Unisex Bathrooms
Story and photos by Emily Volpert
Published Thursday, March 21st, 2013
http://grantmagazine.com/unisex-no-one-should-feel-uncomfortable-when-using-the-bathroom/
Grant High Sr Scott Morrison
Scott Morrison remembers the time he thought he was going to burst. It was shortly after 1 p.m. and students at Grant High School casually walked down the hall to their next class.
Morrison, a senior who is transgender, had to use a bathroom badly. But for the 17-year-old who is female but has identified as male since he was a small kid, using a bathroom at school was not an option. He would go into the women's bathroom if he had to, but he didn't like it.
"I did not drink liquids from the hours of 6 a.m. and 3:30 p.m.," says Morrison. "If I had to drink something, I'd go into the women's bathroom. I would rather feel kind of unpleasant (in there) than terrified in the men's bathroom."
Today, that has all changed. Grant has 10 students who openly identify as transgender, according to school administrators. That prompted the administrative team, led by Vice Principal Kristyn Westphal, to make a move to create unisex bathrooms at Portland's biggest high school.
Four student bathrooms and two staff bathrooms – all single stalls – have been designated as unisex, for use by all students no matter their gender or sexual orientation.
Becca Dorn-Medieros is Grant's school psychologist. She says for her it comes down to how can you provide the best experience for all students and avoid having a sense of exclusion that falls to a handful of the population. In the end, she says, it's an equity issue.
"Gendered bathrooms present an issue for any gender nonconforming people, whether or not they identify as transgender," Dorn-Medieros says. "It's a huge safety issue for people."
