To not want unisex toilets at work!

[namechangedbutneedadvice]

Just received an email to say that the toilets at work at now unisex with immediate effect. There are no urinals. I don't want to have to deal with the whole seat up/seat down palavah at work (it was bad enough when I lived with my exH). I also think I'll be more embarrassed in front of male colleagues when I e.g. need to do a number 2 and when a bad stomach occasionally accompanies my period! Not sure why but I will...

I get the feminist agenda on this and my concerns aren't really to do with a penis being in there. I will just feel frustrated and uncomfortable going to the toilet now. Any ideas how I could challenge this?

We have individuals toilets rather than stalls in a larger room. Ours are male and female and I wish they were unisex as the wait for a female toilet is sometimes long. If we had stalls in a larger room I would not want unisex.

Feminists are demanding unisex toilets? Sounds unlikely.

Do your work toilets meet HSE guidelines?

www.hse.gov.uk/contact/faqs/toilets.htm

I would not count normal cubicles with a gap at the top and bottom as a room, although don't know if HSE agree with this.

We have gender-neutral toilets in a new building at work. Floor to ceiling walls and doors with a basin and bin in each one so they're completely contained and pretty soundproofed. I got fed up with constantly trying to find one with the seat down and not covered in piss and now go over to another building to use the toilet!

As long as the individual toilets have walls and doors all the way from the ground to the ceiling, and have sanitary bins within their confines, your workplace is within the legislation.

If they've simply declared the ordinary gappy stalled bathrooms to suddenly be unisex without making alterations then they might fall foul of the legislation.

I used to work somewhere with a small number of employees and only one toilet. It wasn't pleasant using it after a couple of the men. Definitely not one of the things I miss not working there anymore

Why are men incapable of putting the seat/lid down and not pissing all over the place? Men's loos always stink! I'd hate to have to use unisex every day at work and I refuse to use the term gender neutral, what a load of bollox.

YANBU. I worked at a place that had unisex toilets - always grim. At my new place, the guy behind me is always saying how disgusting the men's gets, and they're cleaned twice a day!
Can you lodge an objection?

Generally I would agree. I moved into a new building a few years ago and whilst the toilets downstairs were single-sex (one room containing many cubicals, then sinks and dryers in the open) there were two fully-enclosed ones upstairs that were multi-sex. That was fine, because everyone was considerate and kept them clean, and it meant that, generally, there'd always be one free.

About 6 months later they became single-sex, for some reason. Whilst one friend will quite happily use the gents' if the ladies' is in use I find the idea awkward so won't. Which is annoying as there's often someone in the ladies' when I want to go.

We switched to unisex as it's mostly women anyway, not been an issue

We have them, it’s fine. They’re clean, have sanitary bins. There’s lots of individual ones, not cubicles. So it doesn’t feel weird. However, the only problem I have with them is that I now not only have men/boys leaving the seat up at home, it also happens at work. 🙄

My place of work made both the toilets and shower rooms unisex which was really unpopular. A few months down the line and they've changed back again so I'm presuming that people complained (I just trekked to female toilets in another part of the building).

Complain to HR. Mixed sex toilets discriminate against people who cant use them, for example men during Ramadan, or women who wear hijab.

What about a voluntary men's, women's division? So by custom rather than by fact? It could be that if several of you get together you can encourage people to 'prefer' different loos.

No I should've been clearer... the movement that's challenging the trans agenda. It's feminist in part at least... but also which I totally get but aren't affected by personally: females who have experienced sexual violence or abuse not being able to have the 'sanctuary' of female only spaces.

My husband doesn't even like using the men's toilets at work as they are so disgusting. An excellent way to ensure women don't use facilities they need.

Hate unisex toilets!

IDK why you think your reasons for challenging mixed sex toilets are any different from the feminist reasons for challenging mixed sex toilets.

Women are not comfortable in mixed sex toilets.
Women are not asking for mixed sex toilets.

I think the main problem here for most people is men using facilities like shit. So let’s tell the men in our lives it’s unacceptable, demand they use shared toilets in work etc cleanly (and call them out when they don’t), and accept nothing but 100% clean use of toilets at home by our sons. The last is their dads responsibility too.

The amount of boys who visit ours on a play date and don’t even have basic toilet manners is incredible. Just curious WTF their parents are actually teaching them about how to use a toilet.

Oh and I’m 100% fine with mixed facilities. Just to add a different opinion to the almost universal dislike of them above.

Ugh I want to lodge an objection... just not sure what to say. The female toilets are pretty filthy as it is... I've complained about that before. Really grim sometimes... honestly where is some people's self-respect? But my limited experience of men's loos has not unfavourable at best.

The cubicles aren't shut off floor to ceiling, just 5 normal stalls with sanitary bins.

We have some unisex ones at work, separate women/men's in public areas though. Never been a problem as they are separate rooms, with toilet, sink, drier in each. Never had any problems with seats either, maybe I just work with considerate men?

Feminists opposed to biological males in women’s spaces are not pushing for unisex facilities. Exactly the opposite. Sex segregation for certain provisions, like changing and sleeping spaces, protects women.

Happyspud

I'll be called a NAMALT, but until I lived at university, I genuinely thought 'leaving the seat up' meant the lid, not the seat, because I literally NEVER encountered it in my parents house (dad and brother, me, two sisters and mum). Nor were there any annoying man stinks or stains in there. Same for my husband.

Not that it's a bad thing - I've got a healthy zero tolerance of it, and cheerily and unashamedly enforce the standards at work, because to me, EVERYONE using the toilets cleanly is absolutely the norm.

If you go onto the feminism boards here youll get a lot of help in how to word a complaint. I think it is along the lines of sex is a protected characteristic unddr the equality act and completely separate cubicles are necessary for them to comply with the law.

Ours are unisex and it’s totally fine. It will probably be less stressful than you’re imagining!