LONDON — U.K. developers could be required to provide separate male and female bathrooms under draft rules to be unveiled on Monday, amid claims by a U.K. minister that a move towards “gender neutral” facilities is removing the “fundamental right” to “privacy and dignity” for women and girls.
Kemi Badenoch, who is Britain’s women and equalities minister, as well as business and trade secretary, said Sunday that the proposed new regulations would apply to new non-residential and public buildings.
Under the proposals, which will be published in draft form on Monday, separate single-sex toilet facilities would need to be provided for men and women “and/or” a self-contained private toilet installed.
“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 said in a statement issued Sunday by the U.K. government.
Trans-rights group Stonewall has argued that gender-neutral toilets in workplaces can allow “non-binary employees to have access to facilities without fear of discrimination.”
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s government is mulling a raft of controversial policies around transgender rights. Earlier this year Badenoch wrote to the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) requesting guidance on the “benefits or otherwise” of amending the definition of sex in the existing Equality Act.
The government has also promised to issue transgender guidance for schools, but it has reportedly been delayed amid concerns some of the suggested elements would be unlawful.
