Americans have celebrated the Olympic gold-medal wins by snowboarder Chloe Kim, cross-country skier Jessie Diggins, the women’s national hockey team and other athletes in PyeongChang, South Korea.

Viewers have delighted in the competition and relished the display of athleticism — male and female — at its best.

How utterly pathetic, then, to see girls at Hawaii’s largest public school changing clothes in empty classrooms, bathrooms and even outside. Lacking a locker room since the school opened more than 50 years ago, the girls must stash sports bags in classrooms.

The fact that bathrooms are sometimes locked, forcing girls to run nearly a mile to Burger King to use the facilities, brings to mind the scene in the hit (and fact-based) movie “Hidden Figures,” where a black female mathematician at NASA faced a similar trek. And that was in 1961, when John Glenn aimed to orbit the globe.

SFCA

As a Civil Beat report made clear, gender inequity is not confined to James Campbell High School. More than two dozen schools across the state lack adequate facilities and the Department of Education has a lengthy backlog of projects.

If she were still alive, what would Patsy Mink make of all this? Never shy, and possessing an unparalleled energy and spirit — and a powerful voice that belied her tiny stature — the late congresswoman would no doubt be raising holy hell.

End Sex Discrimination Now

Mink, of course, was instrumental in authoring the Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. It protects against sex discrimination in education programs — including athletics — that get federal money.

After Mink died in 2002, the law was renamed the Patsy T. Mink Equal Opportunity in Education Act. How fitting, especially given that as a teenager Mink was not allowed to play full court basketball at Maui High School because the school believed, as Mink once recalled, “they said it was too strenuous for us.”

The blemish on her legacy may yet have a positive outcome, however, on several fronts.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Hawaii is insisting that the DOE provide female athletes access to the same amenities as male athletes. The group wants to see a plan, one that includes construction dates, and if the DOE doesn’t respond by March 12, the ACLU will go to court.

The blemish on Patsy Mink’s legacy may yet have a positive outcome.

“Simply put, it is unfair and illegal that the female athletes of Hawaii have been denied full, equal access to the DOE’s athletic programs for this long,” the ACLU stated in a letter to the DOE.

Rep. Matt LoPresti, whose district includes the Ewa area on Oahu where Campbell High is located, is pushing for more than $13 million at the state Legislature to help the school come up with a master plan and a girls’ locker room, outdoor toilets and a renovated track and field.

There is also House Bill 2139, which would prohibit discrimination on the basis of sex (including gender identity or expression, or sexual orientation) in any state educational program or activity that relies on state financial assistance. Introduced by the Women’s Legislative Caucus, it also includes the support of several male representatives.

HB 2139, which passed the House Finance Committee Thursday and is soon to head to the Senate for its consideration, seeks to establish a state corollary to the Mink act. The bill recognizes that Mink’s “celebrated legacy has not been fully realized” and risks further erosion under a Trump administration intent on rolling back progress in gender equity.

Let’s correct this injustice in our schools and honor a woman who broke so many barriers, including being the first Asian American woman and woman of color to serve on the U.S. Congress.

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