Mother frustrated that child was shunned from bathroom

EDMONTON (CITY NEWS) – Brandy Conlin is angry after her son Sebastian, who identifies as trans was shunned from both the women’s and men’s changerooms at pool night, hosted by his college off campus. The centre in central Alberta didn’t have a gender-neutral bathroom, so Sebastian used the women’s.

“Some of the girls from his class, girls that he had considered his friends, added him to a group chat, simply to tell him they don’t feel comfortable having a trans person around in the changerooms,” she said.

While that was the response in rural Alberta, there is a different tone in downtown Edmonton. Three years ago MacEwan University installed gender-neutral bathrooms, a request made by the students.

“It’s not fair to the person, right, they’re just trying to live their own truth and be their own person,” said one student, another added, “That’s not cool at all, I think especially if he’s a male, identifying trans person, he should be allowed to use the bathroom he’s comfortable with.”

MacEwan University Associate Professor in Health and Community Studies Kristopher Wells says it could be a case of discrimination.

“And under our Human Rights Code where you cannot discriminate anyone from accessing a washroom, for example, or a public facility or service, on the grounds of gender-identity or gender-expression,” he said.

Conlin took to social media to share her thoughts, beyond expressing her anger, she also asked people to send Sebastian up-lifting messages.

“And encourage him, to show him there’s more love out there than hate,” she said. “It takes very little to be kind to someone and can really change their life.”

READ MORE: Canadian malls add gender-neutral bathrooms

Olds College said in a statement they promote “a community of respect, civility, diversity, opportunity, and inclusiveness. The College has policies, procedures and programs in place to uphold these values and support a positive and successful student experience.”