A Saskatchewan mother is demanding a rural school division implement policies restricting girls’ washrooms to biological females after complaints that a transgender student has been allowed to use the girls’ facilities at Lampman School.The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF) announced lawyers acting on behalf of Lampman mother Tawney Johnson have sent a legal demand letter to the South East Cornerstone Public School Division.The dispute centres on allegations that a 17-year-old transgender student has been permitted to use the girls’ multi-stall washroom at the school, prompting complaints from female students who say they feel unsafe and uncomfortable using the facilities.Lampman is a community of roughly 800 residents located about 40 kilometres east of Estevan in southeastern Saskatchewan.According to the JCCF, several female students submitted written statements describing the impact the situation has had on them.One 13-year-old girl stated, “I feel scared that [name omitted] is in there and could try looking over the stalls. This has now caused me trauma and [I] have lost trust in my school.”A 16-year-old student wrote, “All students deserve to feel secure when using bathrooms and other shared spaces, without fear of being watched or threatened.”The legal letter argues Saskatchewan’s Human Rights Code permits schools to maintain sex-segregated washrooms on the basis of public decency and says school officials have the authority to restrict female washrooms to biological girls..It also claims the current arrangement violates female students’ Charter rights to privacy, security and equality.Constitutional lawyer Allison Pejovic said schools are expected to provide safe environments for students.“Girls should not have to endure a full school day fearful that a biological male student will be in the washroom with them,” said Pejovic. “It is an invasion of girls’ privacy and is causing immense mental harm.”Pejovic added that female students’ rights to female-only spaces “do not disappear simply because a biological male transgender student wants to use them too.”Johnson has also written to Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe and other political figures calling for action.“I am aware that most parents that have voiced their disapproval of the current situation involving the privacy and safety of their female children have all received a blanket response from the school division that there is nothing that can be done,” Johnson said.The legal letter urges the school division to immediately implement policies reserving girls’ washrooms for biological females and protecting female students’ privacy, dignity and safety.
