In an announcement, college board President Matthew Gelazela claimed the home windows have been supposed to make areas outdoors of bathroom stalls extra seen so officers are “better able to monitor for prohibited activities such as vaping, drug use, bullying, or absenteeism.”
Gelazela’s assertion didn’t handle different privateness issues for college students who can be uncovered via the window, or why the home windows have been solely being put in in gender-inclusive restrooms. Holahan informed the native Night Solar newspaper that nullified the “prohibited activities” argument.
“I was a kid at one time. If I was going to get in trouble, it wouldn’t just be the one bathroom, like we only smoke cigarettes in the gender-inclusive bathroom?” stated Holahan. “That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard.”
The board president stated the varsity consulted on the set up with the Independence Regulation Heart, a subsidiary of the right-wing Pennsylvania Household Institute. The group opposes transgender equality and has attacked the provision of gender reassignment surgical procedure.
“This is a nonstarter and it must change. Privacy going to the bathroom is *not* controversial or divisive. We all go and we all deserve the experience with dignity and privacy,” wrote Democratic Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania on social media.
The ACLU additionally weighed in on the difficulty.
“We can’t believe we have to say this, but students should NEVER have people watching them in the bathrooms. This is an unconscionable decision that violates students’ right to privacy and will make schools less safe,” the civil liberties group posted. “This is a grotesque and hateful effort to humiliate transgender youth in front of their peers.”
The York Dispatch printed an editorial criticizing the varsity board for participating in a “new level of weird” by putting in the window.
“These adults want to make it easier for other people to watch your children while they’re in the bathroom. It’s absolutely mind-boggling,” stated the native paper’s editorial board.
Native residents and professionals have beforehand raised alarms about Gelazela. A coalition of residents despatched a letter to the varsity board in Might to protest anti-LGBTQ+ insurance policies. That got here after a directive from Gelazela calling for censorship of books and different materials associated to sexual orientation.
The newest controversy follows a sustained nationwide marketing campaign by the correct attacking transgender rights and equality. Probably the most distinguished rhetoric has come from Republican presidential nominee Trump, who has repeatedly voiced the absurd lie that academics are secretly forcing kids into gender reassignment surgical procedures.
In 2017, Trump reversed Obama-era federal protections that allowed transgender college students to make use of the restroom that matched their gender id. Trump has additionally vowed to reverse the Biden administration’s protections for trans folks on “day one” if he’s elected in November.
This story has been up to date to replicate the varsity district reversing course on the toilet window.
