On Wednesday 29 June, at 1pm, the students behind Gender Neutral Bathrooms NZ, with the support of national rainbow charity InsideOUT Kōaro will gather on the steps of Parliament to handover a petition that calls on the government to uphold their 2020 campaign promise to provide support to schools so that they can develop gender neutral bathrooms. The petition will be received by Labour MP Shanan Halbert, with MPs from the Labour Party and the Green Party in attendance.

The petition was started by students working on an impact project at Albany Senior High. Having fought initially for gender neutral bathrooms in their own school, the group realised there was a greater need and set out to make national change.

“I didn't fully realise the impact of not having access to bathrooms I felt comfortable using until I had them. I always knew it was an issue for me and I always felt how uncomfortable it made me, but since having the gender neutral bathrooms, I've felt safer and so much more comfortable to truly be myself in all aspects of my life at school,” said Asher Shah, Albany Senior High student.

“It no longer takes me half an hour to work myself into a mindset where I can use a bathroom and I no longer feel like I have to be aware of everything I consume to make sure I don't need to use the bathroom. I also don't feel like I'm outing myself by using them because I see cis and trans people of all genders using them as just bathrooms.”

“There is a direct link between students’ safety and inclusion at school and their well-being,” said InsideOUT Kōaro Managing Director, Tabby Besley. “Resourcing gender neutral bathrooms in all schools is one small action the government can take towards addressing the mental health statistics for trans and gender diverse young people.”

With over 1300 signatures on their petition, Gender Neutral Bathrooms NZ are excited to see it progress through parliament, having travelled to Wellington for the occasion. “My hope for the future is that we start to see real change. Bathrooms should just be the first step of hopefully many towards accommodating for trans and non-binary young people,” said Asher.

https://www.insideout.org.nz/

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