El Camino has been in talks of converting single-stall bathrooms to make them gender-neutral and available for students who identify as such.

During last week’s Planning and Budgeting Committee meeting, Chairman Rory Natividad said that the school would do so by March 2017.

Assembly Bill No. 1732 will require all single-stall bathrooms in public places or state and local government agencies to be labeled as gender-neutral, according to the California Legislative Information website.

El Camino is following the law and will be implementing the change to make the school more equal for students.

We believe the school is doing the right thing and this should definitely be changed for the equality of all students.

Being a school that provides this and any sort of positive equality will bring a better outlook for students who are gender-neutral and are looking to come to our campus.

According to the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF), 20 percent of college students fear for their safety because of how their sexual orientation is perceived or because of how they identify.

With the rise in need of gender-neutral bathrooms across the country, there needs to be a “safe zone” for those who do not simply identify as “male” or “female” to use the bathroom peacefully.

There may not be a need for “safe zones” on El Camino’s campus, where there were zero hate crimes based on gender or sexual orientation from 2013-2015, according to EC’s current Annual Crime Report.

But for the safety of all students at El Camino, being able to just use the bathroom without potentially being harassed for what, who or how they identify.

El Camino being so quick to change single-stall bathrooms to be gender-neutral is a step on the correct path to becoming not only a more appealing school for all races, genders and people; but also a step towards becoming a equal place for everyone.