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Writer's pictureanonymous woman

I went to an LGBTI conference about 7-10 years ago. The venue had men's and women's toilet facilities, but the usual signage had been covered with paper signs that read things like: 'this facility contains 6 urinals and 3 stalls with toilets and shared hand-washing basins' and 'this facility contains 6 stalls with toilets and shared hand-washing basins'.


The organisers celebrated how this was a wonderful example of how all public toilets should be, making toilets safe places for trans people. During the plenary session, I challenged this, asking why it was OK to make such changes for a tiny percentage of the population at the cost of 50% of the community. I explained that given the incidence of sexual assault, women need to know that they are safe to take down their trousers or pull up their skirts when going to the toilet.


The trans men on the panel understood this and recommended that single toilets with their own basin (like disability access ones) would be better for everyone.


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