Finally, New Zealand's public toilets are going to be legislated!
This time, New Zealand First's Winston Peters is ahead of the curve – he's going to take New Zealand back to the days when men's and women's toilets were separated.
1. New law: Public toilets must distinguish between men and women, and fines for indiscriminate use of toilets
New Zealand First announced a new bill this week – the Fair Access to Bathrooms Fair Access to Bathrooms Act.
The bill requires that new non-residential public toilets must be provided with "clearly demarcated, separate men's and women's toilets and genderless toilets".
The Priority Party also wants to impose fines on those who use toilets that do not belong to the designated gender.
Winston Peters, leader of the First Party, said: "This month, a similar move was taken in the UK, where all new restaurants, bars, offices and shopping centres must have separate facilities for men and women. ”
He said that the toilet issue has long been the domain of ideological contention in the past, and the New Zealand First Party introduced this bill to defend the privacy and personal safety of New Zealanders.
If passed, the bill would add a fine under the Summary Offences Act, imposing a fine on "any person who uses a single-sex toilet but does not belong to that sex."
Second, in the past few years, gender-neutral toilets have proliferated in large numbers
Gender distinctions have been at the forefront of the "Awakening Movement" over the past few years.
Across the ANZ region and the Western world, there has been a trend over the past few years to replace gender-neutral toilets in large numbers.
Some schools in New Zealand have also joined the toilet renovation process and built more gender-neutral toilets.
Unisex toilets, also known as gender-neutral toilets, are freely accessible to both men and women as well as transgender people.
However, genderless toilets, which are meant to be equal, have caused some embarrassment and frustration.
Feminist agencies said they were aware that Unisex toilets in schools exposed girls to possible sexual harassment and "menstrual stigma," and called on parents to give feedback.
Some boys will even tell if a girl is menstruating based on how long she has been on the toilet.
"Among the things we heard was that girls were afraid to drink water during the day to avoid using the toilet."
On Monday, several viewers of the New Zealand AM show wrote to the show expressing discomfort with using gender-neutral toilets.
Some even shared their own experiences of being raped by a man in a genderless toilet.
3. The United Kingdom has recently adopted a similar policy to restore and increase the separation of toilets for men and women
In response to growing security, privacy and dignity concerns in public spaces, the UK also announced a major policy change in early May: all new restaurants, bars, offices and shopping malls must be equipped with gender-specific toilets.
The decision, which is expected to be implemented later this year through changes to building codes, is designed to respond to a surge in gender-neutral restroom use.
Gender-neutral toilets
Under the proposed new law in the UK, new buildings, as well as premises that have undergone significant changes of use (bars, restaurants, offices, shopping centres, etc.), will be required by law to provide separate toilets for men and women.
The legislative action comes as Prime Minister Rishi Sunak seeks to consolidate his conservative stance ahead of the upcoming general election. This measure is also aimed at protecting women-only spaces.
4. New Zealand's opposition party: the new bill is "ridiculous" and "difficult to implement"
However, the New Zealand Left camp expressed firm opposition to the new bill introduced by the New Zealand First Party.
Former Labour MP Michael Wood of the E Tu Union union slammed it as "horrible, frustrating and divisive".
工党领袖Chris Hipkins称该法案 “绝对荒谬”。
"Winston Peters has homophobia or transphobia, and we should have more serious issues to worry about in this country," he said.
"How exactly should they be regulated, how should they be enforced?"
Kahurangi Carter, a spokesperson for the Green Party's Rainbow Community, also accused the new bill of "undermining the mana of the Rainbow People, who deserve respect and dignity".
"The bill is a blatant assault on transgender people. New Zealand First has shown time and time again that they are more than happy to spread fear for political gain. ”