Change.org removes 12-year-old girl's petition for single-sex bathrooms at her school

A 12-year-old girl's petition to get bathrooms in her school that are segregated by sex has reportedly been taken down by Change, a petition-hosting platform. The petition allegedly had nearly 13,000 signatures when it was taken down by the site. 

The petition was made by a Twitter user's daughter in May. The account on Twitter is called, "WomenAreSayingNO!" The user posted a link to the petition page.

The post said, "After being asked by many to make it an online petition, here is my daughter's petition for single sex toilets in her school. PLEASE SIGN AND SHARE!"



When one navigates to the change.org petition, the page only says, "This petition isn't available. Either the URL is incorrect, it violated our Community Guidelines, or the starter removed it."
 

An archived version of the petition read: "I am a 12yr old girl and my school, like many, has open plan mixed sexed toilets with only sinks to act as a divide. This makes many boys and girls uncomfortable, with many refusing to use them."

"I would like single sex toilets to be available so I, and many other children, can feel comfortable and safe when using more private spaces. I propose we have male only, female only and a mixed spaces to give people choice," the petition stated.

The account posted on Friday that the petition had been removed from change.org. The user tagged change.org and said, "Why are you taking my petition down that's on behalf of my 12yr old daughter?"

The user tweeted out what the email change.org sent them, which said, "We’re writing because we were notified that this petition may have been started by a user under 13 years old."

The user said she "had written to them at the start of the petition to explain that I was managing the account," but it was still taken down. The user also asked JK Rowling and Kellie-Jay Keen for help in addressing the issue.

The Community Guidelines, referred to on the removed petition page, state that "hate speech" based on "gender identity" will be removed because it "directly or indirectly attacks an entire class of people because of a characteristic they share."

The school that the user's daughter attends is in England. This comes after a law was passed in 2022 in the country that requires all new public buildings, and those that need major renovations, to have sex-segregated bathrooms. 

At the time, the Minister for Equalities, Kemi Badenoch, said, "It is vital that women feel safe and comfortable when using public facilities, and that their needs are respected."

“These changes will ensure that separate toilets for men and women are preserved at the same time as providing universal toilets for those that want them. This is a common sense approach," Badenoch added. 

Change.org, on their policies webpage, says they are an "open, safe, and empowering platform for all," and the organization says you can "speak out on any issue you want to change" and encourages open "disagreement."

Investors in the organization, based out of California, include Bill Gates and Sam Altman, according to CBinsigts.