This is in response to The Mare's Nest's post Bookygirl's Not Impressed When It Comes To The Rainbow Test.
I'd like to start by saying that my post had no mention of politics and I have no idea why the fuck you felt it necessary to insert your little blurb about politics.
Now, to clarify: it seems that you are under the impression that the introduction of the gender neutral bathroom would mean the closing down of gendered bathrooms.
The gender neutral bathroom is a third and separate bathroom, and not a replacement for gendered bathrooms.
If you are a boy with a penis, use the boy's bathroom. If you are a girl with a vagina, use the girl's bathroom. If you are either of those things, the gender neutral bathroom is not for you, and entering it should be treated the same as if you entered the bathroom for the opposite gender (girls entering boys bathroom, boys entering girls bathroom).
That is the concept of the gender neutral bathroom. The gender neutral bathroom is a third bathroom option for people who do not feel comfortable using gendered bathrooms because they do not identify with the gender they were assigned at birth (penis = boy, vagina = girl) or feel unsafe using their assigned gender's bathroom because of their gender identity or expression.
Mr. Doe was not treading eggshells. The principal himself was the one to approve of the bathroom and was open to the idea when given the same explanation we were offering to give to students. Mr. Doe is just an ignorant asshole who has been holding back our GSA for quite some time.
Kids who stick up for those bullied over their sexuality are not "writing their own peer group death warrant." These days there is little to no flack for sticking up for kids bullied over their sexuality. Take this from a current-day high school student. People as a whole but especially teenagers have become a lot more accepting in the past few years. There's always going to be a couple of dickbags, but most kids in my school are very accepting of all sexualities and those who asked Rose for clarification on the gender neutral bathroom were very open to learning about the world of gender identity. Teenagers are not vicious monsters. More and more schools are becoming accepting environments. It's a slow process, but it's happening.
That's all I've got on this front. I normally don't respond to The Mares' posts in regards to my blog, but this one pushed too many buttons and pissed me off. BookyGirl17, signing off.
They've now responded again to this post. And are playing the 'gawd you soooo missed the point!' card by suddenly claiming that gender neutral bathrooms would be tacked on to disabled facilities to save money despite their original post actually saying 'once the inevitable abuse cases start hitting the courts, everyone will start screaming for separate bathrooms once again'. Once AGAIN. I think we can all be forgiven for thinking they were suggesting that gender neutral facilities would replace separate gendered facilities. If the disabled facilities thing is what they meant it should have been made clear in the first instance instead of having a smugfest and acting like nobody is smart enough to have 'got it' now. So yeah, we missed their point because they didn't actually fully present their point.
ReplyDeleteI am a big fan of both you and the Mares and I apologise for punishing your comment section with my rant because they don't have one. In this instance, I simply don't think you deserve to be spoken down to like that for not being a mind reader.
I have just responded to their post once again. Hopefully this back-and-forth can end now. You're right, I am not a mind reader and they gave a very heavy impression that gender neutral washrooms would mean the elimination of gendered washrooms. Thank you for your support.
DeleteI hope so too. I'm not usually one for getting irate and commenting about things online but their attitude really ticked me off. Your newer post is very well presented. I hope the washroom continues to be an asset to your school and the students who use it.
DeleteThank you! Unfortunately the gender neutral washroom was only open in our school for Rainbow Week, but Rose is going to go speak to our principal soon to see if he's decided to reopen it in September. Hopefully it's a yes!
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