Sex Matters urging responses to proposed new toilet regulations

[FarEast]

I've done the survey, talking about how my place of work has a published policy which allows people to use whichever toilet they feel "comfortable" in, and how this has an impact on my sense of safety (and cleanliness, frankly).

Sex Matters has the links & an outline of some suggested responses.

The Equality Impact Assessment focuses on the protected characteristic of "gender reassignment" and gives a very shallow bland account of the EIA for "sex."

Brava, Maya Forstater & her team!

https://sex-matters.org/take-action/respond-to-the-toilets-consultation/?mc_cid=fe7b296b16&mc_eid=311b3b5ba7

Thanks for this - it's just what need. It's been on my mind but have been procrastinating.

I just want to double check - can anyone take part, even if you don't have a role within an organisation?

It says you can respond if you provide or use toilets in public buildings and workplaces in England.

Which is most of us.

I'll read through properly and do the survey later, but if they are doing a consultation about changing the regulations then pushing for a regulation that says for true equality of provision, any public building should be dedicating at least twice the floorspace to women's loos compared to mens loos because physiologically and practically and entirely independent of anyone's gender or absence of gender, women do take longer in the loo and I am totally sick of having to queue for 20 minutes when there's no queue at all to use the mens because the building has equal space provided for men and women which always means that men are over-provided-for and women are under-served. This is at least as important as the issue of whether loos are split by sex or by gender and I hope the survey results get a lot of responses making this point.

Bump, just done this, fairly straight forward if you follow Sex Matters guidance linked above.

Done. I hope loads of us respond to this.

Link to the actual consultation itself:

https://consult.levellingup.gov.uk/energy-performance-of-buildings/toilet-provision-in-buildings-other-than-dwellings/

Friday bump.

Done

Saturday bump.

And really for all women to respond, as apparently the Equality Impact Assessment was done in consultation with TRA organisations and no consultation with relevant women’s groups.

You can see that from the detail of the response on the “gender reassignment” protected characteristic, but the dismissive and generalised paragraphs on the “sex” PC.

I'm surprised more of us haven't responded to this thread. It's exactly the kind of practical work that is needed to unpick the nonsense of self-ID that has crawled it's way in to public life over the last decade.

Done! Thanks for the reminder.

Yes, this is pretty much what Helen Joyce said in her talk at the Woman’s Place UK conference in February this year.

That post-Forstater ( and now Sibyl Ruth as well) we have to just keeping hacking away at the every day stuff. Writing letters, checking on our DC’s school work, completing surveys …

Ok thanks will do this later

Done.

Thanks for the link to sex-matters. It really helped me formulate my response. Just to reiterate that you don't need to answer all the questions in the consultation.

I live in Scotland, but visit England, and tourist attractions etc where I use the toilet so welcome legislation to ensure single sex toilet provision is maintained - unlike the gender-woo we're dealing with here. I also welcome universal toilets in addition to single-sex facilities. Done properly, they'd be great for families.

Winchester Science Centre, last time I visited, had a great example of what can be done. Single sex loos, disabled toilets and universal/family toilets all opening into a public space.

The consultation closes on 8th October so we definitely need to share the word.

Bump

I also emailed to explain the climate of fear that exists in expressing any objection to the steady erosion of women’s and girls’ rights. Having expressed a preference for separate women’s toilets (how dare we want so much), I’ve asked that my name and email address is redacted from any FOI request.

Yes I mentioned in my supporting evidence that my place of work does not follow the Equalities Act, as they have substituted Gender for Sex in their toilets policy, but that I did not feel I was safe to question this.

I'll fill it in today. The Sex Matters suggestions will be very helpful.

done, thanks for the link

All done!

Bump

Just giving this a bump for the weekend. The consultation closes on Sunday.

Done! I discussed the importance of maintaining single sex facilities, as well as the fact that women are under-served by an equal floor space split when it comes to toilets.