A SCOTTISH LGBT charity has said it is “deeply concerned” by updated guidance for schools on toilet facilities.
New guidance released by the Scottish Government on Monday said that schools in Scotland must provide separate toilets for boys and girls on the basis of biological sex.
Schools were previously told that pupils could use whichever toilet they felt most comfortable in.
LGBT Youth Scotland has now said this was the latest example in an “ongoing series of attacks” on the rights of trans people.
In a statement the charity said: “LGBT Youth Scotland is deeply concerned about the latest removal of access to rights for trans young people following the revisions in the guidance for supporting transgender pupils issued on 29th September.
“These updates are the latest in an ongoing series of attacks on the rights of trans people within Scotland which remove their ability to fully participate within society and will further detriment and segregate an already oppressed minority.
“The earlier guidance on Supporting Transgender Pupils In Schools Guidance for Education Authorities and Schools was designed to reflect wider changes in society and created positive change which was very well received and positively implemented. The revised guidance marks a regression in this approach.
“Toilets are not a minor logistical issue. We know from young people that a lack of access to suitable toilets has a negative impact on their health, wellbeing, safety and overall education.”
The new guidance says schools can also provide gender neutral toilets for transgender students.
It follows two landmark court rulings relating to single-sex spaces.
In April, a Scottish judge ruled that schools in the country must provide single-sex toilets to pupils after some provided only gender neutral facilities. That came a week after the UK’s Supreme Court unanimously ruled that sex under the 2010 Equality Act refers to biological sex.
However, Scottish Education Secretary Jenny Gilruth said the guidance was not mandatory but advisory for schools.
She did add though that schools are required by law to have separate toilet facilities for boys and girls.
The LGBT Youth Scotland statement went on: “While we welcome the inclusion of recommendations for gender-neutral and accessible provision, it is vital that this is offered in an inclusive way which does not place undue stress on both trans and disabled pupils who already face additional barriers to inclusion.
“We would urge schools to ensure that sufficient facilities are available to all those who need them, without creating undue stress or difficulty.
“A lack of meaningful toilet provision can have far-reaching consequences. One young trans boy told us that he was unable to use the boys’ toilets at school and felt that using the disabled toilets would out him to his peers.
“He stopped eating and drinking at school to avoid having to use the toilet at all. He became seriously ill with a urinary tract infection, resulting in hospitalisation, his mental health deteriorated, and he ended up leaving school early.
“The needs of young people have changed; the guidance needs to be updated to reflect these changing needs, and we do not believe that the revisions made on 29th September do this.”
The guidance warns against the risk of “outing” a young person as trans and urges schools to support young people who “want to live as a boy although their biological sex was female, or they now want to live as a girl, although their biological sex was male”.
It says that denying this would have a “detrimental impact on the young person’s wellbeing, relationships and behaviour”.
