Ohio Students Walk Out Over Policy Allowing Boys In Girls’ Bathrooms
Students at Elida High School in northern Ohio walked out of class on Monday to protest a policy allowing boys who claim to be “transgender” to use the girls’ bathroom.
During the protest, which began around noon, dozens of students walked out of class and gathered outside of the school to speak out against the violation of girls’ privacy.
“We’re upset about biological boys in the girls’ bathroom,” one freshman girl told a local news outlet during the protest. “The school board hasn’t been listening.”
“There’s been multiple accounts of boys coming in the bathroom, or transgender girls, and bothering the girls in there and we’re just not for it,” the teen told WLIO. “Biological boys need to stay in their own bathroom.”
Parents and other concerned members of the community have been protesting this issue for several months now, expressing concern that allowing boys to use the girls’ bathroom infringes on the female students’ right to privacy. Many of these parents and community members joined the students during their protest on Monday, where they cheered and prayed for an end to “this evil.”
Meanwhile, school officials were angered over the demonstration — with Superintendent Joel Mengerink threatening students with after-school detention if they failed to return to class after the protest.
“We are here to see to it our students are educated in a safe environment,” Mengerink told WLIO. “Encouraging students to participate in a walkout causes a lot of safety concerns on our part not knowing who’s outside with them, especially when we just experienced a social media threat last week. It also takes away instructional time from our students and that’s what we are here for.”
The school district reportedly instituted the transgender bathroom policy — which allows so-called “transgender” and “non-binary” students to use whatever bathroom they prefer — as part of its anti-discrimination policy. While the school board president claims the policy is required by federal law, some parents disagree. In an attempt to appease parents, the school previously remodeled student bathroom stalls to improve privacy — but that was not enough for critics of the new bathroom policy.
This news comes after a Pennsylvania high school recently reversed its transgender bathroom policy following a similar walkout protest from students.
