The British Toilet Association has said it is consulting with companies and councils on the possibility of “revolutionising” the industry with gender-neutral toilets, with separate public toilets for men and women banned in a post-coronavirus world.
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In an interview with the Sunday Times, the BTA’s Managing Director, Raymond Martin also discussed foot-operated flushes and self-closing seats, and said sensor activated taps and soap dispensers could be common place very soon. Urinals may also become a thing of the past amid new hygiene concerns.
His most ambitious idea though was for gender-neutral toilets, which would involve men and women queuing up at one door and exiting on the other side.
Individual cubicles would be placed in between, with people expected to wash their hands on the other side.
Mr Martin says:
Toilets have a massive commercial effect on an area, which is why they are one of the first things you plan in any new shopping centre.
It’s going to cost a lot of money, but if we want to get back outdoors, to socialise, to go to parks and beaches, then the Government has to step in.
We want to bring back life to this country, and toilets are a vital part of that.
I’m sure every woman that has ever been near a gents pub toilet cannot wait for this change to come into effect. I mean what could possibly go wrong by allowing drunk men and women to use the same toilets in pubs, right?
The rest of the changes Mr Martin discussed sound interesting and have some logic behind them, but I’m not really sure how gender-neutral toilets add to the whole plan to make society more hygienic. Maybe they think men will actually wash their hands after peeing if they’re made to use the same facilities as women?
I’m sure these blokes are looking forward it either way:
In fact I just figured out a perfect solution to make everyone happy. How about we keep men’s toilet and women’s toilets and add gender-neutral toilets as well? As opposed to JUST gender-neutral. Or does that just make things even more complicated? I don’t even know anymore.
For the couple who are keeping their toddler’s gender a secret so that the child can decide for themselves later, click HERE.
