March 6, 2018

Central Kitsap High School; a place of many different minority groups, Including those of the LGBTQ+ Community, more specifically those in the community who don’t identify as their birth sex.  At CK that’s about .5% of the student population.

There are many different types of gender identities, including Transgender and Non-binary. Transgender is when a person whose sense of personal identity and gender does not correspond with their birth sex, and Non-binary is a catch-all category for gender identities that are not exclusively masculine or feminine‍—‌identities which are outside the gender binary (male and female).

When asked about how difficult is it not identifying with one’s birth sex, Senior, Trent replied “Correcting others is always really difficult and awkward,  and there is always someone who says negative things when you do correct them about it”.

When talking about the new school and how it could be more accessible to those within the Trans/ Non-binary community; Junior, Molly answered “A gender neutral bathroom would be absolutely amazing, because then you wouldn’t have to deal with the office staff constantly questioning why you’re using the staff bathroom and the ones the ‘Regular students’ use. Something that would also be nice is if they could write our preferred name on passes so that way when you get one, it doesn’t automatically out you to the entire rest of the class.”

Central Kitsap High has two clubs relating to LGBTQ+ people and Equality between males and females. Those clubs are called Gender Sexuality Awareness (GSA) and Gender Equality Today (GET). GSA meets Wednesdays at 2:45 in Mrs. Kassler’s room, Portable 9. GET meets Fridays at 2:45 in Mr. Kassler’s room, 302. Supportive people are welcome, so don’t be afraid to stop on by.