No washrooms in Vancouver schools are about to have signs changed from Boys and Girls to unfamiliar gender-neutral terms any time soon.

At most, says a school board official, recommendations may be crafted later this fall to change signs on single-stall washrooms used by handicapped students, so that those can also be used for transgender students or students with a fluid gender identity.

The Vancouver school board voted Monday night to adopt the pronouns xe, xem and xyr — in place of he/she, him/her and hers/his — to better accommodate transgender students in Vancouver schools.

Patti Bacchus, chairwoman of the Vancouver school board, explained that what the board adopted wasn’t a new transgender policy. It was an update of an existing policy that had been in place since 2004 that follows similar transgender policies already adopted by school boards in Toronto and Edmonton.

“I didn’t expect it at all to be controversial,” Bacchus said.

“We have had this bizarre opposition of people that there is some revolutionary thing going to happen. We thought it was more of a housekeeping policy to make sure the policy was clear and consistent and addressed what we saw as gaps in the implementation parts of the original policy.

“We have been doing this for years. This is not new.”

What the revised policy does, she said, is give more direction to students and staff about how to support a student who is transgender or unsure about their gender identity.

“What I hope it does is that it gives a much clearer message to everyone,” she said. “We know that these kids are at much higher risk of bullying and even violence than the rest of the population.

“Families who are fearful of what their child may face can have some confidence that the board is very clear about our commitment to including and supporting and welcoming very single student and giving them what they need to thrive.”

Bacchus said the organized public opposition convinced her of the importance of clarifying the policy.

“I had no idea that there was this opposition to keeping kids safe,” she said.

In the schools, accommodating transgender students will be dealt with on a case-by-case basis, Bacchus said. What may happen, she said, is that a transgender student may sit down with the family, principal and maybe the school board’s diversity consultant to develop an individual plan to deal with the student’s situation — just as schools already do with students who have unique needs.

Lisa Pedrini, manager of social responsibility and diversity at the Vancouver school board, said she didn’t expect any changes to take place until later this fall.

Pedrini is also chairwoman of the Pride committee, the board’s advisory committee on gender, queer and sexual orientation issues. She said boys and girls washroom signs are not going to be changed.

What is in the works is a gender-neutral sign for single-stall, handicapped washrooms. She imagines it will be a simple, low-cost fix to accommodate some transgender and gender fluid students.

It’s not unusual, she said, for students who are in transition to do so without calling much attention to themselves.

“Often, it’s done quite quietly so only the students in that student’s particular classes would be aware that there was a change,” she said.

The policy revision added the unusual pronouns xe, xem and xyr to the possible list of pronouns. But the policy also spells out that transgender students “will be addressed by the names and pronouns they prefer to use.”

Pedrini said that the most commonly used pronoun is the plural “they.” It is used instead of the singular he/she pronoun when referring to a transgender individual. Using “they” in that situation may be a little awkward, she said, but it’s all about getting used to changes in language to accommodate people.

“Back in the early ‘90s I was working on gender equity issues. At that time, we were trying to change language from fireman to firefighter, policeman to police officer, fisherman to fisher,” she said.

“Now those words seem quite normal and natural. Twenty years ago when we had to make an effort to use those words. Language is transitional and will change over time.”

kevingriffin@vancouversun.com