Near the J stairwell, across from Room 146, there is a bathroom with the words  ALL-GENDER RESTROOM inscribed on a plaque next to the door, granting its use to all students, regardless of gender specificity.

Installed in September and October 2015, the new all-gender washrooms on the three main floors were made from the old staff facilities, as those were the easiest to transform into all-gender restrooms, according to Principal Anderson.

 “We had a student group who was working with a counselor to ensure that the school had equal access for all individuals in the building for restroom use,” Anderson said.

 Any student has access to them, as they are available just like any restroom.

“The big key and, in collaboration with Illinois Safe Schools Alliance, in ensuring all rights of all students and staff, is respect and dignity,” Anderson said. “We look at each individual situation and take their needs into account; each person is looking for a place where they receive the same respect and dignity as everyone else.”

Anderson said she looks to avoid the ostracizing or casting out of other students because of the way that they are; this is achieved by making appropriate accommodations for any individuals.

“That’s the great thing about the all-gender restroom,” Anderson said. “Anyone can use it, whether it be the stereotypical gender, transgender or other types of genders.”

According to the Chicago Tribune, a district in Illinois, Palatine District 211, violated a transgender student’s rights to freely select which bathroom facility they wanted to use. The district insisted that this student use a separate bathroom so that the other students would not feel uncomfortable; this case resulted in a heated debate in the Palatine community about the rights of the transgender student.

In response to this case, as well as to the addition of the all-gender restrooms at Lane, Anderson said, “The great thing about this school is that, number one, I love being principal of Lane, I love Lane Tech. We’re open and diverse, which makes us more understanding to the differences encountered. With the all-gender bathroom, it allows anyone to utilize and it’s a great addition, especially with the diversity of our community. I think that Palatine is a different community and school, so they have a different mindset.”

In addressing an individual situation such as the Palatine student, Anderson said she would try and accommodate as best as she can.

“Everyone needs to be treated with dignity and respect; you don’t want to be treated differently when you already feel different,” Anderson said. “In speaking with the Illinois Safe Schools Alliance, the pure fact is that most people don’t have to think twice about what bathroom to use. They need to go, they go. But can you imagine being in a situation where you dread going to the bathroom? It’s incredibly sad to me.”

According to Anderson, she hopes the bathrooms are used properly and for what they were intented for.

“Gender” is defined by Psychology Today as the relationship between one’s biological sex, and one’s internal sense of self, whether that be male, female or other.

Gender has traditionally been viewed with only two options: male or female; however, recently more terms are now being added to the gender spectrum, such as “genderqueer,” “genderfluid,” “transgender,” “non-binary” and many others. The addition of an all-gender bathroom provides all equal access to facilities and accommodates the needs of students who do not identify as cisgender. Cisgender refers to “people whose sex assignment at birth matches to their gender identity,” according to genderspectrum.org.

GENDERQUEER/GENDERFLUID

Grey Sherwin, Div. 671, is one such student: they identify as genderqueer. According to Sherwin, genderqueer, also known as nonbinary, falls within the trans spectrum, but it is not a specific gender; it is also not a mix of the two.

“To me, being nonbinary means to be out of the archetypes tagged on specific genders,” Sherwin said. “I was born female, but I do not feel as such. I do not feel like a male either, as I feel like those labels do not fit me.”

Sherwin came to learn that they were nonbinary when they learned to accept a lot of things [about other people].

“At one point in my life, I was admittedly homophobic. My middle school was very anti-gay. The people there would tease me for wanting to be a boy in our school play,” Sherwin said. “I did get that part, but my mother was disappointed in me and my peers resented me. They would call me ‘lesbian’ and a ‘he-she’ and other words I couldn’t comprehend at that age. In the 7th grade, I got beaten up and a bunch of girls from my school stuck gum in my hair, saying I didn’t need it, since I was what I was. I cut my hair and was too scared to grow it out again.”

Experiences such as those made Sherwin semi-homophobic during their first year at Lane; they were unable to accept anyone at school. However, that all changed when they met a girl freshman year who affected Sherwin’s opinion about the queer community.

“I asked her why she was drawing two boys kissing and if that was all right [for her to be drawing],” Sherwin said. “She responded, saying that ‘of course it was.’”

Afterwards, Sherwin gradually opened up to other people and became more accepting. Sherwin’s awareness about their own gender also changed upon meeting a trans individual about the same age as them.

“I did not even know what trans meant at the time, so I read into it and noticed how being called ‘female’ felt gross to me,” Sherwin said. “I tried being called by strictly male pronouns but that didn’t work either, so I discovered what being nonbinary meant. I told people to use they/them pronouns outside of my classes and it felt right. It became more official last year in Mr. Fine’s class, when I gave a whole speech about what being nonbinary meant. It was almost like being reborn, with the entire class regarding me the way I wanted them to.”

In addition to using they/them pronouns, Sherwin also uses zie/zir as an alternative; it would work in a sentence such as the following:  ‘Zie is speaking to me right now, but you can come back when I am done talking to zir.’

According to Sherwin, zie/zir pronouns are used for grammatical correctness when writing or speaking.

For Sherwin, identifying as genderqueer has had some impacts on their home life when it comes to their family and parents.

“[My home life] has been interesting. My grandparents, aunts and uncles have connected the dots [about my gender], but my parents haven’t been as accepting,” Sherwin said. “I’m terrified to approach my mother about it, as she has caught some of the aspects about my identity and it’s resulted very negatively. She makes it a point to call me a girl or to use she/her pronouns. My dad has been nicer about it. He calls me Grey, and uses that name when he talks to my teachers. He also doesn’t call me his daughter, he regards me as his child. However, he’s sure it’s a phase and that I’m just going to be this way for a little while because I don’t want the treatments to be male. He refers to it as a ‘lesbian thing.’”

Sherwin does not identify as a lesbian in any way, as one must identify as a woman to be a lesbian.

“I am attracted to both genders and currently am dating a male,” Sherwin said. “My previous relationship was with a female.”   

Sherwin prefers to wear their chest bound most of the time, but mainly due to it being their biggest femme quality; it has nothing to do with sexuality.

“If someone is nonbinary, it does not mean that they will be attracted to someone of a certain gender,” Sherwin said. “It is up to the preference of that individual.”

When it comes to dating, Sherwin does not consider themselves “a girlfriend”; they prefer to be called a “datemate.”

Throughout the transition to identifying as genderqueer, Sherwin has lost a few friends along the way, due to their friends not addressing Sherwin with the correct pronouns.

“I would not cut them off for not understanding or slipping up a few times, but I’d cut them off if they’d tease me or refuse to call me Grey (out of habit for my other name) or because they didn’t believe in people being genderqueer,” Sherwin said.

“It kind of hurts when I see people teasing others who identify as something that isn’t considered the norm,” Sherwin said. “I do admit it has, at times, become a trend to say you identify as something else, but people like me have existed before the trend. It’s a part of who I am and I feel someone who is insulting my gender is just as bad as someone insulting me for being half Japanese. I’m just a human.”

Elly Hernandez, Div. 661, identifies as genderfluid.

“Genderfluid, which is basically fluidity in gender, so my gender changes along the spectrum,” Hernandez said. “It doesn’t necessarily change every day but it does change from time to time, so there are times when I’m a boy, a girl, genderless or another nonbinary gender. Usually, I’m genderless.”

Hernandez describes coming to terms as genderfluid as “a bit nice but also a bit scary.”

“I didn’t really question my gender or anything like that because of how I was raised,” Hernandez said. “My family is very religious so I was raised to believe that being gay or transgender was bad. It wasn’t until high school, when I had gotten more exposure to people who were supportive of the LGBT+ community, that I began to understand it.”

At first, it was sexuality that Hernandez questioned, which was a scary experience for them.

“I was really convinced that what I was feeling was a sin and I felt really guilty,” Hernandez said. “Over the summer I kind of tried to accept it and convince myself that I could keep it a secret and just marry a boy like I was expected to, as I still like boys. Sophomore year, is when I started to question my gender.”

It started when Hernandez and one of their friends realized a sort of dissatisfaction with their own bodies.

“I started liking the idea of being mistaken for a boy,” Hernandez said. “The concept of looking androgynous was really appealing. As time went on I had a guilt-acceptance type of relationship with my sexuality; I was OK with it but still felt guilty at times. Being able to accept my sexuality helped me, to some extent, be able to accept my gender.”

Finding out about nonbinary genders made Hernandez learn about the term “genderfluid.”

“It really felt like it fit,” Hernandez said. “Being under a permanent gender of boy or girl didn’t feel right so it felt nice to have something that fit.”

When Hernandez came out to their friends, all of them were very accepting, something that Hernandez considers to be very lucky.

“I’m not a very social person, but when it comes up, they are usually very accepting,” Hernandez said. “I think there were a few people that I’ve had some problems with after I told them about my gender.”

Hernandez’s pronoun preference is “they” and other gender neutral terms when referring to themselves. However, they do not mind if one refers to them as “he” or “she.”

“I’m usually very laid back about pronouns when it comes to other people,” Hernandez said.

TRANSGENDER

Elliott Hobaugh, Div. 651, is transgender, specifically FTM or female-to-male transgender.

“FTM is someone who is biologically born female but who feels like a male on the inside,” Hobaugh said. “Basically, your body says female and your mind says male. You feel trapped in a body you aren’t meant to be in. My whole life, I felt like something was off in my life and with my identity. I did some soul searching and finally came to the conclusion that I was transgender.”

For Hobaugh, coming to terms with being transgender took a lot of research because he felt like a boy, but was not sure what transgender was in all its entirety.

“It started with me feeling really uncomfortable as a girl and not feeling like I was a girl and feeling like a boy,” Hobaugh said. “I started dressing more androgynous. I felt more comfortable and then, I started dressing in guys’ clothing. Finally, I came out as trans.”

Hobaugh describes the process of coming out as a process that never finishes for queer people.

“We always have someone new to come out to,” Hobaugh said. “It gets easier, but it never seems to end. When I first came out, most of my friends were very accepting and supportive. They switched to using male pronouns and the name Elliott. I mostly just came out to my closest friends and then anyone else I just added on Facebook. I just said this is me, accept it or don’t, I don’t care anymore at this point.”

As for his family life, Hobaugh’s parents weren’t accepting or supportive and they still struggle with it very much.

“It’s sad to say, but over the past six months, I’ve mentally prepared myself to lose anyone who doesn’t accept or support me, including my family,” Hobaugh said. “When I came out to my parents I wrote a letter about everything I was feeling. I told my sibling over the phone and they weren’t supportive either.”

Hobaugh suffered and struggled internally with his gender identity for a long time.

“In coming out, I got to shed a lot that hurt,” Hobaugh said. “But I took on a whole new hurt of losing people I love just for being my true self. Not everyone does this, but with coming out, I took on the role of educating others, which is really hard to do with ignorant teens. Being trans has made me a much stronger, fiercer person. If anyone asked me if I could choose to be straight and cisgendered, I wouldn’t want to be.”

Hobaugh’s sexuality hasn’t affected his gender identity, as he is pansexual (dating people regardless of gender identity of that person) and has been since before coming out as trans.

Zachary Evans, Div. 678, also identifies as a trans-male. At birth, Evans was assigned female, but as of now, he is transitioning to male.

“For the most part, I just met people like me,” Evans said about the experience in his transition. “I have a wonderful therapist and she introduced me to a lot of groups, and even my mentor. It helped a lot, and now I run the Gay-Straight Alliance and help kids like me.”

When Evans came out at trans, he gained many friends, due to the “confidence boost in living authentically.”

“It’s freeing, but it’s always going to be a struggle for other people. And somehow, they’ll always make it my struggle again. My mom was never exactly supportive, but I found out how extremely supportive my older brother was,” Evans said. “My dad is also very supportive, and so my family got even closer.”

Evans being trans has affected how people view him as a viable partner. He describes it as his “Achilles heel.”

“I’ve dated other trans people, but when it comes to cis people, it’s kind of a slippery slope,” Evans said. “They aren’t always happy about me being trans. However, I stopped seeing it as a flaw last year. I have more confidence when coming out to partners, especially girls, and it’s not bad.”

 When asked about the all-gender restroom, Evans said that it’s great, because to a degree, it was made for non-binary and trans kids.

“I like it because it gives kids a comfortable alternative to the gendered bathrooms, which can be scary,” Evans said. “I think Lane’s measures are a nice start. The culture of high school just makes it uncomfortable to be trans, which is why most people come out during college. Lane is not immune to [the culture of high school].

Evans describes the culture of high school as this need to just “be.”

“Even if you don’t know yourself, you guess and you hang onto that,” Evans said.

“It’s all hypersexual and hyperidealized. When people have questions, especially trying to find yourself and asking for the approval of others, the changes of identity don’t always go well.”