Parents’ anger as top private school makes toilets gender neutral
A HEADMASTER at a leading private school has apologised to parents after angering them by introducing ‘gender-neutral’ toilets for pupils.
Adam Pettitt oversaw the conversion of lavatory facilities at Highgate School in north London over the summer holidays for pupils who are ‘gender fluid or don’t wish to identify themselves with a gender’.
He claimed young people were ‘pleasingly accepting of those whose lives are made miserable by the inability of institutions to adapt to their gender-fluidity or their gender-neutrality’.
But the change was condemned by parents and pupils at the £20,370-a-year school, neither of whom were informed about it beforehand.
in May, the school – whose ex-pupils include former BBC presenter Barry norman and inventor Sir Clive Sinclair – was also criticised over plans to introduce a gender- neutral school uniform, which allowed boys to wear skirts.
the gender-neutral toilets, which have closed cubicles for boys and girls, have been installed at Highgate’s senior school, which caters for 11 to 18year-old pupils.
the 452-year- old school has followed others across the country with its introduction of gender-neutral facilities.
now Mr Pettitt, 51, a former teacher at eton College, has apologised to parents and said staff were ‘taking stock and working hard’ to ensure the school’s toilet facilities would ‘meet the needs of all pupils’.
in a letter, he stressed that most of the school’s toilets were still designated as single sex.
Mr Pettitt wrote: ‘ thanks to thoughtfully made representations on the lower and middle school councils and also a number of similarly thoughtful letters from parents, i’m aware that this change has left a number of pupils, particularly in Head Mr Pettitt: ‘I’m sorry’ Years 7 and 8, feeling less comfortable and happy at school. i’m sorry that we have not got this right.’
He said he was sorry ‘that parents have had no opportunity to learn about these changes before they were introduced and thus to query them’.
Yesterday one parent said: ‘the headmaster has been fixated with this issue and with this letter he has lost what little credibility he had left. He should be focusing on the running of the school and not on pandering to issues such as gender fluidity. Many parents are wondering whether he should reconsider his role. i’m angry that parents were not consulted on this.’