Responses to dangerous panic over unisex' school toilets

Responses to dangerous panic over unisex' school toiletsMore than 40 LGBTIQ and allied organisations have responded to the backlash against proposals to make schools safer for LGBTIQ learners.

by Mambaonline.com

25-11-2022 14:22

in LGBTQIA

We re-iterate that neither SIiEWG nor DBE has suggested that boys and girls share toilets and we urge members of the public to consider the consequences of spreading such disinformation. Photo: PEXELS

More than 40 LGBTIQ and allied organisations have responded to the extraordinary backlash against proposed new guidelines that aim to make South African schools safer for LGBTIQ learners.

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The Department of Basic Education's new draft Guidelines for the Socio-Educational Inclusion of Diverse Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity, Expression and Sex Characteristics (SOGIESC) in Schools are intended to create a more inclusive and affirming environment for LGBTIQ pupils.

It is, however, the guidelines' recommendation that schools provide gender-neutral toilets and change rooms for those who may not identify as one of the gender binaries that has become a particularly controversial topic.

Political parties such as the Freedom Front Plus, the African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP), Al Jama-ah, and the National Freedom Party (NFP), and the conservative religious pressure group Freedom of Religion South Africa (FOR SA) have all condemned the guidelines, particularly the proposals on gender and toilets.

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Criticism has included warnings that unisex toilets will increase teenage pregnancy and gender-based violence. Al Jama-ah claims that the proposals are part of an LGBTQ agenda and are a direct assault on the constitutional rights of learners coming from homes with religious, faith and cultural objections to LGBTQ

A petition has also been launched by Rudayba Rasool on Change.org arguing that that girls and boys share [sic] toilets will bring about many social ills. It calls on parents to vehemently object to this move. More than 82 000 individuals have now signed the petition.

ALSO READ: Remembering the LGBTQ victims of the Club Q shooting

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The uproar has seen the Department of Basic Education issuing a statement clarifying that the guidelines are an initial draft discussion document that is still undergoing consultations.

The civil society members and allies of the Basic Education Social Inclusion in Education Working Group (SIiEWG) have now also addressed the uproar in the media amongst pro-family' and religious fundamentalist, and conservative groups about the issue of introducing gender neutral toilets in South African schools.

The groups note that the guidelines categorically do not direct schools to replace all single-sex bathrooms and change facilities with unisex' ones' but instead encourage schools to make gender-neutral facilities available to gender non-conforming learners.

In a joint statement, they called on members of the public to apply their own minds to the document, and not to be misled by deliberate campaigns of disinformation, which exploit parents' fears and manufacture panic with patently false claims about what the Guidelines are, and what they seek to achieve.

Below is the full statement from SIiEWG

DISINFORMED PANIC ABOUT UNISEX TOILETS IN SA SCHOOLS JOINT STATEMENT OF CIVIL SOCIETY MEMBERS OF THE BASIC EDUCATION SOCIAL INCLUSION IN EDUCATION WORKING GROUP (SIiEWG)

It has recently come to the attention of the civil society members of the Social Inclusion in Education Working Group (SIiEWG)* that the issue of introducing unisex toilets in South African schools has caused uproar in the media amongst pro-family and religious fundamentalist, and conservative groups.

The panic relates to a single section of the Department of Basic Education's (DBE) draft Guidelines for the socio-educational inclusion of Diverse Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity, Expression, and Sex Characteristics in Schools (the Guidelines). The section in question is 7.12, on Bathrooms and Change Facilities.

The Guidelines were developed to assist school administrators, leaders, and educators with developing and implementing strategies for a safe, equitable, and socially just learning environments for all learners, regardless of their sexual orientation, gender identity, and expression and sex characteristics. The Guidelines emphasise a practical approach and tools to widen an inclusive schooling environment that aligns with constitutional values, and that affirm and protect diverse learners. The Guidelines aim to ensure that schools are addressing and eliminating historic and ongoing discrimination, harassment, and victimisation, and in turn, to advance equality in outcomes for all learners.

The Guidelines categorically do not direct schools to replace all single sex bathrooms and change facilities with unisex ones. They do encourage schools to make gender-neutral facilities available to gender non-conforming learners. Section 7.12 of the Guidelines states,

When determining which toilets and change rooms a learner will use, the school should discuss this with the student/parent/caregiver, and

Schools should provide non-gender specific toilets and change rooms with individual stalls or cubicles that can provide privacy for all users. The key considerations apply to all learners: safety, dignity, and privacy. Under no circumstances shall a learner be required to use a single-user facility because they identify with a non-heteronormative sexual orientation, are transgender or are gender nonconforming.

Facilities should be labelled sensitively and appropriately.

Schools should formulate a policy for toilets as well as change rooms so that there is clarity on engaging with these facilities. Learners must be allowed to self-identify and where there is a clear policy t

LINK:	https://www.thesouthafrican.com/culture/lgbtqia/responds-to-panic-over...
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