A quick guide for trans people who are using/ forced to use the disabled toilet due to transphobic bullshit in the UK when you wouldnât otherwise need to do so. From a transgender wheelchair user who has given this topic a lot of thought.
Remember you are a guest in this space. I donât know a single person who would rather you shit yourself or get assaulted than use the disabled toilet, but please remember that these toilets are built and designed for disabled people after a huge amount of campaigning and activism.
Donât touch or move things you donât need to. If youâre not familiar with how things work or why they are where they are just leave it be. The position of a bin might not mean anything to you but it could be really important to a wheelchair user who needs to change their tampon. Donât touch things like grab rails either â while theyâre fairly tough and youâre unlikely to cause any damage itâs not impossible and if you donât touch it, you canât break it.
Related, but important enough to have its own point: please donât touch the red cord. Do not tie it up, do not wrap it around anything, donât tuck it behind a bin. Donât touch it (The only exception to this is to untie a cord thatâs been tied up) If the cord doesnât fall freely to the floor it could prevent a disabled person calling for help in an emergency. If youâre worried about accidentally pulling it thereâs almost always at least one reset button in there with you. Press that and it cancels the alarm.
If possible allow other people waiting to go first. A lot of disabilities, both visible and less apparent, can cause problems with incontinence, urgency or pain that make it difficult for someone to wait to use the toilet. If thereâs someone else in the queue and you are able to do so, offering to let them go first might really help them out.
If you want to get a radar key, get it from disability rights UK or give a small donation to a disability charity (again only if youâre able to). Iâve seen a couple of trans orgs giving away free radar keys and itâs unclear how they are being sourced. Knockoffs are common but only ârealâ RADAR keys are from Disability Rights UK and any profits help fund their charity work. Bear in mind that most disabled people also have to pay for these keys which are about ÂŁ5. (Disability Rights UK say their keys are to be sold to disabled people or organisations only, this is a legal thing they have to say about VAT relief. There is no real way of following up how disabled someone who buys a radar key is because you donât need to claim any benefits to be eligible for VAT relief and keys are a low value item that isnât worth anyone looking into when things like adapted cars exist. Be gay, do crime, support disabled people having rights.)
Know the difference between a standard accessible toilet and a changing places toilet. Donât use a changing places toilet if there is any other safe option. These have a different symbol and are bigger and fitted with extra equipment for severely disabled people and our carers. That equipment is more sensitive than anything youâll find in a standard accessible toilet so if you do find yourself in one touch nothing. Especially donât move the hoist (lifting equipment) as it can cause it to run out of power and make the whole space functionally useless if itâs not in the right space on the track. (To be fair this is an unlikely scenario as there arenât that many of these toilets, but just in case)
Donât suggest renaming accessible toilets. Theyâre primarily there for disabled people who canât use an alternative, and disabled people will be looking for an accessible toilet. For most spaces you can look for an accessible toilet and have a good chance of finding a gender neutral space, but that doesnât work the other way around. Calling it an âinclusive toiletâ or âgender neutral toiletâ tells me absolutely nothing about whether my wheelchair will fit.
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