Princeton High School must recognize the impact that a lack of gender-neutral bathrooms has on its students. Considering the discrimination and discomfort that transgender, gender-nonconforming, and queer students face at PHS, the school should convert all bathrooms to gender-neutral bathrooms. Doing so would follow a global trend towards more inclusive restrooms and establish PHS as a safe space for LGBTQ+ students. A few weeks ago, the high school’s only gender-neutral bathroom was temporarily closed. The problem that sparked the closing was students who were using the gender-neutral bathroom to vape, talk, or hang out with friends. For those who actually needed to use the bathroom, walking in and seeing several students crowded in a stall vaping was awkward and embarrassing. PHS Art Teacher Bridget Schmidt met with Principal Frank Chmiel about the issue, emphasizing the importance of making transgender and nonbinary students feel more comfortable at PHS. A group of students also came forward after the initial shutdown to discuss the negative impacts of the closure. These impacts made navigating this issue even more difficult for nonbinary students, who not only felt insecure in the gender-neutral bathrooms, but were then deprived of these facilities all together. The high school agreed to convert two existing bathrooms into gender-neutral bathrooms, which is a promising sign, but there is still a long way to go for PHS’s efforts to increase comfort for queer and gender-nonconforming students. Two new gender-neutral bathrooms in the high school is not enough. Not only will the misuse of gender-neutral bathrooms continue, but because of the sheer size of PHS, valued class time is taken away from nonbinary students who have to spend time searching for inclusive bathrooms. This could frustrate teachers and staff, who feel the need to wait on students who are using the restroom. Making gender-neutral bathrooms more accessible by converting all existing bathrooms would reduce both bathroom misuse and class time missed by students.

Moreover, transgender and gender-nonconforming students experience intolerance for their gender identities in schools across the country. Providing everyone with the possibility to use gender-neutral bathrooms is an important step towards inclusivity. This change would not only help LGBTQ+ students in our school feel that their identities have been recognized, but would also set a strong example for other schools to follow. The necessity of establishing this environment of acceptance cannot be overstated. In recent years, the mistreatment of queer youth has been on the rise, as seen in the increased number of hate crimes on the basis of gender identity. The Uniform Crime Reporting Program’s Hate Crime Statistics report disclosed that the number of hate crime incidents on the basis of gender identity went up from 198 in 2019 to 236 in 2020 in the U.S. Many queer people don’t feel safe in public. In fact, 65 percent of trans students in America are harassed in school because of their gender identity, according to a survey done by the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network in 2015. They can’t be forced to receive an education in the presence of those who they feel mean them harm, and should not have to fear for their safety everytime they need to use the bathroom. Transgender and gender-nonconforming students often feel that they will face judgment or be harassed simply by using a bathroom that matches their gender identity. Without gender-neutral bathrooms, their only other safe option is to go to the bathroom of their assigned sex at birth, which could lead to or worsen body dysphoria. We must eliminate single-gender bathrooms.

PHS wouldn’t be the first to take these steps. In many European countries, most notably Denmark and Sweden, gender-neutral restrooms are growing in popularity. In Vermont, an act passed in 2018 mandated all single-user bathrooms in public places, like schools and community centers, to be gender-neutral. These bathrooms seem to be the way forward all across the globe, and PHS should be one of the first schools in New Jersey to fully embrace that truth.

Traditionalist fear-mongering has alienated the idea of a world without single-gender bathrooms. Many fear that without the enforcement of a separation of genders, sexual harassment and assault will run rampant. However, this postulation is false. A 2014 Media Matters study covering 600,000 students over 17 school districts found that laws protecting trans students’ rights to use gender identity aligned bathrooms did not lead to any increases in sex crimes.

Though there aren’t many executive decisions that we as a student body can make, we must do all that we can to pressure school officials to take this issue seriously. The more this topic is circulated, the more likely it is to be heard by people in more powerful positions, such as the district’s Board of Education. Problems like these, no matter how uncomfortable to talk about, cannot be ignored by the school’s administration. If we want transgender and gender-nonconforming students to feel safe coming to school, action must be taken to make all bathrooms at PHS gender-neutral.