Transgender student allegedly told not to use school washrooms

TORONTO – Students at a Durham Region high school are showing their support for a transgender student who they claim has been banned from using the school’s washrooms.

Students at Clarke High School on Highway 115 in Clarington have collected more than 160 names on a petition, according to Grade 12 student Dan Brunelle.

Brunelle said his friend James Spencer was told by school officials at the beginning of the school year he can’t use the men’s washrooms because he is still in the process of transitioning from female to male.

Spencer told Global News he was assured by principal Silvia Grdovic and a guidance counsellor that a solution would be found but, two months later, he is still waiting.

Spencer alleged he was told to use the facilities at a small Harvey’s located inside a Shell station adjacent to the school “but not during school hours.” At the school, he was offered access to a special washroom for which he has to request a key.

“I felt like they were saying that to be transgender there’s something wrong and that transgender people need to be segregated,” said Spencer, 16.

Grdovic declined to speak to Global News and referred inquiries to the Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board. Its manager of corporate affairs, Greg Kidd, said the washroom that was suggested is kept locked because another student’s medical supplies are stored there. He also flatly denied the claim that Spencer was told to use the Harvey’s washroom.

“We would never ask a student to go offsite,” he said.

Kidd said school board representatives are scheduled to meet with Spencer on Tuesday evening. “We want to find a solution that he’s going to feel comfortable with and that respects his choices,” said Kidd.

Spencer said he is buoyed by the support of students and many teachers. “I feel I might actually get somewhere,” he said.

Some students have voiced their support for Spencer on social media.

Student Holly Mathias (@humble_holly) added: “He deserves to be accepted for who he is.”

According to its website, Clarke High School’s key principles include a commitment to “show respect for all persons.” Kidd echoes this pledge. “Our school board has a culture of inclusiveness of diversity,” he said.

Brunelle appealed via Twitter to NDP MPP Cheri DiNovo, asking if Toby’s Law — a recent amendment to the Ontario Human Rights Code protecting transgender people that DiNovo spearheaded — could apply in this case.

Last month, the Toronto District School Board released guidelines allowing students to use the washroom that corresponds with their gender identity “regardless of the student’s sex assigned at birth.”