The all gender bathroom was introduced to Venice five years ago. Tucked into the main building, it has gained mixed reactions from the community. 

According to a survey The Oarsman shared with students, a majority of the female students do not feel comfortable sharing a bathroom with male students. 

Dean of Students David Galley stated that the purpose of the bathroom is to be an inclusive place. 

“The pros of the all gender bathroom is the inclusivity to have the option of using whatever you want,” he said. “If there are students who feel uncomfortable using the male or female restrooms they have a place to use the restroom.”

However, Galley believes that different issues can emerge in the restroom. 

“The cons are there are both boys and girls in a bathroom in high school and sometimes things can go wrong in the bathrooms.”

A-G counselor Stacy Weiss supervises the restroom Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Friday. She said that the school has taken measures to make sure the all-gender restroom is a safe option for students.

“The school has put together supervision and procedures to make the all-gender bathrooms a more safe space for students who just need to use the bathroom,” she said.

On the Oarsman’s survey regarding the all-gender bathroom, students were 

According to an anonymous non-binary student who does not agree with the statement, they are not comfortable using the all-gender restroom.

“It’s mostly used by guys, [and] I feel it defeats the purpose of [the] all gender restroom,” they said.

On the flipside, some anonymous students do not have an issue with the restroom,  

“It is the only reliable restroom that will always be open, and I haven’t observed any judgment regarding gender,” one anonymous male student said.

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The Oarsman collected responses to a survey, via google form, related to the all-gender restroom, from Thursday Oct 24th – Saturday Nov 2nd. Students were asked if they strongly agree, agree, neither agree or disagree, somewhat disagree, or agree, with the statement, “I am comfortable using the all-gender bathroom.” Additionally, students were given an opportunity to ask why they felt this way.