‘They Will Sit There … And Watch The Girls Change’: Students Walk Out Over State’s Trans Bathroom Law
Reagan Reese on May 24, 2023
California high school students walked out of class in protest of a state law that allows individuals to use bathrooms on the basis of gender identity rather than biological sex, according to Action News Now.
Over the past two weeks, Pleasant Valley High School students have protested twice, claiming that biological males have been entering female bathrooms watching the girls change, according to Action News Now. Under California law, schools are required to permit students to use bathrooms on the basis of gender identity rather than biological sex.
“In the bathrooms in the locker rooms, it’s honestly uncomfortable because they will sit there or just stand there and watch the girls change,” Maryann Accetta, a Pleasant Valley High School junior, told the outlet. “If the girls are using the restroom like I would like to have my privacy, I would not appreciate someone just standing there watching me.”
In response to students using the school bathrooms on the basis of gender identity, the students protesting allegedly held signs reading, “men don’t belong in the women’s restroom” and “do not silence women on our campus,” Action News Now reported.
Some students are upset that the high school is allowing students to protest the law during the school day, Action News Now reported. Another student told the outlet that gender-neutral bathrooms may be the solution.
“They’re not really advocating for any change,” Drew Barron, a senior at the high school, told the outlet. “They’re really just spreading hate and trying to turn people against each other. When speaking your mind turns into spreading hate and creating a dangerous, hostile environment for a marginalized group of people who already go through so much on a daily, it shouldn’t be allowed at a school that’s supposed to make people feel safe and help learn.”
Throughout the country, school districts are determining how to regulate student bathroom use; in Florida, a school district overturned its policy, now requiring students to use bathrooms on the basis of biological sex. An Idaho school board canceled its policy that allowed students to use bathrooms that best corresponded with their gender identity, following community pushback.
“As we head into the final two weeks of school, we must reiterate the expectations of a safe campus climate for all of our students,” Pleasant Valley High School Principal Damon Whittaker told the outlet. “There is no room for threats, intolerance, discrimination, or hate-motivated behavior. A hostile campus takes the focus away from teaching and learning.”
Pleasant Valley High School did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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