Is this legal?

[Pinkpanther473]

Long time lurker
I went to a training course yesterday and the toilets were gender neutral (if right word)
It looked like the male and female signs had just been taken off.
It was two sets of two cubicles and a shared basin area. Cubicles were fairly high walls but with a gap at the top and bottom and the shared space was quite tiny.

I went in one and there was a man there who also looked disoriented and I jumped which was embarrassing. He left saying he was looking for a cleaning cupboard (random) and I used the toilet looking at one sign telling me to check my breasts for breast cancer signs and another sign next to me encouraging me to check my testicles with helpful pictures of hands holding walnuts.

Anyway I’m going to the course again today and I’m not keen on the toilets being unisex. I have some past experiences that might be making me feel more than usually nervous, also maybe I’m not used to this.

I thought that toilets could still be separate although you had to accept people to use it who identify as feminine or masculine?

Isn’t it still the law to have separate spaces to use the toilet?

I thought unisex cubicles had to be floor to ceiling without gaps above or below the door - but could be wrong.

This is correct. The toilets the OP describes are in breach of the legislation that states separate rooms (which could be fully enclosed cubicles) must be provided for men and women:

www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1992/3004/regulation/20/made

I'm ignoring the idiot and will focus on the question at hand.

OP, as I understand it, unisex toilets have to be fully enclosed (ie not a cubicle with a gap) and have a basin inside the cubicle. But please check, don't take that as gospel!

I would ask the organisers if a risk and equality impact assessment have been carried out (they won't, I can almost guarantee it).

Due respect to other people's views, but the old 'do you have sex segregated toilets at home' argument is a bit daft. Your home is private. Plus, you're unlikely to have a large bathroom with multiple cubicles and urinals. It's one person at a time, usually.

oh, x post with GCA.

I think you have a point about the gaps, particularly at the top, but I think that may be a legal requirement to prevent people from being locked up in cubicles.

The toilets I use at work are only partially separated and there's effectively only a thin partition between the male and female cubicles.
It kind of feels mixed.
It can feel slightly uncomfortable but not much more than being next to other women in cubicle rows.

I suppose it can feel less safe in a place with mostly strangers.

It's illegal lweji

Koomoo I’m currently in a Muslim country. Only single sex toilets here and only single sex toilets in the UK airport I flew from. I’ve travelled to Spain several times in the past few years, never seen a gender neutral there either.
The only time I come across them is in my favourite pub that only has room for one loo and the local arts centre - all of them are single enclosed cubicles and have usually got male pee everywhere (especially towards the end of the night).

Pinkpanther473

First of all, unisex toilets are perfectly legal but the toilets as described by you are not unisex toilets. Unisex toilets are self-contained rooms with floor to ceiling walls and a lockable door where both the toilet and the washbasin are behind said lockable door for use by just one person at a time and opening directly onto a circulation space like a corridor.

As you've correctly surmised, what you have there are previously single-sex toilets that have been declared mixed-sex. So you could ask to see their equality impact assessment. Women from certain cultural or religious backgrounds cannot use sanitary facilities that are mixed-sex, so they are being discriminated against here.

And because race and religion are protected characteristics under the Equality Act just like sex, anyone who provides services to the public should do Equality Impact Assessments and companies who are not public sector or offering services to the public should have equality policies in place that ensure no one with a protected characteristic is discriminated against.

So you could ask where the toilets are for use by these women, too.

What kind of company is it?

Let the organisers know, so many think that no-one minds because nobody complains. The guy looking for the cleaning cupboard was probably embarrassed - he probably thought he'd accidentally gone in the ladies, so quickly made an excuse. Most men don't want this either, it's mad.

"Have you not been on holiday abroad? Unisex loos are everywhere."

We go on holiday a couple of times a year, driving through France, Germany, Italy and Austria and haven't come across any unisex loos, they are all clearly marked "Male"/"Female".
This includes hotels, restaurants, shopping centres, museums, art galleries, motorway services, even the little motorway stops with a few benches and tables, there are clearly designated loos for both sexes.

The man in the OP sounds as confused as the OP. He probably thought he'd walked into the wrong toilet and came up with a random excuse.
Same happened to DH at a conference in Poland. He said he'd thought he'd gone into the men's toilets, then heard women come in and panicked he'd gone in the wrong one, so had to try and sneak out.
When he got out he realised it was a unisex one so he'd panicked for nothing.

I've lived and worked on 3 continents and travelled to all bar Antarctica and toilets are single sex except if there is only 1 in which case it's unisex - which is generally just a small cafe or some such.

I think you have a point about the gaps, particularly at the top, but I think that may be a legal requirement to prevent people from being locked up in cubicles.

No, the legal requirement is for separate rooms, so fully-enclosed cubicles, no gaps.

I’m out.

Thank you that's very considerate.

First of all, unisex toilets are perfectly legal but the toilets as described by you are not unisex toilets. Unisex toilets are self-contained rooms with floor to ceiling walls and a lockable door where both the toilet and the washbasin are behind said lockable door for use by just one person at a time and opening directly onto a circulation space like a corridor.

The washbasin does not need to be in the cubicle, it can be in a communal area. The only time a washbasin must be in an enclosed cubicle is when it’s used for more extensive washing, i.e. not just hands, elbows, etc. Paragraph 3 here is the relevant bit:

www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1992/3004/regulation/21/made

Do you have a urinal in your bathroom at home, that stinks of piss from males you have never met?
THOUGHT NOT

(I can't stand the smell of urinals but I prefer men to use them otherwise they get piss on the seats hence - separate facilities thanks!)

I think, For public loos to be unisex they have to adhere to a certain design such as floor to ceiling doors with it's own enclosed wash basin.

@KooMoo not sure how you select your colleagues but I'm not allowed to and I wouldn't trust some of them to look at my dog through a window, let alone share toilet facilities with them.

I wouldn't trust some of them to look at my dog through a window..

Big lol.

For people like KooMoo who don't understand what the problem with unisex toilets might be, here are some links to a couple of threads which might help you to understand.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights/3581606-Resource-thread-with-concrete-examples-of-men-being-grim-in-unisex-toilets

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights/3203454-What-do-you-use-the-womens-toilets-for

The toilets at my work are unisex. But they are individual single toilet rooms, which have their own sink and full height doors.

That is completely different to unisex toilets with cubicles.