State Honoree

Leah Burian, 16, of Portland, Ore., a junior at Lincoln High School, played a leading role in a project to convert an existing bathroom at her school into a multi-stall, gender-neutral lavatory, the first to open in an Oregon school and one of only a handful in the nation. When her school’s Gender and Sexuality Alliance (GSA) announced plans to convert the restroom, Leah got involved early on by making presentations to physical education and health classes about gender diversity. “I was driven by the opportunity to educate people on the issue and create a more accepting and supportive school community,” Leah said.

After the school district approved the project, Leah educated parents, staff and the student body about the need for a gender-neutral bathroom by making speeches, writing a press release, and planning an all-school assembly. Converting the restroom was only part of the overall plan, Leah said. Providing a working model for other schools to use and creating a welcome environment for every student were also project goals. The project was controversial, Leah acknowledged, and her group did have to “deal with discrimination and negative reactions.” But in the end they prevailed, and last November the new bathroom opened. “Every time trans/GNC [gender nonconforming] students walk by this bathroom, they will be reminded that they are accepted and valued at Lincoln,” she said.