Just 4% of women back turning toilets gender neutral: Fewer than one in 20 females support the end of traditional ladies' and gents' loos, poll shows

Fewer than one in 20 women support the replacement of men’s and women’s loos with gender-neutral ones, a poll reveals.

Just four per cent would be happy if restaurants, hotels, bars, theatres, cinemas, concert venues and stadiums abolished separate toilets for two sexes.

Men are almost as unenthusiastic. Fewer than one in ten support the loss of their own loos in public spaces.

But a third of those questioned said they did support having gender-neutral toilets alongside those for men and women.

A YouGov poll revealed fewer than one in 20 women support the replacement of men’s and women’s loos with gender-neutral ones 

The findings from the poll carried out by YouGov and released yesterday suggest the rise in gender-neutral public loos is against the grain of public sentiment.

The issue has become one of the battlegrounds between transgender rights lobbyists and feminists. 

Attempts to introduce gender-neutral loos in public spaces or in offices have routinely provoked protests from women who refuse to use them.

The findings, made available by YouGov online, were highlighted by plumbing retail website Boiler Central. 

Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick said separate facilities were ‘a necessity’, adding that the Government intended to ensure 'women can expect a sense of dignity, security and safety’

The firm said ‘a third of the population are in support of adding gender-neutral bathrooms alongside separate bathrooms for men and women to public spaces’.

According to the polling, more than half the population want to see only separate male and female facilities – 52 per cent of women and 54 per cent of men.

It found Tory supporters were the most in favour of the provision of separate male and female loos alone – 73 per cent against 33 per cent of Labour supporters. 

Only 10 per cent of Labour supporters backed the idea of the abolition of male and female toilets in favour of gender-neutral ones. 

The evidence of the unpopularity of shared facilities follows the launch of a Government review.

Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick said last autumn separate facilities were ‘a necessity’, adding that the Government intended to ‘make sure women can expect a sense of dignity, security and safety’.

In May his department said it was amending legislation to ensure new offices, shops and venues, as well as publicly-funded buildings such as hospitals, would have to have separate facilities.