Toilet Consultation on Banning Shared Gender-Neutral Loo

author: FutureCar Staff    

The government has launched a toilet consultation on Sunday regarding plans to address gender-neutral toilets in England. Women and equalities minister Kemi Badenoch announced that the proposals aim to ensure that every new building in England is required to provide separate male and female or unisex facilities.

The Department for Levelling Up, Housing, and Communities explained that the rules are being changed due to concerns about the increasing conversion of public toilets into gender-neutral facilities. This has resulted in shared queues, decreased choice, and limited privacy and dignity for all individuals. Women and elderly people have expressed feeling vulnerable and unfairly disadvantaged.

According to a draft guidance, building regulations will be amended to require new or newly refurbished non-residential buildings to provide either separate men's and women's toilets or fully enclosed universal toilets, or both if there is sufficient space. The department clarified that mixed-sex shared facilities are not an option, except when limited space only allows for a single toilet.

In an article for The Telegraph, Minister Badenoch distinguished between unisex toilets, which resemble bathrooms in family homes and are fully enclosed and lockable, and gender-neutral toilets, where men and women share the same space and facilities. She highlighted instances where organizations have replaced men's and women's toilets with gender-neutral facilities due to attempts to redefine biological sex.

Minister Badenoch referenced reports of schoolgirls skipping school or developing infections because of their refusal to use gender-neutral facilities in schools. She emphasized the importance of exclusive access to public toilet facilities for women and men, with cubicles for women and the option of urinals for men. Transgender individuals should also have privacy, and clear signage should indicate the facilities provided.

However, the requirement for separate facilities will not apply to schools, prisons, or en-suite facilities in individual rooms for residential purposes. The consultation document explains that schools and custodial facilities require extra supervision, and existing regulations already mandate single-sex toilets in schools.

The consultation on requiring single-sex toilets followed an earlier consultation that received over 17,500 responses. Minister Badenoch expressed concerns about gender-neutral facilities placing women at a significant disadvantage, as men can use both cubicles and urinals while women are limited to cubicles only. She emphasized the need for safe spaces considering the specific biological, health, and sanitary needs of women.

Sex Matters, a campaign group advocating for single-sex spaces, commented on X (formerly known as Twitter), stating that female-only privacy when washing, changing, and using the toilet is essential for women and girls' inclusion in public life.

FutureCar Staff