(Photo by Rob Wilson via Bigstock)
The Home Office’s Department for Leveling Up announced Aug. 13 that the U.K. government will implement measures to reverse the rise of gender-neutral toilets as part of wider efforts to protect single sex spaces.
Any changes will affect England only. The department has made no suggestion whether these measures will extend to Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland in the future.
In its statement the government noted all new non-domestic public and private buildings will be required to provide separate single-sex toilets for women and men and/or a self-contained, private toilet as a minimum.
According to the department’s statement, these changes come amid dignity and privacy concerns from women and elderly people who feel they are being unfairly disadvantaged as publicly accessible toilets are increasingly being converted into gender neutral facilities.
Concerns over the rise of neutral gender facilities has meant that public have been forced to share cubicle and hand-washing facilities, leading to increasing waiting in shared queues, decreased choice and a limitation on privacy and dignity for all, the statement read.
The government claims that these new regulations and guidance will mean women, who may need to use facilities more often because of pregnancy or sanitary needs, will now be guaranteed appropriate facilities either through a separate single-sex space or through a self-contained, private toilet.
PinkNewsUK reported that pro-LGBTQ activists have previously signaled the importance of gender-neutral toilets, including conservative MP Caroline Nokes, who said in 2022 that the “inclusive” facilities are something she stands up for “enormously.“
Following the policy’s announcement, Nokes told PinkNewsUK: “What matters most when it comes to toilets is design. I always point at Portcullis House in Parliament which has bathrooms on every floor, nobody refers to them as gender-neutral bathrooms — they are just bathrooms.”
“If you have lavatory facilities that are each self-contained units, with their own wash basin and hand drier, and wall-to-ceiling walls and doors, and men remember to put the seat down, there really is nothing to complaint about,” she continued. “What we all want is nice, clean, private loos and in new builds in particular that ought not to be impossible.”
Women and Equalities Minister Kemi Badenoch said:
“It is important that everybody has privacy and dignity when using public facilities. Yet the move towards ‘gender neutral’ toilets has removed this fundamental right for women and girls.
“These proposals will ensure every new building in England is required to provide separate male and female or unisex facilities, and publish guidance to explain the difference, protecting the dignity, privacy and safety of all.”
Badenoch has faced much criticism from the LGBTQ community over her transgender-hostile statements previously and her opposition to a conversion therapy ban that includes trans people.
PinkNewsUK also reported that in remarks leaked in 2021, but made in 2018, just a year after Badenoch became an MP, she reportedly described trans women as “men using women’s bathrooms” and asked: “We’ve got gay marriage and civil partnerships, so what are transsexuals looks for?”
The changes will be made through building regulations and guidance. The aim of the new requirements will ensure that:
Separate single-sex toilets facilities are provided for men and women; and/or self-contained, private toilets are provided where space allows to ensure privacy and safety; Mixed sex shared facilities are not an option, except when lack of space allows only a single toilet. Changing the rules for single sex and/or universal toilets to be required would have positive equality outcomes for those who may not currently feel safe while using toilet facilities.
According to a recent YouGov opinion tracker, as of Aug. 9, 47% of women in the U.K. oppose gender-neutral toilets, while a separate 47% of women support having gender-neutral toilets as well as separate toilets for men and women. The remaining six percent support gender-neutral toilets only, or do not know.
People aged 18-24 are more strongly in favor of including gender-neutral toilets (51%), while 34% oppose them.
Additional reporting from PinkNewsUK.
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