A petition titled: No to Unisex Bathrooms for Schools in South Africa, started by Rudayba Rasool on change.org, has received the support of over 126 000 people. On the website, Rasool writes: “The Department of Education is proposing mixed-gender toilets. How do we protect our children who need to be safe at school?
“As a responsible parent, I cannot condone or approve of this.”
The Capetonian is not the only parent upset about a leaked draft of the guidelines that would inform a policy tailored to protect LGBTQIA+ learners in schools. Among other things, the document proposes unisex toilets in schools, and that educators should move away from using gender-specific pronouns.
According to the Department of Basic Education, the document was released to the media before members of the public had been invited
