BC Parents Alarmed as School Closes Single-Sex Washrooms, Leaving Only Gender-Neutral Option

File photo shows a sign marking the entrance to a gender-neutral restroom at the University of Vermont in Burlington, Vt. AP Photo/Toby Talbot

Parents at a British Columbia high school are voicing concerns about their children’s safety after the school closed their single-sex washrooms and left only gender-neutral ones for use by students, reportedly without consulting or informing parents.

Jolene Branconnier says her 16-year-old daughter was accosted by boys on Jan. 10 while in a stall of a gender-neutral washroom at Pleasant Valley Secondary School in Armstrong, B.C. The school had indefinitely locked its five single-sex washrooms the day before, leaving only three new gender-neutral facilities open.

She said her daughter called her in tears after the incident, saying a group of about five boys pounded on her stall door while she was using the toilet. “These boys were banging on the door so bad she could see light through the door,” Branconnier told The Epoch Times.

“She thought the door was going to fly open,“ said Branconnier. ”She started to cry. She was so scared, and she had to text her friends to come and get her out of the bathroom stall.”

Neither the school nor the administrators or trustees of School District No. 83 responded to The Epoch Times’ requests for comments. However, the school’s principal, Steven Drapala, replied to an email from Kristy Stewart, one of the concerned parents.

In the Jan. 14 email, reviewed by The Epoch Times, Drapala said the “decision to close the gendered washrooms” at the school was based on “the new washrooms having better sightlines and enable better supervision” by staff.

In photos of two of the gender-neutral washrooms at the school provided to The Epoch Times, those washrooms appear to have fully enclosed stalls, with doors that reach down to the floor, while the washrooms themselves have no doors. The photos show that passersby can see the entire rectangular washroom space from the hallway outside, with the sinks and countertop along one side and stalls along the other side and at the back.

“We have been listening to student and parent concerns over the 3 school days and have addressed multiple concerns that have been brought forward,” the principal’s email said.

Some parents agreed to speak with The Epoch Times while others declined to comment, citing fears of backlash.

Branconnier said her daughter and her classmates were only told of the policy change at the end of the school day on Jan. 9, when their teacher told the class that single-sex washrooms had been closed due to vaping and vandalism. Three new washrooms had been opened, two of them located in the school’s recently built gym.

Describing her daughter’s first attempt to use one of the new washrooms on Jan. 9, Branconnier said her daughter saw “there were six boys in there” and “she didn’t really feel comfortable using the washroom.”

Her daughter felt shy and “very intimidated,” she said. “They were in there vaping, so she didn’t really want to go in the washroom, so she decided not to.”

The photos provided to The Epoch Times, taken on Jan. 14, showed that the washrooms each had a sign next to the entranceway indicating its number, “#1” and “#2,” but had no signs indicating they were gender-neutral.

Branconnier said she isn’t opposed to gender-neutral washrooms but is concerned that students uncomfortable using them now have no alternative.

She and her husband spoke in person with the school’s vice-principal, Clint Maltais, on Jan. 10, and said they were also told that the measure was aimed at preventing vaping and vandalism.

“I explained to him, in my opinion, that it would probably serve everybody better if all the washrooms were opened up,” she said, telling him that having gender-neutral washrooms could encourage students to congregate in those spaces.

She also questioned the school’s decision to close single-sex washrooms as a response to vandalism. “I don’t understand why they made them all gender-neutral,” she said.

‘Less Inclusive’

The other parent, Kristy Stewart, has a 15-year-old daughter at the school who is uncomfortable using the school’s gender-neutral facilities. Stewart has been driving to the school and picking up her daughter whenever she needs to use the washroom. She takes her daughter to a nearby store to use the washroom there.

“My daughter told me that she is not comfortable going into this washroom,” Stewart said. “They’re required to share space with the opposite sex and a different age gap.” Students range in age from about 13 to 18, she said.

Stewart said eliminating single-sex washrooms makes the school “less inclusive.”

“If we had male, female, and non-gender [washrooms], we would have all of those spaces,” she said.

Stewart also expressed concern that a shared bathroom space could lead to inappropriate interactions between teenage boys and girls.

“Kids’ brains aren’t fully developed, so they lack impulse control. They don’t have the maturity to make responsible decisions, but we put them in a free-for-all,” Stewart said. “Why are we expecting teenagers who are hormonal and insecure, and have anxiety, to do this?”

Limited Discussion

Branconnier said “lots of” Facebook posts mentioning the issue of Pleasant Valley Secondary School’s gender-neutral washrooms have been removed.

In a Facebook group managed by the school called “PVSS Parents and Students,” a representative shut down discussions on the issue.

“If anyone has concerns about the closure of some bathrooms, they can contact Mr. Drapala or Mr. Maltais,” wrote Marnie Flesher Graf, the group administrator, in a recent post. “This is not a topic for debate in this group.”

In an Armstrong residents public Facebook group, a woman asked for community input about the school’s new gender-neutral washrooms, saying her post had been removed from two other groups, including one she says is managed by the school.

“Has anyone’s child expressed concern with this set up? Or had an incident already in the 2 days it’s been open?” she wrote, adding, “(there have been numerous)” and “This whole ‘inclusivity’ is going overboard and making a good number of kids feel very uncomfortable.”

The post received more than 300 comments until the group’s administrator turned off commenting, saying that hosting the discussion was taking a toll on them.

“Unfortunately we have decided to turn off comments to the post because admins are now being blocked and harassed via private message,” wrote administrator Candylee Ross. “By reading the comments you can see the action you can take.”

Prince George School Offers Only Gender-Neutral Washrooms

The Epoch Times spoke to a parent in Prince George, B.C., who said her 14-year-old daughter has no option but to use gender-neutral washrooms at school. The mother requested anonymity and asked to be referred to as “Owens” for this report, while explaining that her concern is not about the washrooms compromising her daughter’s safety but rather her privacy.

Her daughter is a student at Shas Ti Kelly Road Secondary School, where all bathrooms have been gender-neutral since 2020, when the school moved into a new building. In a 2020 interview about the school’s opening with My Prince George Now, Anita Richardson, then-superintendent of School District 57, said the school’s gender-neutral bathrooms had been designed “to make people feel safe and included in this facility.”

Owens said she only learned about the school not having single-sex washrooms a few weeks ago, when her daughter told her she was sharing a washroom with boys.

“She said that they block the sinks. They’re standing there, they’re vaping, and they’re talking,” Owens said.

Owens’s daughter told The Epoch Times that the main issues with all-gender washrooms for her are that they become crowded and she feels intimidated when there are big boys in there.

“A lot of the time there are these super tall guys just right in front of me, and I’m trying to get around them,” she said. “I’m too scared to say anything, because either I might be made fun of, or I don’t know, they’re just scary.”

A school spokesperson told The Epoch Times that the school receives complaints about boys in the washrooms disturbing girls, and vice versa.

“The student will often come to the office to let us know what has happened,” she said. “Then we would let our administration team know what the situation is, and they would try and get that sorted out.”

The spokesperson said there was public consultation before the school decided to make all of its washrooms gender-neutral.