Used an 'all genders' bathroom today

It’s definitely humiliating
They are causing so much anxiety amongst the trans community too I would imagine who wouldn’t dream on walking in on women in ladies safe spaces …
It’s the wronguns who will exploit this …

When was it decided to rip out all the existing Gents and Ladies loos and replace them with these hare-brained ideas? A poster upthread mentioned the Watershed in Bristol. I lived in the area for many years, and used to go to the Watershed regularly. But I'm not at all surprised to hear that it's gone that way. It's a very poor deal for women, most men don't like it much either, so it's all done for the apparent benefit of some small cohort who, frankly, never seem to be satisfied with any provision made for them?

Any space that is private and enclosed in a public area is a place that will be exploited.
When I have spoken to RSPoA and researched archives, there was no data on where assaults took place in terms of types of toilet. So I started looking at evidence as the government haven’t produced any that I know of. Their consultation analyses for toilet designs does not go into it. The only reasoning in the government-supporting documents for enclosing toilets derives from this American designer quote: ‘A better solution, supported by many transactivists, and increasingly found in trendy nightclubs and restaurants, is to eliminate gender-segregated facilities entirely and treat the public restroom as one single open space with fully enclosed stalls.’

Obviously it’s a tricky one as you don’t want to publicise the negatives of enclosed spaces and somehow give people ideas. However, I will say that boys/men are exploiting the disabled toilets already - the version of enclosed self contained mixed sex toilets we have had for some time.

Examples in disabled toilets are many. There was a young girl who was taken into the disabled toilets of possibly the busiest station and raped and no one knew until she bravely later reported it. There was a boy who was seriously sexually assaulted in a disabled toilet in a shopping centre. And then there’s the possible prevention of deaths. There was a man found dead after a night of being in a supermarket disabled loo nearish me (no chance of my location being exposed as it’s not unusual). A woman was found dead after days in a portloo that had actually been taken away to another site.

Everyone is right to feel more vulnerable in these enclosed designs. The (last) government have taken the gaps out for privacy and dignity but have forgotten about safety and health.

Schools should be a place where no sexual assaults and rapes happen. But the statistics from 2015 show 1 child is raped every school day on average. The example in Parliament that was given was an enclosed store cupboard. So why are some schools creatIng more mixed sex enclosed private spaces since then? The anecdotes from schools shows sex (consensual or not) is happening in them. I think it’s down to schools becoming academised and being in control of designing their own facilities. And no one has any oversight on what’s going on. Because it certainly isn’t safe.

The new designs have acoustic properties on the doors to muffle sound. I would rather hear a cry for help than not hear a fart. The designs do not show any visibility gaps so you don’t know from outside the cubicle if someone needs help ie if someone is on the floor or how many people are in there. They have a system where someone can let themselves in from the outside the cubicle.

If Labour are aiming to half assaults on women, a practical way of doing it is preventing the assaults happening by good toilet design. And making them enclosed and private isn’t good design.

Sound like they are literally two small rooms, though......rather than a communal block/access corridor with individual cubicles off it?

Such as?

I went to a Sports event at a Uni recently as wanted to use the loo before leaving. They were all genders
As I went to go in DS 15 and his mates were going in, they looked horrified at me and DS asked what i was doing. I explained I wanted a wee and he said that they would wait outside until I had been. He also offered to go in first and check if "it was Ok"
So its not just women who don't like that set up

I can't stand the 'but your home has gender neutral toilets' like trotted out by one journalist on the Jeremy Vine show, or 'you use them on planes'.

Random strangers don't use your toilet or loiter about. The set up is not the same as a bathroom was various cubicles with a shared sink. If anyone leaves a mess that would dealt with immediately (and you can shout at whomever has done it).

I don't like using plane toilets but you go in, do your business and get out, one at a time. Whilst everyone sits and looks at you standing there like a plum if someone is already in. It's not the same as a communal mixed sex bathroom!

Yes, like FGM. It is a barbaric crime, unless a Western girl or woman is being transed.

I saw one in a primary school. There were cubicles and wash basins with dads using it. In the end I didn't pee even thought I really needed to. The dads looked at me, embarrassed.

I didn't send DC to that school partly because of this.

My thoughts are that they are abhorrent.

Mixed sex toilets stink. I get the argument that if you have a male partner/male DC your home toilet is mixed sex, but your home toilet doesn't get anything like the traffic of a public toilet and any urine splashes are properly cleaned as soon as they happen rather than being left to fester.

It doesn't seem that men routinely close cubicle doors in men only toilets. I recently suggested my husband had a 'safety wee' at a motorway service station when we stopped on a long journey, and he was reluctant as it would be embarrassing if he stood there and couldn't go - I said why didn't he use a cubicle rather than a urinal in that case, and he said there wasn't any difference in terms of privacy, it would 'look odd' to close the door.

I can't imagine using a public toilet without closing the cubicle door. Men's public toilets are an alien universe as far as I am concerned.

I even hate the ones enclosed with their own basin and hand dryer. They invariably stink. I don’t want to stand there in the smell and wash my hands, fix makeup etc. I want to exit the stinky cubicle and do all that in a women only space with sinks and mirrors etc.

I’m a lecturer and the majority of toilets at work are gender neutral. They absolutely reek, and are revolting. There are two female staff -only loos for the entire building, and they are always full of female students who hate the mixed toilets. One of my students had a man burst in on her while she was on the toilet - she hadn’t locked it properly, he was very apologetic, both really embarrassed - just awful.

ironically they are full on with menopause policies at the mo. 🤦🏻‍♀️

Actually we have one loo for the males in the family and one for the females partly because I hate the smell of men's bathrooms.

Every time I have used mixed sex loos they have been smelly and covered in wee. I don't give a shit about identity but people who stand to pee should not be sharing with people who sit to pee. Fundamentally wrong.

Yeah, years of me being a cleaner and rarely were the womens a state.
Mens, everyday a different horror.
Womens, I think twice in 15 years was there anything horrible found.
Plus all my years of using women only toilets, rarely found anything disgusting. Yet according to my sense of smell, every man only toilet is rank. I don't know how the men put up with the stench.

But sure the women are "just as bad" not.

I know about that argument but surely there must be more to it ?

We have a recently-opened local cafe which I visited last week. It has 2 "all gender" toilets.
Both were wheelchair accessible (as is the cafe), both had space to change a baby, both had sanitary products and nappies for customers to use, as well as relevant disposal bins. Both were clean and hygienic with as many "No touch" devices as possible: lights come on automatically, wave to flush, etc.
I was very impressed.

I used to work at a University that made a number of the toilets 'all gender'. They were revolting - piss everywhere. I used to purposely walk into a different building to seek out the female-only spaces.

How did you know that's my favourite Twitter argument? 😂

But we're going to have to get used to it, aren't we?

No. Complain or refuse to give your money to businesses that do this.

"Your toilet at home is gender neutral so why are you so bothered". [grins smugly at own originality and cleverness]

Absolutely no one is complaining about the single-use rooms somewhere like a cafe. Why do we have to say this over and over?

What always irritates me is when handmaidens try to find a middle way by saying "Let's just convert all public toilets to self-contained cubicles!"

Like it's easy and cost free for businesses and public spaces, especially small and medium size enterprises, to create more space in their establishment (planning, leasehold, landlord approval all needed could take years), do the internal construction and recon work, do the fit out, rebuild, replumbing etc etc etc...

Such an entitled and spoiled way to look at the world. Especially with the economic pressures on businesses and public spaces such as libraries.

Sometimes the simplest solution is the right one. KEEP TOILETS SINGLE SEX!!!