A gap in practice exists regarding the lack of inclusive policies in U.S. schools for transgender students. U.S. high school administrators experience challenges in creating inclusive policies that could potentially protect transgender students from being bullied or harassed. Guided by empowerment of minority students theory and minority stress…

Trans people's use of single-sex toilet facilities has become the subject of public attention, academic debate and research in recent years. One common solution is to offer transgender students access to an alternative toilet or changing space, such as an accessible toilet. However, in this paper, I critically engage with the suggestion that…

When Roberta J. Cordano became president of Gallaudet University and began her term in January 2016, it was with an air of positive transformation. Kendall Demonstration Elementary School (KDES) and the Model Secondary School for the Deaf (MSSD)--the two demonstration schools under the umbrella of Gallaudet's Laurent Clerc National Deaf Education…

Background/Context: The experiences of trans students in all-gender bathrooms are largely underexplored, as is the trans-activism by students to procure these spaces. Additionally, the role of teachers in supporting the creation of these spaces is largely absent from research regarding bathroom spaces. Purpose: This article elucidates the impact…

This study focuses on the relationship between menstruation and the schooling experience of female adolescents in Peru from an ecological and gender approach. Qualitative data were collected from rural and urban areas through individual interviews and participatory activities with 277 participants, including adolescents and key informants. The…

School toilets, globally and historically, have been problematic as places of shame and bullying, often providing pupils with inadequate facilities. This participatory student research project sought to develop political agency with youth researchers, equipping them with research skills to develop a project about school toilets, and to help…

This essay explores a Latinx, queer and trans, student's resistance to a gender-neutral restroom at a high school in an agricultural community of the Central Coast of California. Through a close reading of a field note, I analyze Joaquin's narrative of refusal to demonstrate how queer and trans youth engage in an active subjectivity (Lugones,…

Hand washing is effective for the prevention and transmission of pathogens but washing with water only is not effective at reducing contamination. The study focussed on the evaluation of hand washing behaviour in Basic schools (Primary and Junior High Schools) in Ghana. Results of the study revealed that 75% of responding schools have hand washing…

Organization of spaces in schools often revolves around gender and sexuality. For example, it has been reported that restrooms and locker rooms are the most heteronormative and heterosexist spaces within schools. Particularly within these spaces, hegemonic heterosexual masculinity/femininity is institutionalized, not only in the practices and…

This article reports on a qualitative study that explored bullying in the learner toilets of a township secondary school in South Africa and the reasons for its persistence in this particular school. The exploratory study used focus group discussions to collect data to address the research question. Newman's 'defensible space' framework, which…

This article explores the schooling experiences of 12 fa'afafine and fakaleiti who attended an all-boys faith-based secondary school in Aotearoa-New Zealand. Fa'afafine are Samoan, and fakaleiti Tongans who are assigned male at birth, but enact varying degrees and types of behaviour deemed as feminine. There are currently no in-depth qualitative…

School-based sports and physical education play an important role in the development of youth (Jones, Edwards, et al., 2017), but participation in athletics is unequal for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) youth compared to their straight/cisgender peers [Greenspan, S. B., Griffith, C., & Murtagh, E. F. (2017). LGBTQ…

This paper examines how transgender and gender non-conforming youth are represented and shaped as specific subjects vis-à-vis the cisgendered problematics of the washroom space in schools. In the first part of the paper, I undertake a critical analysis of one policy-informing text on the implementation of the gender neutral washroom in schools to…

Previous research about school toilets is based on studies of children in elementary school. Thus, the aim of this study was to explore the experiences when using the school toilets reported by students aged 16-18 years. Qualitative interviews with 21 students were conducted and analyzed using content analysis. The data revealed that the toilets…

Every secondary school leaver is expected to be able to seek and gain admission into institutions of higher learning, both locally and internationally. However, this has become unattainable as a result of the poor academic performance seen in senior secondary school examinations; the quintessential example being the West African Senior School…