Unisex Bathroom Petition

[Guest Sergei]

Hey everybody.

I always felt before I transitioned that I lost a lot of years of my life because I couldn't use the bathroom in public due to not being able to indentify as male or female. Unfortunatly even today when we are being accepted more and more by society we still only get offered two options male or female. I feel that's wrong, especially when so many of us identify as a gender that is not male or female, or are at a half way point on our transitions. So I'm petitioning the goverment to make it law that on top the male and female bathroom options they give us a third unisex option. Even though there are many disabled toilets most of us don't feel comfortable using them either because you feel bad if you have no visable disability using these facilities.

So what I need you all to do is sign the petition. Unfortunatly you can only sign it if you are a resident in the UK. But if you arn't you could help by getting all of your friends or family who are in the UK to sign it.

http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/unisexbathrooms/

[Guest Zabrak]

Best of luck to you, Sergei!

[Guest julia_d]

signed.. as I have for the provision of disabled toilets as well.. because around here they are unknown.. even our Wetherspoons doesn't have one.. unless you count one at the top of a flight of stairs.

[Guest Evan_J]

....disabled toilets....at the top of a flight of stairs.

talk about adding insult to injury

[Guest StrandedOutThere]

I wish I lived in the UK, so I could sign. A group at my school has managed to get unisex/handicapped bathrooms in all the new buildings on campus (and there are a good number of new buildings being constructed right now). The one near me has made my life SO much easier. I'm kind of in that "between" stage in my transition where neither option is 100% comfortable to me. I know I belong in the men's room, but it's not always "comfortable" because a lot of people in my department know me (and remember as female). Anyway, long story short....it is very weird to be in either bathroom in my department, so I am really grateful to have the unisex option.

As a little aside, I'm drinking massive amounts of water right now because I am dehydrated from not drinking all day. I got so used to not drinking much at school that I sometimes forget that it is okay now.

[Guest Sergei]

Thanks for all the feed back. It's a shame that only people in the UK can sign. So far we have only 12 signatures. Apparently the goverment will generally look at all the petitions that reach over 200 signatures. So please continue to sign or pass it to your uk friends. Also if anybody has any other good ideas about where I could post the link, any other websites or anything please let me know. I need as much help with this as possible. Thanks everybody.

[Sally]

Do they allow you to post on the TS Roadmap - That site is seen by almost everybody!

Just a thought,

Sally

[Guest Naomi Stardust]

what a great idea

hope you get much much much more than 200 signatures

i've been tempted to make a sign that says "and trannys" to take with me and put it up under the women's sign

unfortunately i'm a long way from passing enough to try it...

but again, best of luck on a great idea!

[Guest Sergei]

Thanks for all of the support from everybody here. Unfortunatly the petition doesn't seem to be going too well so far. I only have 18 signatures! I really need people to help me promote this more and all the people in the UK here to sign it. Thanks

[Guest mia 1]

Sergei believe it or not even this conservative U.S. has many "family" bathrooms and in most public places too...Hard to believe that we are more socially advanced than any west European country,,,but if it is anything it would naturally be in toilets.......... ......Mia

[Guest Sarah Marie]

disabled toilets at the top of a flight of stairs.

Unbelievable!! How low will businesses go?

[Guest April63]

I've seen the family bathrooms in some places, but most don't have them. What makes them more socially advanced? I don't quite see it that way. Especially since there's only one toilet compared to 4 or more in most other bathrooms.

April

[Guest Sergei]

Sergei believe it or not even this conservative U.S. has many "family" bathrooms and in most public places too...Hard to believe that we are more socially advanced than any west European country,,,but if it is anything it would naturally be in toilets.......... ......Mia

Wow, really? I never realised this. I honestly thought that people in the US had i far worse than us lot over here in the UK. I'm actually quite impressed. But that why I really need help with this petition. Everywhere in the world needs this option in my opinion. Transpeople are just another group of people, just like )race, religion, sexuality and anything else you can think of. We are just another minority that need to (and it's our right) to be accomodated for! I feel very strongly about this!

[Guest mia 1]

I've seen the family bathrooms in some places, but most don't have them. What makes them more socially advanced? I don't quite see it that way. Especially since there's only one toilet compared to 4 or more in most other bathrooms.

April

What makes them socially advanced is quite by accident...not designed for the transgendered true! but the fact that they are there and can be used by transgendered men/women make life's choices easier and more comfortable for the community....

[Guest Donna Jean]

Do they allow you to post on the TS Roadmap - That site is seen by almost everybody!

Just a thought,

Sally

That's an awesome idea, Sally....

Very good thinking!

XXOO

Donna Jean

[Guest April63]

But Mia, how are unisex bathrooms socially advanced? How do they make our society more advanced? The only reason I think transgender people would use them is because they feel uncomfortable in the other bathrooms. But after transition, shouldn't we be comfortable in one of those bathrooms? Shouldn't an MTF want to use the women's room, not the unisex one? And vice versa?

April

[Guest julia_d]

Shouldn't an MTF want to use the women's room, not the unisex one? And vice versa?

Where I live you have a 90% chance of getting arrested and charged with some kind of sex crime if somebody outs you and/or complains... regardless of your ID

Dressed female is a sure way to get your head kicked in in the mens toilets.... IF you are lucky and that's all you get.. and in the ladies.. you run the risk of a sexcrime charge.. which stays on your record for 20 years and will stop you getting just about any employment.. because it will forever out you.

That is why this is an important issue in the UK. We have, quite literally in some towns.. nowhere to go.

[Guest Sergei]

But Mia, how are unisex bathrooms socially advanced? How do they make our society more advanced? The only reason I think transgender people would use them is because they feel uncomfortable in the other bathrooms. But after transition, shouldn't we be comfortable in one of those bathrooms? Shouldn't an MTF want to use the women's room, not the unisex one? And vice versa?

April

Also don't forget that the idea of toilets isn't just for transsexuals. It for all transgendered people. The gender spectrum is broad and has a lot more to it than just male, female, and transsexual people. There are lots of people out there who consider themselves third gender, gender queer, and many, many other things. I feel that society needs to accomodate for the entire spectrum of gender.

By the way, we are up to 24 today. Thanks to all who have signed and told their friends about it. Those who havn't please sign. Thanks!

[Guest Zabrak]

I don't 100% pass as male or female right now and its weird and scary to use either bathroom. So unisex bathrooms are great in my mind.

[Guest Sergei]

Hey everybody. Unfortunatly the petition isn't going as well as I was hoping it would. So far I have only managed to get 32 signatures. This is nowhere near enough for the government to take notice of this issue. So I have started a facebook group now dedicated to the cause, in the hope that it will get a bit more attention drawn to it. Here is the link:

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/group.p...4658&ref=mf

Also, I just want to remind everybody here as well, that if you are a UK resident and still haven't signed then please do.

Here is the link:

http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/unisexbathrooms/

[Guest Pól_Eire]

In Ireland it's pretty variable. The airports, even the smallish ones, nearly always have a disabled/family lavatory. Your chances of finding a unisex lavatory are always better in the cities. Cork isn't too bad, but Dublin is easier. As you get down the country though, there pretty much aren't any unisex lavatories at all. Occasionally there's a disabled/family one, but that's the exception rather than the rule.

I haven't been home in a long while, but I found that using the unisex lavatory actually called more attention to myself than just going and using the men's.

-Pól

[Guest DaJe]

I have a lot of UK friends who I'll try to pass this on to. I think it's a great thing to have. It's wonderful that some places are starting to have neutral bathrooms and such to go into, but it'd be nice if more places started doing it.