Thanks to the lobbying of its Queer Straight Alliance Club, Seycove secondary is the first school in North Vancouver to have a designated gender-neutral washroom.
It’s open for anyone to use but the sign on the door makes it clear that it’s a welcoming place for people whose gender identity or expression may make traditional gender-segregated washrooms a hostile place.
And thankfully, so far, there’s none of the gender politics panic we saw when the Vancouver School Board decided to adopt its transgender policy in 2014.
Having a safe place to do one’s business may seem like a small thing, but it’s a step in the right direction.
It appears the trans community is taking its place at the forefront of the human rights discussion in North America. Increasingly, on the small screen, we’re seeing transgender characters depicted in humanizing and sympathetic ways.
And it’s not a moment too soon.
Transgender people are far more likely to attempt suicide or be victims of violence, according to the Canadian Mental Health Association. They also face barriers in their careers and housing options. One Ontario-based study found that half of trans people were living on less than $15,000 a year.
In order for any of that to change, it’s on the rest of us to start changing the way we think about gender.
In the meantime, a pat on the back is owed to the students in the Queer Straight Alliance Club for taking this on and getting results.
Society doesn’t just progress on its own. It takes people like Seycove’s students fighting for it. Good on them.
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