Abigail Garber First day back from winter break is not a favorite day for most people at Latin. This year, there was an added surprise to the return. As anyone who has used the 4th floor bathrooms has noticed, there is a whole stall door missing. Initially, I thought it was only in the girl’s bathroom. Upon further investigation, I found out that the boy’s bathroom is also facing the same predicament. Neither of the 4th floor bathrooms have a stall door on the handicap stall. Replacing the door is a strip of yellow caution tape. This new change was a shock for many of us. The lack of another stall bathrooms has caused many lines for both the girls and boys bathrooms. The first change in the bathrooms that I noticed was that the stalls had changed colors. The usual blueberry yogurt blue stalls in the girl’s bathroom are now a sandy brown. The same has occurred in the boy’s bathroom; their pomegranate red stalls have changed to sandy brown as well. They next thing that I noticed was that the one inch spaces between the door and the stall walls is gone. There is no longer the fear of making awkward eye contact with another person who is entering the bathroom while you are doing your business. This change is not just to prevent awkward eye contact. As it turns out, the seemingly simple bathroom remodel has a deeper purpose. According to Mr. Coberly, “It’s part of the work being done to build more private partitions for the stalls in an effort to move toward gender-neutral bathrooms.” Now, students are able to have greater privacy and hopefully feel more comfortable in an environment that sometimes can cause discomfort. Discussion of gender-neutral bathrooms wasn’t just all talk; work towards their implementation isn’t finished. The seemingly small changes in the fourth floor bathrooms is actually proof of something much bigger: Latin’s efforts towards making the school a safer place are stronger than ever.]]>