In a 2011 survey the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) revealed that transgender students were more likely to feel unsafe at school, and 80% of students reported that they felt unsafe because of their gender expression. GLSEN also published “that students frequently reported avoiding spaces that they perceived as unsafe, especially bathrooms, locker rooms, and physical education classes.” Schools can be a hostile environment for LGBT+ individuals, especially transgender students. Knowing what facilities, such as bathrooms and locker rooms, you belong in is a leisure that most students have. Many transgender students are unable to use the facilities that they believe they belong in, either for safety or because school rules don't allow it.  Therefore, transgender students should be able to use the facilities that correspond with the gender identity and not their biological sex.

The term “transgender” generally refers to any person who doesn’t conform to gender roles set forth by society. However, gender expression refers to the way that a person represents their masculinity or femininity. Every one of us expresses a certain gender every day, whether it be through clothes we wear or how we talk. Gender expression doesn't always match up with someone's biological sex. Biologically a person can be male or female, but gender can fall on a diverse spectrum. You can identify as female, like I do, you could identify as transgender, you could identify as somewhere in between. What you identify as just depends on who you are.
The federal Title IX law bans sex discrimination in schools and has been interpreted by courts and the US Justice and Education Department to also prohibit discrimination against transgender and gender-nonconforming students. Under Title IX transgender students have the right to use the bathrooms and other facilities that are consistent with their gender identity. Transgender students cannot, and should not, be forced to use separate restrooms. In many schools transgender students are still not afforded the same rights as other students.
In 2014, At a high school in Gloucester, Virginia a 15-year-old transgender student named Gavin was given permission from his principal and administration to use the boy’s bathroom. This was fine for a while until parents and other students began to feel uncomfortable with having a “girl in the boy’s bathroom.” These people who believed this went in front of the school board to prohibit Gavin from using the boy bathroom saying that he should not be able to use the boy’s bathroom but instead have to use the girls room or a gender-neutral restroom. The petition was approved by school board and Gavin was no longer able to use the boy’s bathroom. He and his family went to higher courts, as the school board ruling went against the Title IX law. Gavin should have been able to use the boy’s bathroom. He was in transition and had his name legally changed. This should have been enough for his school district, but sadly it was not and even now the school district is still fighting. This situation is all too real for many transgender students.

Every student deserves the right to a decent education and I feel as though not having a bathroom, or locker room that you belong in is really stopping students from getting the education that they deserve. I know when I’m in class and have to go to the bathroom really bad I can’t focus. Imagine if you had to spend a whole day like that. At most schools students have to go all the way down to the nurse's bathroom or into the principal's office to use the restroom, you only have 6 minutes between classes. If you have to go all the way across the school and back in under 6 minutes, it’s almost guaranteed that you’re going to be late to class. For some classes the beginning is the most important. Making students that are transgender go all the way to a gender neutral bathroom could be seriously affecting their education.

Many transgender students are already going through a lot mentally, and shouldn’t have to add stress of not belonging onto that list. All teenagers, myself included, struggle with finding out who they are and where they belong. Transgender students have to go through all that and at the same time worry about how society is going to view them for not following traditional gender roles. Going to the bathroom and changing out for gym should always be easy, it's easy for me and it's easy for most people. Some of my transgender friends have told me that instead of being isolated and sent to change in the teacher's office they will just go into which every locker room they should “traditionally” be in and change in the bathrooms. They shouldn’t have to go through that. I know all transgender students aren’t the same and some are okay with doing that, but some students are not. Some gender nonconforming students are comfortable with their bodies and have accepted that they are who they are, and that's amazing for them, but what about the students who have not and are not accepting of their bodies and who they are?

We should be focusing on everyone and making sure that all people feel safe and included at school. No one should feel like they’re on the outside or that they don't belong where they know they do. Many states allow students to use the facilities that match up with their gender identity but some transgender students don't because they are afraid that if they do they’ll get bullied and ridiculed which will result in further discomfort for these students.

In my sophomore year of high school, I was doing an anti-bullying seminar in freshman classrooms and there was a student in the class who said that he had been bullied for the way he dressed. He liked to wear tutus sometimes to school and kids thought it was fun to bully for him, after talking to him after the seminar he told me that sometimes he felt like a girl and that he wore tutus because he liked them. Before I left to go to my own class and after all the students had cleared out the teacher pulled me aside to ask if I thought it was possible for students to want to be bullied. He proceeded to tell me about the kid I had been talking to and he, as a teacher, was under the impression that this transgender student wanted to be bullied. If a teacher could think that a student wanted to be bullied for representing his gender identity, then how can you make sure that other students know that it’s not okay to do something like that.

People deserve the best that they can have. Transgender students should be able to feel safe when they walk through the school building in the morning, they shouldn’t have to fear dealing with the day. Students should be worrying about midterms and whether or not they’ll trip and fall playing basketball. To improve the quality of their educations transgender students need to be able to use the facilities that make them feel safer and they are comfortable with.

Gender neutral bathrooms could serve as a safe space for all gender nonconforming students. If students are uncomfortable or they’d feel unsafe using the bathroom or locker room that corresponds with their gender identity they could just use the gender neutral bathroom. Allowing students to use the bathrooms that correspond with their gender identity and having gender neutral bathrooms and facilities could promote a better sense of safety and community amongst public schools. Most schools require transgender students to make their statuses public in order for them to be able to use the facilities that they feel they should be using. Having gender neutral bathrooms could eliminate the need to go to counselors or administrators if doing that would make you uncomfortable.

All students deserve the same treatment; they deserve to feel safe. No student should get up in the morning and feel weary about going to school. It is something we all have to do, so let’s at least make it so that everyone can feel good about doing it. You can’t ignore a problem like this. There will always be transgender students, you can’t neglect to give a group of people what they deserve, what they have a right to, just because it would make a few conservative students and parents “uncomfortable”. Transgender students deserve the same treatment as any other student, I wouldn’t want to go to school if I knew that just being there would make me feel uncomfortable. Therefore, allowing transgender students to use the bathrooms that correspond with their gender identity they would do better in school, feel safer, and promote a better sense of happiness and comfort in public school. We have to push to give these students, who already go through so much, what they need and deserve.

WORKS CITED
"Gender Expression." Gill Foundation Gender Expression Comments. Web. 20 Jan. 2016.
Kosciw, Joseph G., Neal A. Palmer, Madelyn J. Boesen, Mark J. Bartkiewicz, and Emily A. Greytak. The 2011 National School Climate Survey: The Experiences of Lesbian,Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Youth in Our Nation's Schools. Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, 2012. Print.
"Schools." National Center for Transgender Equality. Web. 27 Jan. 2016.
"What Is the Difference between Sex and Gender?" What Is the Difference between Sex and Gender? Web. 20 Jan. 2016.