ASTON, Pa.—Dozens of Sun Valley High School students walked out of class Wednesday morning to protest a Penn-Delco School District policy that allows biological males to use girls’ bathrooms. Several dozen parents and supporters came out to encourage them.
Students held signs reading: “Where are our ‘rights’?” “Bathrooms are assigned at birth!” “Bathrooms were separated for a reason!” “Let us use our bathroom,“ and ”No women in the men’s bathrooms.”
An article in the Delaware County Daily Times estimated the number at “about 50 to 60 students.”
The school district is located in Delaware County and includes Aston, Brookhaven, and Parkside.
The Oct. 25 walkout came after parents and students repeatedly complained to school district officials about a policy that allows biological men who identify as women to use female bathrooms and locker rooms.
According to advocacy group Parents Defending Education (PDE), the complaints followed reports that an 18-year-old male identifying as a woman used girls’ bathrooms at a school in the Penn-Delco school district. It was not clear whether the incident or incidents occurred at Sun Valley High School.
In response to complaints, the district said it had been allowing transgender students to choose a bathroom based on their gender identity for years.
Penn-Delco superintendent George Steinhoff wrote in an emailed response to a concerned parent: “Several years ago the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit Court upheld the practice of transgender students using bathrooms that correspond to their gender identity. Likely as a result of that and other regulations, I am not aware of any other local public schools or districts that do not honor the ruling.”
In another email, the superintendent told a parent who inquired about bathroom use: “The topic can be a confusing one for parents whose personal beliefs don’t always align with non-discriminatory practices required of schools.”
Protest Follows Successful Perkiomen Valley Effort
Sun Valley was not the first Pennsylvania school to hold a walkout over bathroom policies. Last month, Perkiomen Valley School District, in Montgomery County, saw hundreds of students walk out of class to protest a decision that allowed transgender students to use the bathroom they choose, according to a Sept. 19 New York Post report.Weeks after the walkout, the Perkiomen Valley School district reversed course and approved a policy that mandates students must use restrooms that correspond to their biological sex. The policy makes single-use bathrooms available to all students and staff regardless of gender.
The Epoch Times spoke with some of the students and adults who participated in the protest.
Tenth Grader: ‘We’re Doing It So That We Feel Comfortable’
Tenth-grader Jayden Hoffman joined the walkout.“I came out here today to show that it’s okay to voice your opinion. It’s okay to feel scared. You just gotta fight for what you think is right,” she said.
“I want to join this event because when I was younger, there was stuff that happened to me that I don’t feel comfortable sharing. But I’m scared because, in other places, the same thing has happened to students that have transgender [students] use bathrooms that were assigned for girls.”
Jayden said she thinks the school district “should just make the gender-neutral bathrooms mandatory to use for those students who feel uncomfortable using their own.”
Jayden said she is not saying “You can’t be transgender,“ but added, ”We want them to be comfortable in their own place, not ours.”
Ninth Grader: Gender-Neutral Bathrooms, Please
Ninth-grader James Pantuliano said he participated because “I think that’s not right or cool that students should be allowed to just go into any bathroom.”“I feel like you should be able to use your designated bathroom without having to feel scared that [someone of the] opposite gender is going to be in there. And I just think it’s not cool that you feel unsafe in there.”
James said he hopes the school district will make gender-neutral bathrooms more widely available.
Mom: ‘Give Our Kids Safe Spaces’
Alyssa Walsh, who has kids in elementary school in the district, said she came to the protest because she doesn’t want her children to have to deal with the issue in the future.“I’m not against gay, lesbian, transgender,” Ms. Walsh said, but said that her kids, as well as transgender kids, “need their own space.”
Ms. Walsh said she understands that it can be upsetting or even harmful for a girl to encounter a biological male in a school bathroom.
“It can disrupt them emotionally,“ she said, ”... and you don’t want it to happen before you know something’s done. Because that’s not okay.”
Make Bathrooms Boys, Girls and Unisex
June McAndrew’s children graduated from Penn-Delco schools, and she currently has grandchildren in the district. She worked for the school district for 30 years.“I have no problem with transgender, gays, but children that haven’t been through the transition should not be in the bathrooms of the opposite sex,” she said. “I just don’t believe in it and I’m standing up for what I believe is right.”
Ms. McAndrew thinks the school district will not build single-person bathrooms because of the cost issue.
“Make three bathrooms: boys, girls, and unisex,” she suggested. “Put one in for unisex and if you choose to use that bathroom, fine; but if not, keep the bathroom safe. Don’t invade kids’ spaces.”
‘A Testament to the Greatness of America’
Joe Dychala, a 1990 Sun Valley Graduate, is a private music teacher. He said this issue is “particularly offensive” to him.“I think the school board is absolutely wrong on what they’re doing, and they need to fix this,” he said.
“I work with young people on a daily basis,” Mr. Dychala said. “I see the young people are being led down a path that is absolutely wrong. And the people that are supposed to be taking care of them are not [doing so].”
There’s a reason children are called dependents, he said: they depend on adults to do the right thing for them. However, “when the adults don’t do the right thing, you’re going to see great kids coming out here and standing up for themselves, and doing exactly what they should do, which is their birthright as Americans.”
Mr. Dychala said he thinks the school district board needs to be more proactive about transgender issues.
“We know the old saying: ‘lead, follow, or get out of the way,’” Mr. Dychala said. “If they don’t want to lead, they need to follow these young students. And if they don’t want to do that, they need to resign and get out of there.”
Mr. Dychala said it’s important to know civics, to understand how the First Amendment works, and to protect your rights from being trampled upon.
“And more importantly to ... speak up for others that don’t have a voice. That’s super important to me. That’s why I am here today,” he said.
The young people who walked out in support of their beliefs are doing just that, he said.
Supporting True American Values
Jewel Gilbert said he came out to support the students’ protest because “I wanted to show some solidarity with the students fighting for something they believed in, also, while being somewhat oppressed by [school] administration ... and to show them that we support them and true American values.”
“They’re using their freedom of speech to stand up for what they believe in, which is something that’s very core to us, believing in modesty and justice, and not putting girls in a compromised situation by having to be afraid in the bathroom.”
He said: “Every school district can put in a policy of simply having a gender-neutral bathroom or single-use bathroom that keeps trans-identifying students safe.”
Mr. Gilbert works with Turning Point USA, which advocates for conservative politics on high school, college, and university campuses.
PDE: ‘The Voices of All Students Should Be Heard’
Marissa Fallon, PDE’s director of advocacy, told The Epoch Times that Penn-Delco students have finally said “enough” to the school district. They organized the walkout to “support safety in their schools and single-sex spaces,” she said.“Safety concerns for students and parents in the Penn-Delco School District related to transgender students using the bathroom of their choice [have] fallen on deaf ears for months,” Ms. Fallon said. “Discussions with the superintendent and school board members have had little results.”
“Students are now forced out of bathrooms that align with their biological sex if they aren’t comfortable sharing a private space with students who choose a bathroom based on their gender identity.”
“Every student has the right to free speech and to stand up for a safe, non-threatening school environment,” Ms. Fallon said. “The voices of all students should be heard.”
PDE is a national grassroots organization working to reclaim schools from harmful agendas.
