Should Multi-user Unisex Public Restrooms be available?

[All4Christ]

Personally, irregardless of the transgender debate, I do not want to walk into a room where men are using the urinals in the open. Once when I was overseas, there was a unisex bathroom, and I had to avert my eyes to not see the men currently using the urinal. I ended up waiting outside until they left. If unisex bathrooms became common, which FTR is not my preference, then I hope they would ever put the urinals in the stalls or separate off a section for the urinals.

 

[Armoured]

Personally, irregardless of the transgender debate, I do not want to walk into a room where men are using the urinals in the open. Once when I was overseas, there was a unisex bathroom, and I had to avert my eyes to not see the men currently using the urinal. I ended up waiting outside until they left. If unisex bathrooms became common, which FTR is not my preference, then I hope they would ever put the urinals in the stalls or separate off a section for the urinals.

I've never seen a unisex bathroom with open urinals.

 

[All4Christ]

I've never seen a unisex bathroom with open urinals.

The one I used overseas did. It was very awkward.

 

[Armoured]

The one I used overseas did. It was very awkward.

OK.

It is just peeing, after all. Why would you feel particularly awkward?

 

[All4Christ]

OK.

It is just peeing, after all. Why would you feel particularly awkward?

I was brought up to avoid seeing anything like that, women or men. Locker rooms are different - women only, preferably. We don't expose certain areas of our body. Perhaps not all would feel awkward about it, but I think many would, especially if they have young children. Consider me extreme if you want, but I know I'm not alone.

 

[Armoured]

I was brought up to avoid seeing anything like that, women or men. Locker rooms are different - women only, preferably. Perhaps not all would feel awkward about it, but I think many would, especially if they have young children.

Many would, but I'd suggest such feelings are a purely cultural construct. I dunno. I'm an ex nurse, an ex soldier, a parent, and also an ex intensive care patient. There's not much I haven't either done in front of others or had done in front of me. There comes a point where modesty gives way to practicality, IMPE, but MPE may be overly weighted.

 

[All4Christ]

Many would, but I'd suggest such feelings are a purely cultural construct. I dunno. I'm an ex nurse, an ex soldier, a parent, and also an ex intensive care patient. There's not much I haven't either done in front of others or had done in front of me. There comes a point where modesty gives way to practicality, IMPE, but MPE may be overly weighted.

We can agree to disagree. However, I believe we shouldn't make that many people feel very uncomfortable. If unisex bathrooms became the standard, it wouldn't be unreasonable to keep the urinals blocked off imho.

 

[Armoured]

We can agree to disagree. However, I believe we shouldn't make that many people feel very uncomfortable. If unisex bathrooms became the standard, it wouldn't be unreasonable to keep the urinals blocked off imho.

I don't thi nk unisex bathrooms should have urinals as such.

That said, I find it a little curious that you feel uncomfortable seeing men at a urinal, rather than expecting, you know, the men at the urinal to feel uncomfortable, if you take my meaning

 

[Aaron Rich]

This is a different take on a question that was asked in a thread that has been closed.

Should multi-user unisex public restrooms be available? This means a restroom that is large enough to be used by several people at once regardless of their sex. This is not referring to a single-user unisex restroom. It means that you could be using a stall and the person peeing in the next stall could be of the opposite sex.

Unfortunately the poll limits question length. Question 4, "No, separate male/female restrooms; transgenders should use the restroom of their physical sex," would mean the sex indicated on their birth certificate for transgendered individuals.

If you make specific claims, such as saying that multi-user unisex public restrooms will lead to an increase in assaults, you must offer evidence to support you claim. I don't want this thread to turn into a debate over unsubstantiated opinions.

Please remain polite. Respect what others might say. This is an issue upon which people can and do disagree. No personal attacks.

I just returned from my first visit to Israel last week. It was eye opening in many ways. One significant eye opening realization is that many (not all) of their public restrooms are a set of stalls for use by anyone. It didn't matter on the neighborhood or the quality as we found this everywhere. I think the only time I found them separate was when we had to pay to use the public restroom or when the restroom was located in a tourist trap type setting. In those cases, they were separate.

This is a society that is basically controlled by the orthodox and ultra-orthodox Jewish men. These are very conservative men worried about touching women and becoming unclean. They control marriage, they control immigration - they control a lot! So, it's hard for me to believe that they wouldn't use their Knesset power to override the existence of these unisex bathrooms if they saw them as a problem.

I saw women and men going in to these restrooms and using them and then leaving. There was no fear in the women's eyes worried that they would be assaulted by the man in the next stall. Some of these bathrooms were in areas I considered pretty seedy with dirty and broken bathrooms. These people needed to pee, so they did and then moved on with their lives.

As an American, I was incredibly uncomfortable with it. It's weird to me because it's not an every day occurrence for me. Beyond that, there was no issue. I used the restroom and then moved on with my life.

So, two weeks ago I would have said they need to be separate and stay separate. Now that I have personally seen the concept in action in a community that has people from every walk of life from the very secular to the very conservative ultra-orthodox people all living alongside each other, I see that it works. For that reason, I say why not?!

 

[~Anastasia~]

Personally, irregardless of the transgender debate, I do not want to walk into a room where men are using the urinals in the open. Once when I was overseas, there was a unisex bathroom, and I had to avert my eyes to not see the men currently using the urinal. I ended up waiting outside until they left. If unisex bathrooms became common, which FTR is not my preference, then I hope they would ever put the urinals in the stalls or separate off a section for the urinals.

I hadn't even thought of that.

That would make me uncomfortable also. I'm not interested in having to be where men are exposed in such a way.

Many would, but I'd suggest such feelings are a purely cultural construct. I dunno. I'm an ex nurse, an ex soldier, a parent, and also an ex intensive care patient. There's not much I haven't either done in front of others or had done in front of me. There comes a point where modesty gives way to practicality, IMPE, but MPE may be overly weighted.

There IS a matter of practicality that you mention. I've been a parent, a caregiver, and been through medical situations where all my modesty was pretty much tossed out the window.

But those are situations of necessity.

It's not necessary that a stranger in a restroom see me in the way doctors, technicians, and medical students have done.

And while I could care less about being near when my own husband is urinating, there is no reason for me to be exposed to strangers doing so.

To a degree it is cultural. I suppose if I grew up as a naked tribesperson with everyone toileting beside the path while traveling, I might not understand someone else's modesty about it. But I was raised in a society where private things are kept private, and strangers of opposite sexes don't see one another unclothed in public. And there are certain benefits that go with those sensibilities, which I'm unwilling to sacrifice.

 

[Archivist]

I don't thi nk unisex bathrooms should have urinals as such.

That said, I find it a little curious that you feel uncomfortable seeing men at a urinal, rather than expecting, you know, the men at the urinal to feel uncomfortable, if you take my meaning

I was recently in a unisex restroom on a university campus. It had urinals, but they were located in the back of the room off to one side. Anyone going in and using one of the stalls wouldn't see them.

 

[AlexDTX]

This is a different take on a question that was asked in a thread that has been closed.

Should multi-user unisex public restrooms be available? This means a restroom that is large enough to be used by several people at once regardless of their sex. This is not referring to a single-user unisex restroom. It means that you could be using a stall and the person peeing in the next stall could be of the opposite sex.

Unfortunately the poll limits question length. Question 4, "No, separate male/female restrooms; transgenders should use the restroom of their physical sex," would mean the sex indicated on their birth certificate for transgendered individuals.

If you make specific claims, such as saying that multi-user unisex public restrooms will lead to an increase in assaults, you must offer evidence to support you claim. I don't want this thread to turn into a debate over unsubstantiated opinions.

Please remain polite. Respect what others might say. This is an issue upon which people can and do disagree. No personal attacks.

Morals issues aside, these kind of laws are just another debilitating burden on private enterprise. Small business owners would be financially obligated to build these additional restrooms. Nor should it be put upon the general tax payer to bear this unnecessary burden.

 

[Archivist]

Morals issues aside, these kind of laws are just another debilitating burden on private enterprise. Small business owners would be financially obligated to build these additional restrooms. Nor should it be put upon the general tax payer to bear this unnecessary burden.

I don't think that anyone is proposing requiring that owners of existing businesses install such restrooms. Laws usually include grandfather provisions. New construction would be a different situation. But would it really cost more to build a one multiuser unisex restroom than to build separate man's and women's restrooms?

 

[All4Christ]

I hadn't even thought of that.

That would make me uncomfortable also. I'm not interested in having to be where men are exposed in such a way.




There IS a matter of practicality that you mention. I've been a parent, a caregiver, and been through medical situations where all my modesty was pretty much tossed out the window.

But those are situations of necessity.

It's not necessary that a stranger in a restroom see me in the way doctors, technicians, and medical students have done.

And while I could care less about being near when my own husband is urinating, there is no reason for me to be exposed to strangers doing so.

To a degree it is cultural. I suppose if I grew up as a naked tribesperson with everyone toileting beside the path while traveling, I might not understand someone else's modesty about it. But I was raised in a society where private things are kept private, and strangers of opposite sexes don't see one another unclothed in public. And there are certain benefits that go with those sensibilities, which I'm unwilling to sacrifice.

I'd say that most women wouldn't even be comfortable urinating with other women beside us in the open. I certainly wouldn't be comfortable with it. Many women like to have an empty stall between themselves and others, and don't like others talking to them at the same time. Some even don't like being in the bathroom while their spouse is urinating.

There are times where it is needed, such as a gynecologist or caretaker. However, it isn't needed on a regular basis for most of us, and I am perfectly fine keeping it that way. Like you said, there are benefits to modesty, which I do not want to give up.

 

[AlexDTX]

I don't think that anyone is proposing requiring that owners of existing businesses install such restrooms. Laws usually include grandfather provisions. New construction would be a different situation. But would it really cost more to build a one multiuser unisex restroom than to build separate man's and women's restrooms?

There might be a grandfather clause, but eventually all would have to build the unisex room. This would be adding a third restroom because most people still want separate men and women facilities.

 

[Blade]

If we THINK about this..this has been going on for SO many years. Well in so many SMALL places when you go to get food or even some small gas stations.. you go to use the bathroom and its just ONE room. Now if it was OPEN for more then one person of any sex. Blood of JESUS.. NO God in that at all.

 

[buzuxi02]

NEVER? We now have multi-user unisex restrooms at Penn State and from what I have seen they get used. The younger generation doesn't seem to see it as being a big deal.

Well let me give you an example on a bigger scale, the restrooms in Penn Station Manhattan. During rush hour some of the larger restrooms is like when a sports arena goes to intermission. They are U shaped, as you enter them you have stalls on one side urinals on the other, and as you turn the corner you have the row of sinks and exit. Well women hate when men leave the seats up. In a unisex restroom like Penn Station women will have no problem with seats being left up. Because there is urine all over the seats and floors because men just whip it out and goes wherever. Honestly even if your a man best you hold it till you get home. BUT even if the woman wipes off the seats if any part of your clothes touches the ground they will get urine stains on them.

 

[buzuxi02]

There might be a grandfather clause, but eventually all would have to build the unisex room. This would be adding a third restroom because most people still want separate men and women facilities.

Unless it's a large facility smaller businesses wIl always be exempt. Modernbuilding codes require bathrooms to be large enough to accommodate a handicapped people where the wheelchair can maneuver and do a 360 degree turn without obstruction. The only thing such a law would do is make smaller businesses just build one single bathroom, one person at a time.

 

[Winken]

I think it should be at the building owners discretion, frankly. But places I know of with multi user unisex bathrooms don't seem to have any problems.

I cannot believe or accept that this is being discussed in any forum anywhere with the word "Christian" in a header.

 

[Winken]

I just returned from my first visit to Israel last week. It was eye opening in many ways. One significant eye opening realization is that many (not all) of their public restrooms are a set of stalls for use by anyone. It didn't matter on the neighborhood or the quality as we found this everywhere. I think the only time I found them separate was when we had to pay to use the public restroom or when the restroom was located in a tourist trap type setting. In those cases, they were separate.

This is a society that is basically controlled by the orthodox and ultra-orthodox Jewish men. These are very conservative men worried about touching women and becoming unclean. They control marriage, they control immigration - they control a lot! So, it's hard for me to believe that they wouldn't use their Knesset power to override the existence of these unisex bathrooms if they saw them as a problem.

I saw women and men going in to these restrooms and using them and then leaving. There was no fear in the women's eyes worried that they would be assaulted by the man in the next stall. Some of these bathrooms were in areas I considered pretty seedy with dirty and broken bathrooms. These people needed to pee, so they did and then moved on with their lives.

As an American, I was incredibly uncomfortable with it. It's weird to me because it's not an every day occurrence for me. Beyond that, there was no issue. I used the restroom and then moved on with my life.

So, two weeks ago I would have said they need to be separate and stay separate. Now that I have personally seen the concept in action in a community that has people from every walk of life from the very secular to the very conservative ultra-orthodox people all living alongside each other, I see that it works. For that reason, I say why not?!

That was in Israel. They have those in Germany. God forbid it should become the norm in the USA, our territories or possessions.