The “Safe Space” sign disservice to girls and teachers

What the Sheboygan Falls High School “Safe Space” signs say about other teachers and girls access to private spaces

Feb 12, 2023

Messaging that girls spaces are not their own

Sheboygan Falls schools are fortunate to have administrators, teachers, and students committed to fostering a safe and welcoming school environment for everyone. Some high school classrooms, however, including the one where the Gender and Sexuality Alliance (GSA) meets, display the True Colors Fund “Safe Space” sign, which carries a specific meaning. According to the True Colors Fund, a “safe space” allows youth to choose locker rooms and showers “in which they feel comfortable”.1

Other classrooms display equivalent2 “Safe Zone” signs, which according to the Wisconsin DPI, carry a similar political message. The GSA section of the DPI Safe Schools for LGBT Students web page includes the GLSEN Safe Space Kit.3 According to the kit, “One of the most effective ways for an educator to create a safe space is to be a supportive ally to LGBT students.” It defines an ally as “any person who supports and stands up for the rights of LGBT people.”4 GLSEN defines those rights to include concealing information from parents, being called by student-chosen names and pronouns, and using opposite-sex locker rooms.5

Disservice to other teachers

The signs’ messaging that some classrooms are “safe” aligns with a GSA video where a Sheboygan Falls teacher says, “my room as well as many other staff members’ rooms are a safe space for each and every one of you.”6

Our teachers all work hard to ensure that every classroom is safe. What does labeling only select classrooms as “safe” imply about the others?