Week of March 2, 2020
There were many articles this week surrounding gender neutrality. This week’s articles mainly focused on adopting gender neutral language, concerns over gender-neutral bathrooms, and students advocating for more gender-neutral policies. The Air Force song, otherwise known as “Wild Blue Yonder”, has had a recent lyric change to make the references to pilots more gender neutral. The Air Force Chief of Staff, General David Goldfein, supports this change claiming, “These new lyrics speak more accurately to all we do, all that we are, and all that we strive to be as a profession of arms…They add proper respect and recognition to everyone who serves and who has served. This respect and recognition is not only appropriate, it is fully earned.”
There were a lot of reports about gender-neutral bathrooms this week due to a case of sexual assault occurring in one on a high school campus. Over eight articles this week discussed the assault that took place at Rhinelander High School which has resulted in the bathroom being shut down. An eighteen-year-old male student was arrested for child enticement, fourth degree sexual assault and exposing genitals to a child. More controversy surrounding gender-neutral bathrooms occurred this week with an article discussing how gender-neutral bathrooms are unsafe for women in England. Another article surfaced discussing how gender-neutral bathrooms are harmful for the workplace, especially for women. However, the Lord Chief of Justice in England, Lord Bennet, defended gender-neutral bathrooms. He claimed that they should not be considered controversial since France has had “unisex bathrooms” for years and have not had any large issues.
Students have taken on a large role in pushing for the adoption of more gender-neutral policies. An article from James Madison University’s student-run newspaper discussed the need for gender-neutral bathrooms on campus. Their main motivations were to make trans and nonbinary students feel more welcome on campus. Minnesota recently passed a bill to change their state constitution from using male pronouns to gender-neutral ones. A law student from the University of Minnesota pointed out this issue in 2016 and advocated for the use of more gender-neutral language. Student advocacy has also affected policies in West Lafayette, Indiana. Following in Purdue University’s footsteps, the West Lafayette City Council has decided to stock bathrooms with free pads and tampons. However, the City Council has taken on a more gender neutral approach by supplying them in women’s, men’s, and gender-neutral restrooms.
Most articles this week focused on large topics such as the Air Force Song lyric change, the case of sexual assault, and issues discussed last week such as the California bill concerning gender-neutral toy sections in stores.