The toilet question

St. Albert schools have a simple solution to the toilet troubles now ravaging Edmonton – let transgender students go where they want.

Edmonton Catholic school trustees deferred a decision on a policy that would let transgender students use the washroom of their choice after a heated debate Tuesday.

Trustee Larry Kowalczyk sparked outrage when he told the CBC in an interview prior to that decision that he viewed trans students as having a "mental disorder."

The debate was sparked when the board refused to let a trans girl use the girls' washroom at her school and insisted she use a designated gender-neutral one. The parents of that girl have filed a human rights complaint over the issue.

Situations such as this are not uncommon in North America, said Kristopher Wells of the University of Alberta's Institute for Sexual Minority Studies and Services.

"What we're seeing is 21st century segregation against transgender students."

Wells also noted that being trans is not a mental illness.

Although "gender dysphoria" is a listed illness in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders – considered the official guide to mental illness – the manual states that it refers to the distress caused when a person's expressed gender does not conform with the one assigned by others to them, not the gender non-conformity itself. You can be transgender without having gender dysphoria, in other words.

Max, a trans Grade 12 student at Paul Kane, said he doesn't consider his gender identity to be the same as anxiety or depression.

"It's not an 'illness' to be trans," he said. "It's kind of me being me."

Greater St. Albert Catholic superintendent David Keohane rejected the idea that being trans was a mental illness.

"We would fundamentally believe that is not the case," he said.

Why split toilets?

St. Albert Catholic and public schools generally have at least one designated gender-neutral washroom – often the staff washroom – said Keohane and St. Albert Public school spokesperson Paula Power. Schools work with trans students to determine what washroom they want to use – the gender-neutral one is an option, and is not mandatory.

Sticking the gender-neutral washroom in the staff office makes it less accessible and stigmatizes its use, Wells said. It's far better to just make regular washrooms gender-free, as those can be used by anyone for any reason, including safety or gender differences. Many facilities already include these bathrooms in their design.

"We should have all-gendered bathrooms as part of our building code," Wells said.

Morinville Community High School is converting eight of its 10 washrooms into gender-free ones this month to help out trans students, said principal Todd Eistetter. The rest would remain gendered, as not all students want to use the genderless ones. The school's bathrooms don't have entry doors or urinals, which made the conversion simple.

"The signs have been ordered. We're just waiting for them to be put up."

Paul Kane is converting one of its regular bathrooms into a gender-free one this month, said principal Duncan Knoll. Instead of saying "Boys" or "Girls," it will have a sign that says "Everyone."

Max said he uses the staff washroom at Paul Kane to avoid harassment, and is glad that the school will now have a more accessible gender-neutral one.

"It makes me feel more comfortable in the space I'm in," he said.

"I can be in the washroom, I can be safe and it's accessible. That's pretty cool."

We've been through this issue of barrier-free access before, back when we made all buildings wheelchair-accessible, Wells said.

"The next level in barrier-free access is making sure that we have the kind of facilities that include transgender persons."