-gender bathrooms and I think that they serve a good purpose.” She says she’d rather be uncomfortable for a while, instead of her peers being uncomfortable throughout high school, even though “It’s still awkward walking into the bathroom and bumping into a male teacher or staff.”
Khalil Daterra ’21 has similar feelings. “I feel like it’s something that we need to get used to but at the same time it’s something I’m not used to. Whenever I go into the bathroom and see a girl I’m sometimes initially startled.” He does believe that it is a necessary step forward towards inclusivity.
Nathan Gilbert ’21 said: “I think that gender-neutral bathrooms are really useful and I think they’re really important. The upstairs ones with the floor to ceiling stalls are a new thing that takes some getting used to. But I think that the benefits are totally justified, it’s just a matter of getting used to things that as Americans we’re not used to.”
Despite the conflicting feelings some students may have, the overall consensus is that the all-gender bathrooms are a beneficial and necessary step towards making LWHS a welcoming and inclusive environment. The administration stands behind their decision and believes that it is necessary and beneficial to the student body. The restrooms have become a normal part of the school environment.
photo by Primo Lagaso Goldberg
