Seems hard to believe that unisex will become the norm. Hell, a lot of the professional buildings I have worked in not only have seperate facilities but the womens rooms typically are locked. I would really bother me if I had to get a key from the receptionist everytime I need to take a dump.
“Transsexual” is not a sexual orientation.
I’m perfectly happy using a women’s restroom. However, there are some stuck-up idiots who seem to think that I shouldn’t be allowed in a women’s restroom.
Unisex toilets run the risk of being more unhygenic than ‘His’ and ‘Hers’ toilets, for the simple reason that moer people use the same facilities. Segregated ones are better managable.
Also, there is nothing sexist about building ‘His’ and ‘Hers’ toilets, IMHO, and building a unisex one for the sake of being a non-sexist/un-sexist is pushing the Gender Neutrality/ Politically Correct envelope too far. 
Guy checking in (since that somehow seems to matter in this conversation). I’d prefer we keep the bathrooms separate. It’s got nothing to do with the lines or the smell or the sounds or the tampons. It’s just that I see no gain from combining them. If we gain nothing from doing it, then why do it?
As for the transsexuals, it seems pretty simple to me. If you look like a man, go into the men’s room and vice versa.
Nay thanks.
Men’s lavatories reek of urine. Walking past them is bad enough, entering them quite unimaginable.
There’s another use for family bathrooms: keeping 8 to 12 year old boys out of the women’s restroom. IMO boys this age are too old to be going into the women’s restroom with mom, but too young to be let loose in the men’s restroom unsupervised.
That’s not much of an argument. If we gain nothing by keeping them separate, why do that?
I have no problem with unisex bathrooms. My hall had one my sophomore year in college. There were two toilet stalls and two shower stalls. As far as I know, there weren’t any problems.
I think that if we don’t end up with all unisex bathrooms (I really don’t care if we do or we don’t) we should at least have more “family” bathrooms. My friend (female) works at a camp for special needs kids during the summer. Ages range from 3-19. They often take the kids on field trips. Some of them need assistance in the bathroom, so she has to decide whether to go into the men’s room or to take a male student into the women’s room. I think she said she usually takes the kids to the men’s room, but she gets plenty of weird looks for being there. The existance of at least some more “family” bathrooms would help I think.
Maybe I was different but when I was 8 I was going by my self. Going in with my mom would have been (and still would be) quite emberassing.
So you’re advocating change for the sake of change?
I think half the population gains continued unexposure to certain female problems that half the poulation would rather not know about. I’d personally like to keep that.
Just thinking of when my son was at that age of 7-9–too old to go into the Ladie’s Room with me, but me getting freaky about him going into the Men’s Room by himself. I’d hang outside the Men’s Room, waiting until I’d felt he had enough time to ‘do his business’, then open the door a crack and hollar, “Cover it up Gentlemen, my son is taking too long and I’m coming in.” Only once did I actually have to go into the Men’s Room, but it sure would have been nice to have a “Family Room”.
I would like add I do think familer bathrooms are an okay idea.
I’m generalizing now.
Men tend to do their thing and get the fark out. Women spend seemingly infinite amounts of time doing their business. Having taken a couple math classes, this seems to mean that women, on average, wait a hell of a lot longer for a bathroom than men.
I wonder how many of the people here advocating unisexual bathroom use are really women who are tired as hell of waiting to use the loo.
Perhaps nobody would mind a woman bringing a little boy into the ladies’ room, (and it depends on the age of the boy), but after about the age of two, my daughter would have very much minded her father taking her into a mens’ room. And something that hasn’t been mentioned yet- most of the “family bathrooms” I’ve seen have been very large, single stall rooms. My mother would love to see more of them, as my father is too disabled to get from his wheelchair to the toilet alone. Which means they don’t go to Atlantic City for the day alone- either a son or son-in-law has to go along, or they stay overnight so he can use the bathroom in the hotel room.
I can easily see perverted women hanging out in the bathroom and leering at males who come in or go out. There are already women who try to film men going to the bathroom and it would be much easier for them to go about such activities.
Well done, Paco.
No, I’m advocating change for the sake of things I’ve already said.
Which ignores entirely matt_mcl’s post, and my first hand addition to it, that not everyone looks clearly one or the other.
Depending on the person seeing me, and the day, neither rest room is completely “safe”. When I don’t really bother, I can just use the women’s room. When I attempt to pass, my best case scenario is when I look like a woman using the men’s room. Gets weird looks, but people assume there was just a long line. If I look like a guy in the women’s room, then I’m some kind of a pervert, and just asking for someone to report me to security. When I pass for male, it’s a pretty femme male, so using the men’s room in most places near where I live runs a very real risk of getting the shit beaten out of me.
I’m thrilled of course to learn that this is just tough. We’re not a a sexual orientation. And I really don’t care much for being told that either I suck it up and risk getting beaten up or branded some sort of sick freak or just wait the hours until I get home.
Well, I’ve read through this thread again, I don’t see you giving any real reasons for switching to unisex bathrooms other than you think it’s silly. Would you care to elaborate on your position?