$80 Million High School Incites Public Outrage When They Announce Gender-Neutral Bathrooms

Fortitude Valley State Secondary College will be the first of it's kind in Queensland, Australia and parents aren't too happy about it

Elana

• Published in News
• December 27, 2019

The $80 million high school isn't set to even open it's doors until some time in 2020 and it's already caused a national controversy that has both parents and "educational experts" in an absolute uproar. What could be so controversial about a state of the art educational center for children? The school's plans to have gender-neutral bathrooms.

Public unisex toilets have been the standard in most places globally, pretty much always. In the early 19th century the United States transitioned to segregating sexes and has strongly maintained this in the public sector. For other places in the world, like Australia, this has not really been the case. Except for schools, however.

Brisbane's latest high school, Fortitude Valley State Secondary College, will be the first of it's kind in Queensland when it opens in a few short months because of it's decision to not designate restrooms specifically for boys and specifically for girls.

According to the Department of Education, all toilets at the $80 million vertical high school will be unisex at the building in the St Paul's Terrace precinct, with the exception of two male and female toilets in change room facilities.

Fortitude Valley State Secondary College is the first inner-city state school to be built in Brisbane in over half a century, and schools in Western Australia were urged earlier this year to include 'gender-neutral toilet options' in an attempt to reduce discrimination and bullying against transgender students.

In addition to disabled facilities, year seven students who will be starting school at the new Brookes Street precinct next month will have access to 12 lockable, self-contained unisex cubicles. Each cubical all have hand basins as well.

In an interview with The Sunday Mail, one mother and "educational expert," Michelle Mitchell protested, claiming the decision is "ridiculous":

We already know some really bad things happen to kids in bathroom areas of schools – bullying, sexting, kids recording on mobiles, these things already go on when they're just within their own sex, and then you're adding in an extra element.

Mitchell also said:

Being a teenager is a really big time of change, for boys and for girls, and kids have a right to feel safe.

In contrast to the Brooks Street precinct school, the St Paul's Terrace precinct school, which is seven stories high, will have a whopping 50 lockable 'floor to ceiling' unisex toilet cubicles with shared basin areas.

However parents like Mitchell may protest, a department spokeswoman told Daily Mail Australia:

The toilet facilities at Fortitude Valley State Secondary College meet contemporary design standards in relation to accessibility, inclusivity, privacy and safety.

Each unisex toilet cubicle is lockable in line with contemporary best practice and underpinned by safety considerations.

Opposition education spokesman Jarrod Bleijie has said publicly that he fears the 'very bad' move could be a 'recipe for disaster'. He took to Facebook to rant:

I reckon boys and girls need and deserve their own privacy at school. How about instead of this PC rubbish the government spend more time helping our teachers with workload issues, air con our schools, declutter the curriculum, fix the school maintenance backlogs and better support our teachers in regional and remote Queensland. Labor have its priorities all wrong.

As to be expected, his post incited an enormous social media debate.

Comments included:

"These kids are at high school why do we have them sharing the same toilets when so many other aspects of their education needs to be improved. Also young ladies and men need their privacy."

and

"There is no way I would send my kids to a school that has that! Especially being the mother of girls. not that it’s just girls sexually abused, then there is bullying and underage sex. Our schools really aren’t safe environments anymore."

However, not everyone agreed with Bleijie. Comments included:

"Nearly every accessible facility for disabled people is a unisex facility, and, last time I looked, nearly every household, you know where these kids live, has unisex toilet facilities! There are bigger issues than this that deserve attention."

and

"I think this is a fantastic move and is more representative of what our modern state requires, kids are struggling with their gender identity they will have a safe space to use as a bathroom, as they might not feel comfortable in the boys/girls facilities."

The recommendation to consider unisex bathrooms came from Inclusive Education WA, a specialised resource for schools in the state, and it seems more schools are jumping on board. According to Daily Mail Australia: "The new school will also push back class times to avoid traffic chaos, with students urged to walk or cycle to school to ease congestion in the inner-city."

What do you think of Queensland's bold move to transition students to unisex bathrooms? Let us know in the comments your thoughts.

Elana