Why can't State provide gender neutral toilets for transgender persons? Madras High Court

The Madras High Court Wednesday directed the Tamil Nadu government to respond to a plea seeking gender neutral public toilets across the State for transgender persons. .A bench of acting Chief Justice T Raja and Justice D Bharatha Chakravarthy directed the State's counsel to take instructions and file its reply to the plea within a week.The Court was hearing a petition filed by a transgender person from the city, who urged the bench to direct the State to construct gender neutral toilets in educational institutes, at bus stops, railway stations, airports, and other public places to enable him and other transgender persons. who do not ascribe to the male and female gender binary, can use public toilets.The petitioner's counsel Arun Kasi told the court that while the State had assured several times in the past that trans persons can use gender-based public toilets as per their self-identified gender, the ground reality was that trans persons using the male or female toilets routinely faced stares, abuse, sexual harrasment, and assault on using such toilets..The petitioner also said that such lack of access to public toilets breached the right to access sanitation and basic health care facilities. He said that the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act mandate that the State and Centre take effective steps to create a trans-inclusive society. The bench then told the State that the petitioner's demand seemed legitimate and asked why the government cannot take appropriate steps? When the State said that it was not opposed to the idea, but constructing gender neutral toilets across public spots will take time, the bench suggested that some of the existing public toilets be converted into gender neutral ones. "We do not have a gender neutral toilet even in our High Court premises. While such toilets must be constructed, in the meantime, if some of the existing public toilets are reserved to be used only by trans persons, their problem can be solved. There are so many public toilets for the physically disabled that lie unused or locked. Why don't you reserve some of them for trans persons, and convert them into gender neutral ones?" the bench said