Cape Town - In less than 24 hours, an online petition opposing gender-neutral/unisex bathrooms at schools was already on the brink of reaching 50 000 signatures since it was created.
Athlone resident and mother of four, Rudayba Taliep Rasool, 52, said she was prompted to start the petition after seeing many parents expressing a collective unhappiness over the Department of Basic Education’s (DBE) draft guidelines which included unisex toilets.
“Last week, I went into a ladies toilet at KFC in Villiersdorp. The door wasn’t locked and I proceeded to enter and when I saw an adult male using the toilet, I felt disgusted since he didn’t even have the decency to lock the toilet.
“Imagine this happens to my child who hasn’t acquired the emotional maturity to deal with a situation like that at school,” Rasool said.
The draft guidelines were developed earlier this year in an effort to create a safer environment for learners of different sexual and gender orientations.
However, concerned parents and political groups, among others, have raised safety concerns should this be further developed and implemented.
The petition was started on Monday and had already breached 45 000 signatures in support by early afternoon on Tuesday.
“I am hoping the powers-that-be realise that South African parents are not in favour of this and that we value our children’s safety above all else,” Rasool said.
“All children have this right – males, females and non-binary/transgender children. Why not create toilets for them and treat everyone equal to what they identify themselves as? Why create unisex toilets when we have so much violence among our youth where rape, sex, drugs and bullying has become the norm,” she said.
The Muslim Judicial Council has also echoed support in opposition to gender-neutral bathrooms and changing rooms, and other measures including getting rid of all forms of gender segregation and identifiers.
DBE spokesperson Elijah Mhlanga said the department welcomed the debate as it highlights the key social issues facing schools.
Mhlanga said the department is facilitating discussions on a wide range of issues regarding gender identity and related issues.
“The matter is at a very early stage and we therefore call for calm. The time for public participation will come and all members of the public will get an opportunity to comment formally in the process,” he said.
Mhlanga said the department has not released any document on this.
“Those reporting on it, stole it or it was leaked to them and the problem is that they are reporting on a version that has evolved. The department is still in the process of consulting to finalise a version that will be used for public participation purposes,” he said.
The National Freedom Party (NFP) said the DBE minister should instead focus on issues of critical importance, such as bettering the quality of education, providing more infrastructure for sports, and to adequately prepare learners for tertiary education.
“Currently, we still have children using pit latrines, poor infrastructure at schools, and four out of every 10 children who start Grade 1 not finishing Grade 12. Instead of focusing on these issues, the department wants to tackle obscure issues,” said NFP leader Ahmed Munzoor Shaik Emam.
“The introduction of unisex toilets fails to grasp the seriousness of teenage pregnancies at schools, and is tone deaf to the reality of teenage hormones and the hyper-sexualised era in which we currently live,” he said.
Education MEC David Maynier said the WCED was aware of the department’s process to develop the draft guidelines, and will comment as a province when asked to do so.