No consensus for gender-neutral toilets in Vaud
Published: Thursday, Nov 7th 2024, 18:20
العودة إلى البث المباشر
In public facilities in the canton of Vaud with space for more than 20 people, toilets for women and men remain separate. The State Council has decided not to abolish this obligation, which prevents the installation of gender-neutral toilets in bistros and restaurants.
MP Vassilis Venizelos (Greens) had called for the relevant regulation on restaurants to be revised in 2021 before he entered the Council of State. Venizelos argued, among other things, that gender-neutral toilets would be "more inclusive" and would make life easier for intersex and transgender people. Such toilets would also allow restaurateurs to save space.
In its report published on Thursday, the cantonal government writes that it has held consultations with numerous stakeholders in order to lift this obligation to provide separate toilets. However, it emerged that "no consensus on this issue seems possible".
Compromise proposals have been made. For example, for safety reasons, the retention of separate sanitary facilities in discotheques and bars that close after midnight. The government also suggested that all venues that want mixed toilets should be obliged to install closed cubicles from floor to ceiling.
"Despite the compromise proposals, the positions for and against the introduction of gender-neutral toilets in public facilities in the canton of Vaud remain rigid and irreconcilable," writes the State Council.
Elsewhere in Switzerland, several political initiatives to introduce gender-neutral toilets have been successful in recent years. The city of Zurich, for example, has introduced gender-neutral toilets in schools. The cantons of Bern and Lucerne allow restaurants to install unisex toilets.
©كيستون/إسدا
Arabic 
English 
German 
French 
Spanish