Parents rejecting gender neutral (unisex) toilets

But this puts the onus on the girls to "keep themselves safe"

The adults should be doing this by default. Being the adults and all. Not relying on girls to suddenly snap out of years of female socialisation and being savvy enough to know what the best thing to do would be.

@SarahTancredi no matter what I say you will not budge on your view, which you are entitled to. I am of a difference stance and have personal experience of this school. The single sex toilets are situated near the bulk of classrooms. The gender neutral are in the new build area which consists of science, hair, health and social, music and drama and the school theatre for assemblies. Privacy matters to all the students which is why there are still gender specific toilets also for those uncomfortable. I'm glad there is a debate and sharing of views and not just mud slinging as this can often turn into on a divisive subject. I also think, certainly for the attitudes of my children and their friends, their perception of this is quite different to adults. One comment on the petition for instance says this makes it easier for paedophiles?! Definitely not the case.

So girls have less toilets they can comfortably use and none on the main building they have to go further afield which I'm.sure is great when you are flooding or about to puke and you dont see a problem. But it's ok cos a girl won't see a penis of a male classmate at a urinal? So privacy matters to the boys then?

Just not the girls ...

The article which was published online in the Leicester Mercury and on their Facebook page has a hyperlink to the petition on it. Many signatures were added after the publication of this article.

Stan yes, I definitely agree a gender neutral space is that way forward but the ratio of this seems wrong as it will have a detrimental effect on girls.

@ThinEndoftheWedge this came through the student council as a suggestion to do which the schools taken up, so students must have supported it, alongside my daughter and her friends etc as they're not on the council?

It's rather like telling a vegan that you've provided a wide range of meat based options, then acting confused as to why they're not more enthusiastic about your generous offerings.

@SarahTancredi yes your calculations would be right there, but for my daughter and friends there are more toilets to use, which I suppose would allievate any demand on the single sex toilets also for those who prefer them? It is a matter of choice and there is choice for everyone.

I think there would be a huge safeguarding issue around a trans boy using the single sex boys toilets as surely there could be a percieved risk of sexual attack and males would probably not like a biological female in there whilst they are using the urinals. This gives the trans students toilets to use which are supportive of their needs without opening up a whole different can of worms over when it is acceptable for a trans person to enter the toilets of their chosen gender.

Stan Is Sarah correct in the breakdown of girl, boy, mixed-sex provision?

Any assessment on whether girls will use / feel comfortable using mixed sex toilets?

My understanding concurs with Sarah is that girls won’t/ are reluctant to use mixed sex provision. On paper there is the provision but in practice it serves to reduce the provision which girls actually or are comfortable to use.

No point designing for how we think children should behave, design around how children will behave.

If it is such an issue for a student

Tipped your hand a bit there, mate.

My first concern is for the girls in this scenario as their options due to their biology are now limited. It's unlikely that a trans boy using the same facilities as boys will intimidate or threaten the boys. The other way round we could have a serious issue.

However my original point still stands with either group of trans youngsters .... a very, very small number vs those of girls.

Whilst 46 toilets seems a large number of school volume has increased then it no longer is.

So previously the boys had 15 plus 8 so 23. And the girls had 15 plus 8.

But now boys have 15 plus 16 gender neutral. And the girls who arent using the gender neutral toilets just have the 15.

So boys have 31 toilets. Girls 15?

@SarahTancredi boys certainly have less cubicles. My son says theres a urinal in the single sex toilets and not many cubicles.

@SarahTancredi the 16 now gender neutral where previously 8 male 8 female. There are still the single sex toilets like there were before which is like 30 or so. The toilets are cleaned 4 times a day as the school is open after school also for other clubs like when i take my kid for gymnastics and I see the cleaners in them then cleaning, and my daughter has said shes seen the cleaners in them through the day and before school which has also been confirmed by my TA BF.

But does it equate to less than the boys if u add the boys single sex to the ge ser neutral so they effectively have 2/3 of the toilets

@tellmewhenthespaceshiplandscoz your assumption that is biological boys identifying as girls is interesting. I have information to the contrary. I'll keep repeating there are single sex toilets for females still available and lots of them.

I'm trying to work ot out. So if there were 16 toilets previously girls had 8 and boys had 8?

But now 1/3 is gender neutral so lets say five so five for girls five gender neutral and five for boys so boys now have 5of their own toilets plus access to another 5 and if girls dont wanna clear up piss off the seat they have 5 single sex ones?

So boys will use 10 and girls 5. Plus the 1 disabled left or whatever which only disabled children should use.

Is that right?

Until the building work was completed a couple of years back there was only the single sex toilets so there are more facilities than before. The school is one building, the single sex toilets are where over 70% of the classrooms are. The gender neutral which by declassifying gives more toilets for girls to use if they so choose are located down the corridor or in the science area which is never more than 2 min away from the single sex toilets. This is why im frustrated about how this has been reported.

And the needs of that first group in my post ... currently enshrined in law. The second are not. Yet

Interesting that you use the words "if it's still such an issue" to describe the requirements of a girl on her period who needs a girls only space,

Vs

Inclusivity and equality for a tiny, tiny number (1 or 2 of the student population?) of biological boys who see themselves as girls?

We're not far from this school (DD doesn't go here) so I'll be watching this with interest. She's not started her period yet (she's 11) and I hate the thought of her having it happen at school and she's worrying about where the hell she can go that isn't locked where she can have some privacy to clean herself up. Coz it can literally be a flipping clean up job

So the mixed toilets are on the main school site... where are the sex specific toilets located?

Which would now mean that girls have less toilets than before?

There are never enough womens toilets. Women and girls take longer to pee and do what they need to do in toilets than boys do. So whenever existing toilets are converted that takes already stretched facilities to an even lower level. No one ever seems.to get that.

No there is not sinks in the cubicle and no its not illegal. If it is such an issue for a student they can still use the "normal style" toilets that are literally just up the corridor from them (30m)