Hi! I'm new. I'm James. Let's get to the bulk of this post haha.

My school (university, properly) is seriously looking into the prospect of having gender neutral washrooms installed. Currently, the administrations is working closely with the on campus LGBTQA+ group to figure out what those washrooms will look like, and where they'll be. There's been some excellent back and forth about it (and, well, some not so good feedback, but I sort of expected that). I'm part of the "task force" who is being directly consulted by the administration about what kind of washrooms we're asking for, etc.

There's a currently Male washroom in a little corridor that doesn't see much traffic, but which is readily and easily accessible to the flow of main traffic, that is barely ever used. The administration is actually seriously considering converting that washroom into a gender neutral washroom.

Right now? The main debate is what's going to be in there. There are some people who are advocating taking out the existing urinals... but I sort of want them left in there. I know, there's the potential for abuse etc, but I would like to be able to use a urinal, and I haven't reached a stage in my personal transition where I'd feel comfortable walking into a fully men's washroom. I said, how about if they built a sort of partition between the urinals and the door, so you had to willingly and deliberately go around said partition to get to the urinal? Then you wouldn't have the whole, opened the door and oops, there's some penis I hadn't planned on seeing today!

The other thought I had was, even though it's a gender neutral washroom, some gender neutral people are used to/prefer doing #1 standing up, and I don't think it's fair to tell them "either use a stall or use the male washroom". Stalls aren't super designed for standing #1, I think, and that'd lead to more #1 on the seat/floor etc.

Having said that, I can see how other people might not want to use a washroom where there's a chance of seeing people's penises against their will. Hence why I suggested the partition, rather than removing the urinals entirely.

This turned out to be a very long first post! Sorry! But if you made it this far, thanks for reading!
-James

Welcome to Susan's!

I think stalls are better than partitions, because partitions don't prevent someone from actually seeing the person using the urinal (they won't see the penis but they will see the face of the person using it if that makes sense) and possibly harass them later. So, I would suggest stalls around the urinals so that way no one can see the person using it because privacy reasons. Yeah sure, you would still see the person walk out of the urinal stall, but at least they would have the option of staying in there until onlookers leave and also have a shield of protection against anyone who wants to come in there and harass people.

If the size of a stall is an issue, there's always the option of moving one or two urinals in order to make space (in case the urinals are too close together to make a decent-sized stall).

I would also suggest putting in those little boxes in the stalls (the ones with the toilets where you have to sit down) so individuals can have a place to dispose of pads and other hygiene products without other people seeing it. Y'know, those boxes that you tend to see in Women's restrooms.

Can't really think of anything else, really. :V

Funny thing that you brought this up, because my college does have a gender neutral bathroom that they recently added. I haven't used it yet, but I can go in there and see what my college did for it, and then get back to you on how they designed it.

EDIT: Added some things just to make things clearer.

I didn't mean a partition to make the urinal similar to stalls, i just meant like, a thin wall that you would have to walk around to /get/ to the urinals And obviously, there would be stalls as well, with commodes in them. I'm trying to make it all about choice, like, having the most available choices in the one washroom so that theoretically no matter what your physical makeup and your gender identity, you can potentially be comfortable using these washrooms.

As far as I'm aware, we don't have single user urinals, but rather one wall of the washroom is devoted to one long urinal that spans the length of the washroom. So all we'd need, I think, would be a thin partition that you'd walk around to get to that part of the washroom.

Hi James as a transgender female I would be very uncomfortable with using a washroom with urinals in it as todin3d said if the urinal was inside a stall it would be fine .I have not had any desire to use a urinal since I first decided to start my transition I find it far better to sit for all functions .I do not like to see My own bits and certainly do not want to see other peoples bits

Hi James. Welcome to Susan's. 

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First, please note that the news areas are for posting links to news stories. That's why this was moved.

Second, to answer your question, I see no reason why a urinal can't be in a gender neutral washroom. There is an axiom of management that the less important an issue is, the more people argue over it (because the there are good points to be made on both sides), while really important issues tend to be pretty obvious. I fear the presence of urinals in gender neutral washrooms may meet this fate.

Count me as another person who would feel uncomfortable with urinals that aren't enclosed.  I associate open urinals with "male bonding," which is what I'm trying to escape.  A bathroom with open urinals would not feel gender-neutral, it would feel like a men's room which permits non-males to use it.

Our local LGBT center has all gender-neutral bathrooms, two to a floor.  They have only stalls.

Bear in mind I've only ever used male toilets for around ten years of my life in total - the rest of the time I've used exclusively female facilities, but from memory Urinals STINK - I mean like retch making material!!!

Also male pee PONGS absolutely revolting to my nose - I've also had to train some of the males in my family to be more considerate about flushing and keeping things hygienic! Many males seem only barely civilised in their toilet habits to my mind. Consequently I personally would never use any public rest room that was not female exclusive sorry! Count me as implaccably hostile to gender neutral facilities unless gender segregated alternatives remained available.

I feel it should be single usage with a lock on the door.  If it is to be considered gender neutral, it should have an urinal as there some of us that refer using one.  To make it comfortable for those that don't want to see one in the open, putting a partition in so you don't see it first thing entering is best for everyone.   

I think the best option is to have stalls / booths that contain both a toilet and a urinal.  That keeps standers happy, and sitters not hating the standers.  And of course, it's the most expensive option. 

A nice compromise is to place the urinals around a corner from the stalls & sinks.  That said... it's pretty hard to catch a glimpse of a stander's equipment if they're using a urinal, unless you're standing next to them.  I think the fear of exposure is pretty overblown.

See, this is the problem with there only being gender neutral restrooms. You can't please everybody and by removing urinals you automatically decrease efficiency since urinals make it easy for men to get in/get out. Also, by making them single stall with urinals and a toilet, we kind of defeat the purpose of the urinal - which is a quick place for men to pee. The reason you have urinals is not to please anyone. It is for efficiency. You go in, whip it out, empty your bladder, shake off the last drops, zip up and go.

Not to mention some guys are going to be grossed out by period blood on the bowl/seat (yes I've seen it many times) and used pads/tampons in the trash bins in the stalls. Or worse yet, flushed and clogging the toilets.

A good thing would be gender neutral bathrooms as an option. Keep gendered restrooms available but have a fair number of gender neutral bathrooms available.

Oh, and male bonding? hahahaha. I can explain it but I think it's best if I used a meme. And no kidding, when I was using the men's, plenty of guys would simply go to the stalls, stand and pee instead of using that middle urinal.

Update - well, I have goods news and bad news.

The good news is, I checked out the "gender neutral" bathroom that we have.

The bad news is, it's just the classic family bathroom. Just one toilet, the baby board thing, and that's it. I'm not sure why other students are calling it "gender neutral". Yeah, everyone use it, but...ehhhh. it just screams "for family" more than neutral.