‘A disaster waiting to happen’: Parents are left outraged after finding out gender-neutral toilets are set to be introduced at their children’s school
- Fortitude Valley State Secondary College opened for the first time on January 28
- The Brisbane state school was designed to be the first in QLD with unisex toilets
- But The Department of Education’s plan was scrapped following public backlash
- Outraged constituents emails to the Education Minister have now been revealed
- The idea was slammed as ‘ridiculous’ and a ‘disaster waiting to happen’
Parents have been left outraged at plans to introduce gender-neutral toilets at a school.
Fortitude Valley State Secondary College in Brisbane was set to become the first school in Queensland without specifically designed boys’ and girls’ separate bathrooms when it opened last month, but the plan was scrapped following public backlash.
The Department of Education’s decision was unveiled in December, causing outrage among constituents who were unaware of the move.
A right-to-information request by politicians in Queensland has uncovered emails between the minister’s staff and concerned voters.
Fortitude Valley State Secondary College (pictured) was set to become the first Queensland school designed with unisex toilets before the plans were scrapped
Education Minister Grace Grace (pictured) copped severe backlash over The Department of Education’s decision to implement gender-neutral toilets at a new Brisbane high school
Outraged constituents bombarded Education Minister Grace Grace with complaints, slamming the unisex toilets as ‘ridiculous’ and a ‘disaster waiting to happen’.
‘How long will it take for students to invent their version of the Mile High Club?’ a female voter wrote, the Courier-Mail reported.
‘I hope that you are installing condom vending machines so that students can practice safe sex in the lockable transgender toilets.’
Another told Ms Grace to get a ‘reality check’ and demanded that the plans be abandoned.
‘It is time to get real and focus on the falling standards of our education and stop this social engineering,’ they wrote.
One constituent wrote to Housing Minister Mick de Brenni, stating they were shocked to read the proposal in the Courier-Mail.
They urged him to ‘eliminate’ from his staff those that were responsible for ‘implementing a dangerous course of action’.
A female constituent voiced concerns to Transport Minister Mark Bailey about misbehaviour, violence, sexual harassment and bullying around the toilets.
She also cited that girls could face embarrassment when forced to deal with monthly issues in a communal space.
Both Ministers forwarded the concerns to Ms Grace’s office for a response.
The emails also reveal Ms Grace contacted the Premier’s team about the story the day before it was released.
She defended the unisex toilets as similar to those in a public parks or like shared bathrooms in households.
But Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk told media on Sunday that it was the first time she had heard of the plans, while raising concerns that boys and girls should have their own toilet facilities.
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk (pictured) overturned the decision following backlash
In December, The Department of Education confirmed that all toilets at the $80 million vertical high school would be be unisex, with the exception of two male and female toilets in change room facilities.
Ms Palaszczuk overruled the original decision in January, and gender-specific toilets were installed just weeks before the school opened.
Fortitude Valley State Secondary College is the first inner-city state school to be built in Brisbane in over half a century.
The school welcomed its foundation Year 7 students on January 28.
The new school has also pushed back class times to avoid traffic chaos, with students urged to walk or cycle to school to ease congestion in the inner-city.
The $80million vertical high school (pictured) welcomed its first students last month