I think that all bathrooms should be gender neutral and single occupant, like the bathrooms we have in our homes. Bigger establishments should just have more bathrooms, rather than large rooms with multiple toilets. Gender-neutral toilet in the "Design Terminal" compound in Bat-Yam, Israel.
Unisex public toilets (also referred to as gender-inclusive, gender-neutral, mixed-sex or all-gender, or without any prefix at all) are public toilets that are not separated by sex or gender. Unisex public toilets take different forms: they may be single occupancy facilities where only one single room or enclosure is. You perceive the controversy because gender-neutral bathrooms challenge bathroom policy and social norms: who gets access, how privacy's protected, and who feels safe.
Like a town gate re-hung for everyone, some welcome easier passage, others fear misuse. Evidence doesn't show increased assaults, but opponents cite privacy risks. Gender neutral restrooms can really bring a sense of security, comfort, and respect to LGBTQ+ students.
While the gender neutral restroom seems to have many pros, there are cons. Some people worry that gender neutral restrooms may cause some people to take advantage of them to harass other kids. Women and equalities minister Kemi Badenoch promised the move will end "the rise of so-called 'gender-neutral' mixed sex toilet spaces, which deny privacy and dignity to both men and women".
The constant stress of navigating public spaces as a trans person with a filling bladder is incredibly - literally - painful. At the park the day of the bathroom incident in August 2024, the author was wearing a hat, glasses and a fleece jacket. Refuge Restrooms is a web application that seeks to provide safe restroom access for transgender, intersex, and gender nonconforming individuals.
Users can search for restrooms by proximity to a search location, add new restroom listings, as well as comment and rate existing listings. The students did their own survey on whether they want gender-neutral toilets, and guess what? Not surprisingly, the majority wanted separate toilets in their part of the school. And, like their parents, their wishes have also been ignored.
What baffles me is the age of kids this has been decided for. Gender-neutral bathrooms sound inclusive but often fail transgender people. The problem is deeper, tied to culture, codes, and belonging.
Supporters of gender-neutral bathrooms point to examples of a gender-neutral bathroom's highest and best uses - a father who needs to accompany his toddler daughter, a transgender teen, a female caretaker who needs to assist a disabled or elderly man or a woman who opts not to wait in the long lines that queue for a women.