ALL-GENDER CABINS AND THEIR PLACE IN TRANS-INCLUSIVE SPACES


BY DAVID STOCKER I 26 ETFO VOICE | SPRING 2016


n June of 2013, students at City View Alternative School in Toronto’s west end cut the ceremonial ribbon across the door of a multi-stall, all-gender washroom. Simultaneously, they be-


gan a cultural mind shift in the way our school community could dismantle systemic transphobia. Bill 33, also known as Toby’s Act (Right


to be Free from Discrimination and Harass- ment Because of Gender Identity or Gender Expression), passed in 2012, amending the Ontario Human Rights Code. It made schools legally responsible for eliminating barriers to inclusion based on gender identity and gender expression. The Act set the stage for challenging one of the most significant manifestations of exclusion for gender non- conforming, gender fluid and trans students, the set-up of washrooms based on a binary system of “boys” and “girls.” Some schools have responded with the


politically expedient and wildly popular single-stall option. However,


students are


basically asked to out themselves as having a non-conforming gender when they choose


this option and, in the worst case scenario, it requires a student to ask for a key each time they need to use this washroom. Sometimes, young people are asked to justify their need to use the accommodated space. At the least damaging end of this spectrum, the door is always unlocked and can be used by any member of the school community. Other schools have opted to create a


multi-stall option. With this approach, no student needs to ‘out’ themselves, and more significantly, the entire school community is collectively responsible for thinking about the idea that bodies and identities are far more diverse than the world currently cares to admit. Using the washroom is a political act no matter where you place yourself on the continuum.


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