There shouldn’t be stress involved when taking care of basic human needs—like going to the washroom—but at Widdifield Secondary School, Principal Lisa O’Kane said it’s been more than a challenge for transgender students.
That is until the recent installation of a gender-neutral washroom.
“It’s one of the most basic bodily functions and you don’t feel safe,” O’Kane said when it came to the decision. “But this really was a student-driven initiative.”
And for then-student-council-president-candidate, Emilie Guenette, it was part of her platform for election. During her campaign, she said there were students in the school who were transitioning and trying to figure themselves out.
"Widdifield has always been an extremely supportive environment for all students, this was just another step towards that,” she said. “I love walking past it and knowing that all students in the school now have an area where they feel comfortable going to the bathroom."
And while Widdifield isn’t the only school in the Near North District School Board with multi-use washrooms available to all students, it’s this step by Widdifield, which has exploded over social media—regardless of intent—which is bringing to light a simple, but complicated issue.
It was late in the Fall when the new student council president, Guenette approached her principal, asking when they’d be able to arrange for a gender-neutral washroom. O’Kane said it was a simple matter of finding a facility and creating the signage.
“This was to tell them we’re with you,” she said, noting although it wasn’t totally necessary to declare gender-neutral over multi-use for the washroom. “It was something to make them very aware this is a safe spot for them.”
But what she intended to just be a simple way to help her students has become so much more as the story of the new washroom, as well as the advocacy of transgender student, Charlie Peterson, has grown.
O’Kane said when the news become more public, there was an overwhelming amount of positive comments, with only a tiny amount of negativity. However, she found a lot of confusion comes only with the ignorance of people who aren’t familiar with people who have had to face the struggles and challenges of transitioning.
“There are some people who don’t understand it and I don’t blame them or fault them because they don’t live it every day,” she said. “I didn’t intend to educate people, but to help my kids and if it happens as a result then that’s okay, I can take that on.”
