The Home Office’s Department for Leveling Up announced Sunday that the U.K. government will implement measures to reverse the rise of gender-neutral toilets as part of wider efforts to protect single sex spaces.
Any changes will affect England only. The department has made no suggestion whether these measures will extend to Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland in the future.
In its statement the government noted all new non-domestic public and private buildings will be required to provide separate single-sex toilets for women and men and/or a self-contained, private toilet as a minimum.
According to the department’s statement, these changes come amid dignity and privacy concerns from women and elderly people who feel they are being unfairly disadvantaged as publicly accessible toilets are increasingly being converted into gender neutral facilities.