Council’s Gender Motion

One of the hottest topics discussed recently by the HHS council has been the gender equality motion. It is a motion that has been discussed for a couple weeks now and is still being discussed now. The goal of the motion is to install unisex bathrooms into HHS and take precautions on ways to  eradicate gender stereotypes from our school.

One of the points of the motion is to change the way the school looks at gender by making it so that there are all gender facilities, such as bathrooms and locker rooms, as well as making the programs at HHS more sensitive to gender than birth assigned sex. With this someone who is one sex but identifies as another would be able to join an activity that is exclusive to the gender that he or she identifies themselves with, rather than be restricted to the activities set for them by their birth assigned sex.

This motion does not require new restrooms to be installed, nor does it require existing bathrooms to become all-gender. It only requires that Single-occupancy restrooms will make clear that they can be used by people of all genders. The motion argues that Some people may object to sharing a bathroom with a non-cisgender, transgender or gender non-conforming individual. But suggests that the people who object may simply use the single occupancy bathrooms in the music department or other areas of the school.

There is also discussion of names, pronouns, and using gendered terms. The motion suggests that individuals avoid addressing a group of individuals as “Ladies and gentlemen”, or “Boys and Girls”, as it does not include non-conforming gender individuals and may make them uncomfortable. It requires that individuals also avoid addressing other individuals with a gendered word such as “Young lady”, without being certain of that individual’s gender identity.

Clothing and appearance is the final issue that this motion addresses. At music performances, the school should not have the power to enforce a gender standard attire. Also at graduation the gowns for the graduating class will all be the same color, or students will be able to chose the color of their gown. The color of the gown should not be selected based on the gender or sex of the students.

The compliance with these rules and standards will be mandatory of this motion passes. If a Hanover High School student refuses to comply with any of these rules, the Dean of Students will determine an appropriate punishment for the student as they see fit. This Gender Equality motion has yet to pass, and we will see if it does in time to come.