A teen girl was suspended from her school in Gosport, United Kingdom, following her refusal to use a gender neutral bathroom and contacting a parent for help. The girl, who attends the Brune Park Community School, told her father she was given the option of either using the unisex facility, or not being allowed to go to the bathroom at all.
Speaking to the News, the father of the girl, who has not been named, reported that his daughter received a 1-day suspension on October 11 in an incident that began with her refusing to use the mixed-sex lavatory.
“A male teacher at my daughter’s school refused her access to a female toilet, giving her an ultimatum to use a unisex toilet or not to go at all,” the father said, outraged. “To add to the problem, my daughter was subsequently suspended because she contacted me to tell me what was going on and refused to hand over her phone.”
The girl had reportedly told her teacher that she felt unsafe using the unisex washroom, and that she had concerns about its hygienic upkeep. While the exact age of the girl is not known, Bune Park’s student body ranges from 11 to 16 years old.
“My daughter now has a suspension on her school record for stating she wanted to use a female toilet because the unisex ones make her feel unsafe and dirty, without so much as a question asked of this teacher,” her father said, adding that while the unisex washrooms are “always open,” the single-sex options are sometimes closed off to students for unknown reasons.
The father said there had never been any issues before with his daughter using female toilets, adding: “I’ve spoken to a lot of other parents who aren’t even aware of the unisex toilets being introduced, let alone male teachers having control over what toilets their sons and daughters can use.
“If a girl wants to use a female toilet she should be able to – especially at a sensitive age when they are going through changes. The same applies for boys, some might be too shy to use a unisex toilet … There is absolutely no excuse in today’s world for a male teacher trained in safeguarding children to refuse a young girl access to a female toilet. There has been no repercussions for the teacher whatsoever, so they can do this again.”
The school declined to comment, instead sending a letter justifying the suspension to the child’s parent.
“The decision to suspend (the child) has not been taken lightly. (She) has been suspended for this fixed period because on October 11 (she) was persistently defiant,” they told the girl’s father.
Issues concerning the introduction of unisex toilets in schools have been persistent over the past year, with many reporting incidents at schools across the United Kingdom.
Earlier this year, a mother in Coventry reported that her 13-year-old daughter had been assaulted in the mixed-sex washrooms at the Caludon Castle School in Wyken.
The mother explained that a teenage boy had kicked the cubicle door open to take photographs of her daughter while she was using the toilet. He kicked the door so hard that it hit the teen in the face, leaving her with marks on her arm and a large cut on her forehead.
The girl had to be taken to hospital after being attacked while using the facilities.