# Why not make single-seater restrooms unisex?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-make-single-seater-restrooms-unisex/761506
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [August 1, 2016, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-make-single-seater-restrooms-unisex/761506 "2016-08-01T22:08:47Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)
#### Post date: [August 1, 2016, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-make-single-seater-restrooms-unisex/761506/1 "2016-08-01T22:08:47Z")
As I sit here at Starbucks waiting for the sun to go down, a question that’s bugged me for a little while again rears its ugly head. Probably because when my mother uses the restroom, she tends to be in there awhile.
Why aren’t all single-seater restrooms, unisex? Is it really that important to have separate male and female restrooms when only one person’s going to be in the room at any given time?
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### Author:  [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)
#### Post date: [August 1, 2016, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-make-single-seater-restrooms-unisex/761506/2 "2016-08-01T22:13:06Z")
Quite a few of them are unisex but I guess it depends on where they are located. Probably not many unisex in the Bible belt vs the west coast.
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### Author:  [@Palooka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Palooka)
#### Post date: [August 1, 2016, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-make-single-seater-restrooms-unisex/761506/3 "2016-08-01T22:14:24Z")
It’s my understanding that ladies don’t like what men do to it sometimes.
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### Author:  [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)
#### Post date: [August 1, 2016, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-make-single-seater-restrooms-unisex/761506/4 "2016-08-01T22:36:14Z")
also there may be state or local laws that prohibit unisex bathrooms.
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### Author:  [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)
#### Post date: [August 1, 2016, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-make-single-seater-restrooms-unisex/761506/5 "2016-08-01T22:36:15Z")
> [@Palooka](#):
>
> It’s my understanding that ladies don’t like what men do to it sometimes.
The feeling can be mutual; at least men don’t leave certain used products out in the open or try to flush them instead of using the designated receptacle. As to the OP’s question if you see 2 single-occupancy restrooms side by side there’s probably a local zoning ordinance requiring they be designated for each sex instead of both being unisex. If only one is accessible to the public then it’s unisex.
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### Author:  [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)
#### Post date: [August 1, 2016, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-make-single-seater-restrooms-unisex/761506/6 "2016-08-01T22:42:17Z")
> [@Palooka](#):
>
> It’s my understanding that ladies don’t like what men do to it sometimes.
Aren’t women’s restrooms typically messier than men’s?
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### Author:  [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)
#### Post date: [August 1, 2016, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-make-single-seater-restrooms-unisex/761506/7 "2016-08-01T22:49:52Z")
> [@Palooka](#):
>
> It’s my understanding that ladies don’t like what men do to it sometimes.
And the same goes both ways. Women flush used tampons. Bad.
But in general, this is a idea whose time has come!
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### Author:  [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)
#### Post date: [August 1, 2016, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-make-single-seater-restrooms-unisex/761506/8 "2016-08-01T22:52:08Z")
In the office in which I work (as well as previous workplaces), we’ve gone from two single-occupancy restrooms designated by gender to two for use by everyone.
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### Author:  [@John\_Bredin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Bredin)
#### Post date: [August 1, 2016, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-make-single-seater-restrooms-unisex/761506/9 "2016-08-01T22:57:57Z")
> [@Velocity](#):
>
> Aren’t women’s restrooms typically messier than men’s?
My father, whose last job was as a janitor at a university, would repeatedly swear\* so.
\*In both senses of the word. 🙂
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### Author:  [@Cub\_Mistress](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cub_Mistress)
#### Post date: [August 1, 2016, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-make-single-seater-restrooms-unisex/761506/10 "2016-08-01T23:00:16Z")
why not indeed? All the toilets in my house are unisex!😃
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### Author:  [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)
#### Post date: [August 1, 2016, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-make-single-seater-restrooms-unisex/761506/11 "2016-08-01T23:07:02Z")
There may be psychological resistance, from people who don’t want members of the opposite sex walking in on them while they’re doing their business. Yeah, the door’s presumably lockable, but what if they forget, or the lock doesn’t work properly?
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### Author:  [@DinoR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DinoR)
#### Post date: [August 1, 2016, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-make-single-seater-restrooms-unisex/761506/12 "2016-08-01T23:43:35Z")
In many places businesses don’t have a choice.
[The Biggest Obstacle to Gender Neutral Bathrooms? Building Codes.](http://reason.com/archives/2014/04/11/gender-neutral-bathrooms-building-codes)
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### Author:  [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)
#### Post date: [August 1, 2016, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-make-single-seater-restrooms-unisex/761506/13 "2016-08-01T23:47:21Z")
I’ve always used whatever single toilet restroom was available. Who cares if a guy/girl goes into the “wrong” restroom, if only one person at a time can use it? Its like a distinction without a difference. Mostly.
Sent from my LG-K330 using Tapatalk
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### Author:  [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)
#### Post date: [August 1, 2016, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-make-single-seater-restrooms-unisex/761506/14 "2016-08-01T23:51:51Z")
At the Starbucks b my office there are two single-seater resrooms, marked men & women byt effectively unisex. Nobody blinks at somebody going into or out of the “wrong” one so long as you knock first.
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### Author:  [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)
#### Post date: [August 1, 2016, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-make-single-seater-restrooms-unisex/761506/15 "2016-08-01T23:53:24Z")
I work in a small county gov building. Main library, planning dept, building dept and some others.
We have two designated bathrooms outside the library, two ‘seats’. Two others that are also designated single seaters.
And then four others that are not designated. I use the non-designated as they are admittedly more tucked away and are meant for the staff. The public can use them though, but it’s rare.
Plenty of pre-op areas for surgery are unisex that I have seen.
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### Author:  [@andrewm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andrewm)
#### Post date: [August 2, 2016, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-make-single-seater-restrooms-unisex/761506/16 "2016-08-02T00:24:23Z")
Apparently it’s possible in some places. There’s a restaurant in Baltimore where there restroom consists of an outer area with several sinks, and toilets in individual rooms (full walls, not stall partitions) with doors. Anybody can use any one of them.
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### Author:  [@araminty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/araminty)
#### Post date: [August 2, 2016, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-make-single-seater-restrooms-unisex/761506/17 "2016-08-02T00:45:45Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#):
>
> The feeling can be mutual; at least men don’t leave certain used products out in the open or try to flush them instead of using the designated receptacle.
Aww, did the poor widdle man see a used tampon? That must have been very hard for you! Women should be more careful to hide the evidence of their disgusting shameful bodily functions.
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### Author:  [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)
#### Post date: [August 2, 2016, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-make-single-seater-restrooms-unisex/761506/18 "2016-08-02T01:05:23Z")
**Moderator Note**
> [@araminty](#):
>
> Aww, did the poor widdle man see a used tampon? That must have been very hard for you! Women should be more careful to hide the evidence of their disgusting shameful bodily functions.
This is GQ. Let’s drop the insulting tone and snarky comments and focus on the facts.
No warning issued, but do not post this type of thing again in this forum.
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### Author:  [@Ispolkom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ispolkom)
#### Post date: [August 2, 2016, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-make-single-seater-restrooms-unisex/761506/19 "2016-08-02T01:53:53Z")
I was just at a theater that had two single-stall bathrooms. One was marked “Women,” while the other was marked “Unisex.” From my experience with toilet lines, this seemed about right. At intermission there were lines for both. The one marked “Women” had a line made up only of women, while the other had a mixed-sex line.
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### Author:  [@leftfield6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leftfield6)
#### Post date: [August 2, 2016, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-make-single-seater-restrooms-unisex/761506/20 "2016-08-02T01:57:51Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#):
>
> At the Starbucks b my office there are two single-seater resrooms, marked men & women byt effectively unisex. Nobody blinks at somebody going into or out of the “wrong” one so long as you knock first.
This. Every single seater restroom is a unisex as far as I’m concerned. And yes, the one marked for the Ladies is usually the bigger mess
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