In a statement, school board President Matthew Gelazela claimed the windows were intended to make areas outside of toilet stalls more visible so officials are “better able to monitor for prohibited activities such as vaping, drug use, bullying, or absenteeism.”
Gelazela’s statement did not address other privacy concerns for students who would be exposed through the window, or why the windows were only being installed in gender-inclusive restrooms. Holahan told the local Evening Sun newspaper that nullified the “prohibited activities” argument.
"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?" said Holahan. "That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard."
The board president said the school consulted on the installation with the Independence Law Center, a subsidiary of the right-wing Pennsylvania Family Institute. The group opposes transgender equality and has attacked the availability of gender reassignment surgery.
“This is a nonstarter and it must change. Privacy going to the bathroom is *not* controversial or divisive. We all go and we all deserve the experience with dignity and privacy,” wrote Democratic Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania on social media.
The ACLU also weighed in on the issue.
Jenny Krier holds signs during a 2017 Chicago rally against the Trump administration's reversal of federal protections of bathroom rights, warning it risked exposing young people to hate-fueled violence.
“We can't believe we have to say this, but students should NEVER have people watching them in the bathrooms. This is an unconscionable decision that violates students’ right to privacy and will make schools less safe,” the civil liberties group posted. “This is a grotesque and hateful effort to humiliate transgender youth in front of their peers.”
The York Dispatch published an editorial criticizing the school board for engaging in a “new level of weird” by installing the window.
“These adults want to make it easier for other people to watch your children while they’re in the bathroom. It’s absolutely mind-boggling,” said the local paper’s editorial board.
Local residents and professionals have previously raised alarms about Gelazela. A coalition of residents sent a letter to the school board in May to protest anti-LGBTQ+ policies. That came after a directive from Gelazela calling for censorship of books and other material related to sexual orientation.
The latest controversy follows a sustained national campaign by the right attacking transgender rights and equality. The most prominent rhetoric has come from Republican presidential nominee Trump, who has repeatedly voiced the absurd lie that teachers are secretly forcing children into gender reassignment surgeries.
In 2017, Trump reversed Obama-era federal protections that allowed transgender students to use the restroom that matched their gender identity. Trump has also vowed to reverse the Biden administration’s protections for trans people on “day one” if he is elected in November.
This story has been updated to reflect the school district reversing course on the bathroom window.
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