Currently, Central has only one gender-neutral bathroom in the entire school. This is a problem for many genderqueer students who don’t feel comfortable using gendered bathrooms. For some students, using gendered-bathrooms can feel uncomfortable and even unsafe. Because of this, having bathrooms that all students can feel comfortable using is very important. 

It’s crucial to make these changes sooner rather than later, as it is affecting many genderqueer students now. The longer that the bathrooms are left the same, the more students that will have to suffer for a basic human need when there is an easy solution.

Several other high schools within the St. Paul Public Schools district have already made the decision to include gender-neutral bathrooms. One example is Johnson High School, which has made the change to replace all of their gendered-bathrooms with gender non-specific floor-to-ceiling stalls. This goes to show that changes like this are very much possible to accomplish and they have had positive effects on all students and specifically genderqueer students who have reported feeling more comfortable and safe while using the bathroom. 

If you'd like to learn more about this, or find helpful resources, check out our website at ChangeAtCentral!