LAMPMAN, SK: The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms announces that lawyers funded by the Justice Centre have sent a legal letter to the South East Cornerstone Public School Division (Board) on behalf of Lampman mother Tawney Johnson, who is calling on the Board to implement policies that protect the privacy, dignity, and safety of female students in school washrooms. Lampman is a community of approximately 800 residents located about 40 kilometres east of Estevan in southeastern Saskatchewan.
The legal letter concerns allegations that a 17-year-old biological male transgender student has been permitted to use the girls’ multi-stall washroom at Lampman School, despite numerous female students expressing concerns that the current arrangement has left girls feeling unsafe, uncomfortable, and reluctant to use school washroom facilities.
Multiple female students felt strongly enough about the situation to submit written impact statements describing how the current arrangement has affected them. One 13-year-old girl said, “I feel scared that [*name omitted*] is in there and could try looking over the stalls. This has now caused me trauma and [I] have lost trust in my school.”
Meanwhile, a 16-year-old girl said, “All students deserve to feel secure when using bathrooms and other shared spaces, without fear of being watched or threatened.”
The demand letter argues that subsection 12(2) of Saskatchewan’s Human Rights Code permits schools to maintain sex-segregated washrooms on grounds of public decency and that school officials have the legal authority to restrict female washrooms to biological girls. The letter further argues that failing to do so infringes female students’ rights to security of the person, privacy, and equality under sections 7, 8, and 15 of the Charter.
Constitutional lawyer Allison Pejovic said, “Schools are expected to provide safe environments for their students. Girls should not have to endure a full school day fearful that a biological male student will be in the washroom with them. It is an invasion of girls’ privacy and is causing immense mental harm.”
Ms. Pejovic continued, “Female students’ rights to safe spaces such as girls’ washrooms do not disappear simply because a biological male transgender student wants to use them too.”
In addition to the legal letter, Ms. Johnson has provided a personal letter to the Saskatchewan Premier and other political figures explaining why she believes immediate action is needed to protect female students’ privacy and safety.
“I am aware that most parents that have voiced their disapproval of the current situation involving the privacy and safety of their female children have all received a blanket response from the school division that there is nothing that can be done,” Ms. Johnson explained.
The legal letter urges the Board to immediately implement policies, protected under the Saskatchewan Human Rights Code on the basis of public decency, that reserve female washrooms for girls and protect female students’ privacy, dignity, safety, and equality rights.
The Justice Centre is Canada’s leading civil liberties organization fighting for Charter rights and freedoms in the courts of law and in the court of public opinion. Founded in 2010, the Justice Centre funds lawyers across Canada, relies entirely on voluntary donations to carry out its mission, and issues official tax receipts to donors.
