































Right-wing Pennsylvania school board has surveillance windows installed on gender-neutral bathrooms | Salon.com






















































































News & PoliticsCultureFoodScience & HealthMoneyLife StoriesVideoReviewsLifestyleThe New Sober BoomGetting Hooked on QuittingEducationLiberal Arts Cuts Are DangerousIs College Necessary?FinanceDying Parents Costing Millennials DearGen Z Investing In Le CreusetCryptoInvestingSEC vs Celebrity Crypto Promoters'Dark' Personalities Drawn to BTC 
Profile




                                Log In/Sign Up
                            


Sticky Header



Night Mode

Saved Articles
Go Ad-Free
Logout
































subscribe
Help keep Salon independent


Newsletter



























Profile




                                Login/Sign Up
                            


Sticky Header



Night Mode

Saved Articles
Go Ad-Free
Logout










News & Politics
Culture
Food





Science & Health
Money
Video









































Right-wing Pennsylvania school board has surveillance windows installed on gender-neutral bathrooms
The windows were installed based on guidance from a right-wing law firm that opposes LGBTQ+ rights





By 
Nandika Chatterjee

News Fellow




 Published October 4, 2024 9:20AM (EDT) 








							An empty public restroom															(Getty Images)







--
Shares




Facebook







Twitter







Reddit







Email


















A school district in southeastern Pennsylvania has outraged parents by installing privacy-eliminating surveillance windows in gender-neutral bathrooms based on the advise of a right-wing advocacy group, the York Dispatch reported.
The South Western School District, located about 120 miles west of Philadelphia, has carved out gaping windows that peer into the gender-neutral bathrooms at the Emory H. Markle Middle School. Bathrooms that are explicitly for men or women only are exempt from this policy.
The windows, ostensibly to discourage drug use and other transgressions, were first floated at an August meeting of the South Western school board. They have since been installed on the district's so-called "gender identity" bathrooms, the product of a 2023 compromise to accommodate LGBTQ+ students. Passersby can now see into the bathrooms' wash areas. 


Related
“Flood” of anti-LGBTQ bills shows GOP wants to “eradicate trans people from public life”: advocate


Board President Matthew Gelazela, responding to concern among parents, defended the decision on Wednesday, arguing that, "in making the area outside of stalls more viewable, we are better able to monitor for a multitude of prohibited activities such as any possible vaping, drug use, bullying or absenteeism," the Evening Sun reported. The change is "in similar fashion to what has existed for years in our elementary schools," he added.
However, the Evening Sun reported that the windows were installed based on guidance from a right-wing, anti-LGBTQ+ law firm. At its August meeting, the school board said it had approved the bathroom "openings" to "comply with guidance from the Independence Law Center."
On its website, the Independence Law Center describes its mission asz to "defend human life at all stages and defend the rights of the people to freely exercise their religion, as well as all the other First Amendment freedoms that depend on that first freedom."
Parents with children in the school district say they are uncomfortable with the surveillance, with one parent telling the York Dispatch that her son would not have to visit a bathroom further away from his classroom. Critics have also pointed out that the stated justification for the surveillance would apply to all bathrooms, not just gender-neutral ones, suggesting the policy has less to do with safety and more to do with the identity of those using the facilities.
 Jennifer Holahan of Penn Township shared her surprise over the decision with the Evening Sun.
"I was a kid at one time. If I was going to get in trouble, it wouldn't just be the one bathroom. Like we only smoke cigarettes in the gender-inclusive bathroom?" she said. "That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard."


Read more
about attacks on LGBTQ+ people


"This is so sad": Elon Musk called out for "awful" anti-trans rant about his own child
Legal scholars worry Supreme Court may prioritize “politics” over “real stakes” in trans rights case
“It makes me really sad": Daniel Radcliffe on J.K. Rowling's anti-transgender rhetoric









MORE FROM Nandika Chatterjee









Advertisement:

















Home
About
Staff
Contact
Privacy
Terms of Service
Archive
Go Ad Free


Copyright © 2025 Salon.com, LLC. Reproduction of material from any Salon pages without written permission is strictly prohibited. SALON ® is registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office as a trademark of Salon.com, LLC. Associated Press articles: Copyright © 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


DMCA Policy






















Now write at all