Urinals for MEN & WOMEN to be introduced as Germany’s public toilets go gender-neutral
BERLIN’S government are planning to combat lengthy female toilet queues by introducing gender-neutral urinals – although not all are convinced they will be a success.
By Will Kirby
In a 99-page policy document called ‘The Toilet Concept for Berlin’, the German capital have pledged to bring in public urinals for both men and women.
The paper states: ”In the future urinals which can be used by all genders should be offered.”
The provision of urinals for women “could be a subject for the continuation of the [toilet] concept and an opportunity for Berlin to show that it is innovative,” it adds.
Future German toilets will also have a well-lit exterior, an emergency alarm and gender-neutral signs.
Professor Mete Demiriz, a German specialist in toilet design, told local media: “Using a [traditional toilet] means longer waiting time than to be expected for using a urinal. Women who want to use conventional public restrooms may, therefore, need to “stand in line” for a longer time.
She added: “After all, women find it necessary there to [flush more often], e.g. to flush down the paper they use to cover the toilet seat in order to avoid infections by skin contact. This unnecessarily results in high water consumption.”
Gender neutral urinals have been met with a mixed response
In Salzburg, Austria, local officials installed female urinals in a government building in 2002 but later removed them because, according to the Austrian Press Agency, “some women believed they had mistakenly wandered into a men’s toilet and others just had no idea how to use them — although an illustration was available”.
Reacting to Berlin’s toilet plans, one conservative CDU-linked woman asked: “Why does [the state government] want me to pee standing up?”
“There are more important topics for us women! Safety on public transport for example.”
Gender-neutral toilets have long been a source of controversy in countries across the world.
This toilet sign reads ‘For all sexes’
The new toilets led parents to believe they could be there to cater for transgender pupils.
But parents feared younger children could be bullied or even sexually assaulted in the toilets at the school in Northolt, West London.
Children were also fearful older pupils will stand over the cubicles and take photos of them, parents claim.