Clarke Central High School seniors and twins Mick and Mel Bothe embrace on the CCHS patio on Sept. 14. Mick and Mel have experienced negative feelings towards them as nonbinary and genderqueer students. “I haven’t seen enough on Clarke Central’s part, that they actually care about changing their community’s reception to their transgender and nonbinary students,” Mick said. Photo by Lucas Donnelly
Some students at CCHS feel uncomfortable using exclusively gendered restrooms, but the administration has limited space in the school to implement a gender-neutral option.
It is second block and Clarke Central High School senior Mick Bothe, a nonbinary student, needs to use the restroom. As they walk into the women’s bathroom swarming with teenage girls, they take one look around and feel out of place.
“When I do feel my most androgynous or even masculine, I sometimes don’t feel comfortable going into the women’s bathroom,” Mick said. “The bathroom is actually a really small part of people’s day, but it can be very significant.”
In 2016, the Obama administration issued guidance to educational institutions to allow transgender students the opportunity to use restrooms and locker rooms that correspond with their gender identities. However, according to National Public Radio, this protection has since been reversed by the Trump administration, leaving transgender and nonbinary students in public schools vulnerable to discrimination.
“Every person should be treated with respect and dignity and should be able to live without fear, no matter who they are or whom they love. Children should be able to learn without worrying about whether they will be denied access to the restroom, the locker rooms, or school sports,” President Joe Biden stated in the Jan. 20 Executive Order on Preventing and Combating Discrimination on the Basis of Gender Identity or Sexual Orientation.
After extending Title IX’s protections to include transgender students in June, the Biden administration plans to continue advancing transgender people’s rights through the Interagency Working Group on Safety, Opportunity, and Inclusion for Transgender and Gender Diverse Individuals.
“In October, the Biden administration issued the first-ever national gender strategy to advance the full participation of all people — including transgender and gender diverse people — in the United States and around the world,” the White House website stated in its Memorializing Transgender Day of Remembrance report on Nov. 20.
“I think that we need to provide inclusive bathroom options for our students and recognize that not all of our students (and) not every person in the world would fit into a category of male or female.”
— Amanda Price,
CCHS visual arts department teacher
While the Biden administration continues to advance the rights of transgender and gender diverse Americans nationwide, changes still need to be made at CCHS.
“(Having a gender-neutral bathroom) helps us, as a school, take some of the pressure off of gender,” senior Mel Bothe, who identifies as genderqueer, said. “(It’s) both a thing for the general community of making gender matter less in (Athens-Clarke County) and the immediate comfort of some of the students here (at CCHS).”
Currently, CCHS offers exclusively-gendered bathrooms, and those who wish to use a faculty gender-neutral bathroom, must request a pass from their counselor or adviser in advance.
“(The counselor or adviser will) look at the student’s schedule and come up with a plan,” CCHS Associate Principal Linda Boza said. “We would tell them which (faculty) restrooms are closest to their classes (and) which ones are available.”
CCHS visual arts department teacher Amanda Price believes that more accessible gender-neutral bathrooms are necessary.
“I think that we need to provide inclusive bathroom options for our students and recognize that not all of our students (and) not every person in the world would fit into a category of male or female,” Price said. “They, just as much as everyone, deserve to have a place where they feel safe to go to the bathroom and free from judgment.”
Without easily accessible gender-neutral bathrooms at CCHS, Mick has experienced difficulties with members of the school community not respecting their gender identity.
“I don’t feel pushed to the side, but I also don’t feel particularly seen,” Mick said. “I see most students and some teachers not caring about how honestly deep the experience of just going to the bathroom can be for some students because of their gender identity.”
“I don’t feel pushed to the side, but I also don’t feel particularly seen.”
— Mick Bothe,
CCHS senior, a nonbinary student
According to Boza, accommodating the needs of CCHS students is a top priority for the administration, but implementing gender-neutral bathrooms is not feasible for CCHS due to a lack of space.
“When students present themselves, we become solution-oriented, and we work out a plan to make the students feel comfortable. Our goal is always for students to feel safe at school. I mean, if you can’t feel safe here, where can you feel safe?” Boza said. “(But) we’re landlocked, so we can’t add those bathrooms. We don’t have any space to add them.” CCHS Assistant Principal Summer Smith feels that if these bathrooms were multi-stalled, they may present safety concerns in the high school setting.
“Would you want a 14-year-old girl in a restroom with an 18-year-old male? I would not. So (we’ve) got to keep everybody safe, transgender students and (cisgendered students),” Smith said. “You have to keep everybody in consideration, and so I think that single stall (restrooms) would be more appropriate to help people stay safe.”
CCHS counseling department member Lynn Butler worked with LGBTQ students during his time as a practicum student, connecting them to community resources and student organizations. Butler feels an implementation of a gender-neutral bathroom can be beneficial, but may ultimately create more divides betweeen cisgender and nonbinary students.
“I think there are definitely pros and cons to it. I think it would be good in the sense that it would make everyone feel more comfortable as if the bathroom is actually theirs and designed for them. But I do think it could also present some bigger issues,” Butler said. “A lot of transgender individuals are private about that part of their life, and they don’t want people to know, or to be able to spot them different than what they present.”
Clarke Central High School seniors and twins Mick (left) and Mel Bothe (right) stand in front of the East Wing bathrooms on Sept. 14. Mel identifies as nonbinary and feels it is important to provide a gender neutral bathroom option to students. “Nonbinary and trans people should be allowed (into and) should feel chill (and) comfortable in the bathroom that’s assigned to the gender that they identify with,” Mel said. Photo by Lucas Donnelly
With school buildings on the CCHS campus at capacity sparking conversations between administrators and faculty about expansions, Price feels now is the time to prioritize gender-neutral bathrooms.
“If (this) was something that students were wanting to move forward with advocating for, now is the time to do it knowing that Clarke Central is in need of more space, like in thinking about that being included in administrative conversations about the additions,” Price said.
Ultimately, Mick doesn’t feel that placing a gender-neutral bathroom in the school will resolve the persistent issues of negative remarks toward non-cisgendered students.
“I don’t think that the problem that they’re trying to address would be solved by creating gender-neutral bathrooms and kind of leaving it there,” Mick said. “I think you would have to change the students’ attitudes about gender before you change the bathrooms.”
