Peeping in the Bathroom Window: South Western’s Attacks on LGBT Students

ByExpose PAEGP
PAEGP-endorsed board members ordered this window to be built in a district middle school bathroom in order to spy on students from the hallway. Credit: York Dispatch. Fair Use Disclaimer: Used under fair use to document discriminatory facilities decisions and their impact on students.

In August 2024, South Western School District’s school board spent  $8,700 on bathroom windows. Yet these weren’t normal bathroom windows to the outside. They placed these windows into the walls of only the gender-inclusive restrooms at Emory H. Markle Middle School. Board President Matt Gelazela authorized this action. Gelazela is a conservative and registered Libertarian who works with and receives PAEGP support.

At a public board meeting, School Board Director Matt Smith mentioned this move’s stated reasoning was to prevent litigation against South Western School District.  President Gelazela claimed in a statement that these windows looking in from the hallway would help curb vaping, bullying, drug use, or truancy.  But the result was blatant surveillance of trans and non‑binary students.  This was not a safety measure. It was targeted monitoring, a covert invitation to staff or students to peer in the bathroom. This school board was creating an environment ripe for isolation, harassment, and intimidation.

Kristina Moon of the Education Law Center blasted the move as:

“…a horrifying violation of children’s privacy and cruel discrimination targeted against trans and nonbinary kids.”

Parent Jennifer Holahan, who first brought the issue to light on social media, added:

“It just raised a ton of concerns … a deterrent to keep them from using [the bathrooms].” 

This was discriminatory, creepy, and gross.  Remember: the district installed these windows only in gender-inclusive bathrooms, not single-gendered ones. This act singled out trans and nonbinary students for surveillance. They targeted students based on their identity, not their actions. 

The board actively sought policy advice from the Independence Law Center or ILC, a group the board contracted with rather than relying on the counsel of its official solicitor.  The ILC is a right-wing, extremist and Christianist law firm.  It is an affiliate of the Family Research Council, a recognized anti-LGBT hate group that advocated for the imprisonment or execution of LGBT individuals abroad, and which paid white supremacist and ex-KKK member David Duke for access to his mailing list.  These actions reflect the kind of anti-LGBT, anti-inclusive policies the ILC promotes to its clients.  Yet the ILC’s director, Randal Wenger, was forced to acknowledge that the South Western board policy was a step too far.  It distanced itself from the policy, denying it had advised installing the windows to the board.  In a statement, Wenger stated his belief that privacy for students began at the entrance to the bathroom itself, not only within a stall.

The public outcry from this decision was fierce and nationwide. AP News and national outlets mentioned the controversy as well as local sources. Superintendent Jay Burkhart affirmed in a statement that all students deserve privacy.  After pressure from parent and advocacy groups, the district seemed to reverse course in October 2024 and temporarily boarded up the windows. Yet after additional ILC guidance, they decided to spend more district dollars converting these gender-inclusive bathrooms into gender-neutral spaces with wall-to-wall stalls for “additional student privacy” while also un-boarding the peeping windows and making them permanent viewpoints into the common areas of restrooms.

The threat for trans and nonbinary students in South Western remained, and board members that push the PAEGP agenda are persistent. While public outrage complicated this route for them, they found others. Board members Matt Gelazela and Kirby Beard continue to promote  and support anti-LGBTQ policies. Their attacks range from restrictions on pronoun usage to banning sports participation.  These board members actively and knowingly make South Western School District a more dangerous and less welcoming place for students they judge unworthy of respect.

The Bigger Picture:

PAEGP-backed school board members are using similar tactics across Pennsylvania:

  • Bathroom and sports restrictions targeting LGBTQ+ students
  • Policies banning pronouns and censoring books
  • Power grabs using low-turnout local races

PAEGP candidates coordinate their efforts to stigmatize and harass students who want to live as themselves. They want to target children who simply want to be welcome and accepted in school. And they will gaslight you in order to pretend their goals are anything different.

It’s gross, and it needs to stop.

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Also Gross: