Gender inclusion policies appear to be getting too extreme even for parents in one of the most progressive areas of the country.
Parents and students at a Palo Alto, CA, elementary school have started a petition to get gender-separated bathrooms installed at Herbert Hoover Elementary School in addition to the gender-neutral restrooms that are currently planned as part of the campus’ renovation.
On Monday’s show, Megyn was joined by Ayaan Hirsi Ali, editor of Restoration Bulletin on Substack, to discuss the outcry and what it says about radical gender ideology in the United States today.
Bathroom Backlash
Earlier this month, a group called “Palo Alto Community For Hoover Elementary” started a Change.org petition titled “For Inclusion, Safety, and Health: Offer Boys, Girls and All Gender Restrooms at Hoover” to advocate “for children at Hoover Elementary School in Palo Alto to have BOTH Gender Separated Boys and Girls AND Gender Neutral restrooms for true equity and inclusion.”
The petition states that it is “defying our societal norms” to only offer gender-neutral bathrooms and “creates a non-inclusive, unsafe and unhygienic environment that is insensitive to the religious and cultural needs of a historically diverse Hoover community.” It cites “security and safety,” “privacy,” “comfort,” “cultural and religious expression,” “hygiene,” and even “gender expression” as “what is at stake” as a result of the new setup.
The petition apparently arose once the Hoover community learned that the school, which is currently being renovated, would reopen in spring 2025 without traditional boys and girls bathrooms. Instead, there will be multi-stall gender-neutral bathrooms that share a communal sink area.
Students Speak Out
At the Palo Alto Board of Education meeting last Tuesday, some two dozen parents and students voiced their concerns. One third grader shared how she has been bullied by boys and would not feel comfortable in a communal bathroom space:
“I’m a 3rd grader at Herbert Hoover Elementary school, and I do not like that we have to share a bathroom with boys. At Hoover, a boy has punched me in the stomach and spit on me. I really do not feel comfortable in an all gender restroom.
When I come to the bathroom, I do not like that there is pee on the seats and toilet paper on the ground. It feels very uncomfortable. I was at Hoover in previous years on the seats and no toilet paper on the ground. It was cleaner and more sanitary.
My friends and I do not like that there are boys in the bathroom. Some of my friends and I try not to go to the bathroom when they have to. There should be girls, boys, and all gender restrooms.”
The school board seemed unmoved by her plea. “I can ask that the staff will make sure that the bathrooms are cleaned in the new construction, and I’m sure staff will make sure that there are procedures in place to make sure the bathrooms are clean,” a member responded.
During the construction, students have been attending classes at a nearby school that only has multi-stall gender-neutral bathrooms, and a fifth grade student spoke to how that has impacted her and her classmates:
“I’m a fifth grader at Herbert Hoover Elementary School. I don’t like that we only have gender neutral restrooms. At old Hoover, we had separate restrooms and they were clean and comfortable. Everyone was okay with the system there. At Greendell, many of the students feel uncomfortable going. I’ve heard from some students that they try to avoid going when they need to, which isn’t good for you. You shouldn’t have to feel uncomfortable every time you need to use the restroom.”
To that point, a mother shared that her child has taken to holding her bladder all day because she doesn’t want to use the “dirty” bathrooms with urine on the seats. Another mom said the “children’s perspective is completely missing” from the discussion and “their rights are not being upheld.”
Wake Up Call?
While Megyn said it is unfair for the students to have to go through this, she found a silver lining. “With respect to the girls, I’m glad this is happening because these progressive moms in California are starting to get it,” she said.
In her view, these types of bathroom situations are a gateway. “It’s on the lighter end of the scale with genital mutilation of our young children on the opposite end, but that is not to diminish what is happening,” Megyn said. “In many ways, it is a gateway into accepting the whole line of radical gender ideology because once you get inured to it – ‘it’s fine to share the bathroom spaces with the boys,’ ‘gender is not a thing’ – you are on the pathway that these progressive leftists want you to be on.”
Hirsi Ali said people are starting to wake up, but there is still much work to be done. “The progressive moms are starting to get it because of the pain of the children, but the progressive ideology is still there,” she said. “The immigration justice is the same as the gender justice and the climate justice… it sounds very appealing, but once you start to translate it into policy… [it’s] hurting a lot of people or causing a lot of pain.”
You can check out Megyn’s full interview with Hirsi Ali by tuning in to episode 890 on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you like to listen. And don’t forget that you can catch The Megyn Kelly Show live on SiriusXM’s Triumph (channel 111) weekdays from 12pm to 2pm ET.