Gender neutral lavatories.

While many women are uncomfortable with unisex loos absolutely no consideration is given to those women whose cultural or religious beliefs prohibit them from sharing facilities with unrelated males. For them the urinary leash returns!

I would never use the disabled toilet unless I had a disability. Those facilities were fought for through the efforts of those with disabilities.

I don’t like the thought of having to share facilities. Loos are often a long way from seating areas, so already potentially risky for women and girls, but at least we know that lurking men are likely to be up to no good. If men can be in there legitimately though, how are we to feel safe?

I think a dad with small children is rather different. A bit awkward yes, but that situation is more likely to arise during the day with lots of people around, and if he goes into the cubicle with them most women would probably make allowances. It’s a very different prospect from that of random blokes in pub facilities at night, when people are often the worse for drink anyway.

I often wondered why unisex cubicles weren’t so from the beginning. Why the need for urinals for men when they could use a normal closed toilet like they do at home? Some men apparently are uncomfortable using urinals too. Obviously now we’ve got used to the ‘Ladies’ and will feel rather uneasy using anything else.

The V&A Members Room has mixed loos, but no urinals. Fine.

Gay venues may have male/female toilets, but frequently, those categories are ignored with no issue.

I would never use a unisex toilet. I'd rather keep my legs crossed or find a nearby tree or bush.

I think trees and bushes are probably unisex. At least, I've never seen a gender specific one yet.

I have never had a problem with gender neutral toilets that have separate cubicles and wash basins in the cubicles. However I would feel very very uncomfortable walking past men standing at urinals peeing!!

I read that at the theatre both ex male /female toilets are now gender neutral and the urinal ones are signposted so people can choose. Fine in theory but in practice it just means men can go into the non urinal ones now and use the cubicles whereas women can choose the non urinal and presumably queue even longer for the loo! Or they can wander past a load of men peeing and undoing/doing up flies to get to probably the only 1 or 2 cubicles available (most men's loos have very few cubicles for obvious reasons.) Whilst queuing for the few cubicles they will by necessity be standing relatively near the peeing men, and then repeating the exercise when they come out to wash their hands, unless by some lucky chance there are wash basins in the few cubicles!!

In other words this perfectly OK change in principle needs some serious money spent by
organisations to convert the loo spaces, taking into account all the connotations and needs of the users!! Its a lot more than change a sign!!

A lot of smaller places are now making all toilets unisex cubicles with basins, which I think very sensible. I seem to find it more the case than not.
I think that the time factor is probably neutral, as there is no need for gender specific loos.

There is a wonderful old coaching inn near us, that does the most wonderful roast dinners every day, and is an old fashioned gathering place for farmers and the kind of peoole who, when in town on business' want a proper dinner at mid-day. The ladies there has a huge room with 3 chaise longues, and tables with tissues boxes. I should miss that I have to say, but I don't see many ladies gathering there to moan about their husbands and the cost of domestic help these days!

I'm not too bothered about gender-specific ones, although self-id has blurred the issues with them, but I'm very keen to avoid unisex ones, particularly in situations where the facilities are situated a way from the seating areas (eg upstairs or along a corridor).

There is a huge difference, and I can't help thinking that the blurring of the meaning between 'gender-neutral' and 'unisex' is making these discussions more difficult, and that this is deliberate.

Words matter.

All public cubicles should also have a washbasin contained in it. More money needs to be spent in this 21st century to provide far more and far better toilet facilities for all humans.

Probably also a small more communal area where people (male or female or anything else) can sort out make-up, comb hair, etc. etc.

Surely, in most places we live, all our loos are unisex!!!

I also think that more public toilets should have attendants around.

I do have a radar key, and have to use disabled toilets (actually, proper name is toilets for those with disabilities), as I often need to have a basin and tap near to hand (to aid my ostomy). I feel bad about having to go into one of those as people with wheelchairs are unable to use anywhere else. So, when I come across anywhere where all cubicles have a basin I am delighted.

Really do not understand people worrying about unisex facilities - except just the usual unwillingness to change habits of a lifetime.

Really do not understand people worrying about unisex facilities - except just the usual unwillingness to change habits of a lifetime.

For me it's not using the same cubicles that's the issue - it's going to a private space on licenced premises, often somewhere away from other people, and finding a strange man or men lurking in there.

Many years ago, a friend of mine was sexually assaulted in a women's loo in a city centre pub. Luckily someone had seen a man enter before she was raped, and raised the alarm. The barman and some friends rushed in and the attacker was caught. If he had gone in there 'legitimately', the alarm would not have been raised, and things could have been even worse for my friend.

Obviously that sort of thing is relatively rare, but that is not a reason for opting into measures that is likely to make it less so. What would the be the benefits of sharing, and would they outweigh the possible risk?

GagaJo

Gay venues may have male/female toilets, but frequently, those categories are ignored with no issue.

I think that may be because women feel that they are less in danger of being sexually assaulted by gay men.

Gay venues are frequented by many straight people though.

I am well aware of that!

Ilovecheese

I am well aware of that!

So it isn't just gay men in the ladies loos. It's straight men too.

That occasionally happened in the gay pubs I spent all of the nineties in, lots of the women hated it.

Galaxy

That occasionally happened in the gay pubs I spent all of the nineties in, lots of the women hated it.

I don't think that women's feelings are supposed to matter though, as long as the men are o.k.

I'm a woman, as were my friends in those situations. We didn't mind. I appreciate some did. TBH, I would have been more worried about the length of the queue, than who was in it.

Nobody complains about the hospital toilets (shared use) or the loos in countries where 'Ladies' and 'Gents' are unheard of. In fact, only on Gransnet is there a constantly resuscitated, ongoing debate about 'problem' toilets. It's just sad.

I’ve been to a couple of places with separate cubicles, you just queue all together which seems strange, but it does solve the problem.

It’s going to take time and cost to be available everywhere.

No not just on GN, in most places where womens rights are discussed, it's a bit sad that you have missed it.

A place I go to, usually to attend or to sing in concerts, has been retro- fitted with lades, gents and disabled loos. Time is short as everyone wants to use them during the interval. They are badly designed and as women queue in a corridor, each time the door to the men’s is opened, they are exposed to view as the urinals are just inside the door. We often use the single disabled cubicle having first checked that it is not otherwise needed. Not ideal. None of the facilities has room for a parent and child either.

GagaJo

I'm a woman, as were my friends in those situations. We didn't mind. I appreciate some did. TBH, I would have been more worried about the length of the queue, than who was in it.

What is your point?

You and some other women didn't mind sharing loos with men.
That doesn't negate Galaxy's statement that lots of women hated it.

I've never heard of any women saying they hate single-sex loos.