Last week (31st October) as COVID-19 cases soared and a second national lockdown was announced, the UK Government quietly announced a review into toilet provision for men and women that has been described by LGBT+ campaigners as “transphobic”.
A press release said that the review, led by Communities Secretary, Robert Jenrick, was “necessary” and “will help women be assured of the necessary provision of toilets.”
It also stated that, over recent years “there has been a trend towards replacing female only facilities with ‘gender neutral’ toilets – something that has caused concern and is against legislation where public authorities have a duty to provide safe spaces for women in lavatories in buildings.”
The press release referenced debunked arguments often used by anti-trans campaigners, yet made no mention of safe toilet provisions for trans, non-binary and gender non-conforming people.
LCR Pride Foundation was shocked by the launch of the review, which has rendered one of the first projects to be supported by the foundation’s Community Fund, TDoV Liverpool’s ‘Toilets for Everybody’ campaign, more important and prescient than ever.
The ‘Toilets for Everybody’ campaign, intends to increase the number of organisations providing gender neutral toilet facilities that are fit for purpose for trans and gender non-conforming people, challenging the current fears around the use of public spaces regarding gender diverse people.
A diverse group of organisations will document the outcomes of the campaign, which will be twin tracked with an Action Research framework. This will ask the organisations involved to take part in a reflective process and share case studies about if there have been any positive/ negative impacts of having gender neutral toilets.
Speaking following the announcement of the review of gender neutral toilets, LCR Pride Foundation Interim CEO, Andi Herring, said: “The announcement of this review was clearly timed to bury it underneath the announcement of the second UK lockdown.
“We are deeply disappointed to see that the review positions gender neutral facilities in opposition to gendered facilities and fails to examine the lack of provision of safe and suitable toilet facilities for trans and non-binary people.
“This move makes TDoV Liverpool’s ‘Toilets for Everybody’ campaign absolutely vital in providing concrete evidence to dispel any notions of ‘risk’ posed by gender neutral facilities. We will be sharing further details about this campaign in coming weeks.”
If you would like to be involved in the TDoV Liverpool ‘Toilets for Everybody’ campaign, stay tuned to our socials and newsletter or email info@lcrpride.co.uk
