MAY 8 . 2004 • Q-NOTES
Global
17
Scottish government installs 'Anti-Sex Superloos'
Scottish gay activists call
authorities prudish
AYR, SCOTLAND — Local authorities are
eager to install a new public toilet designed
to stop people from having sex in it.
Maybe they shoulda' called it the "Nosex7:"
Healthmatic's anti-sex 'Wessex 7' toilet — no>
use in Ayr, Scotland.
The toilet features weight sensors on
the floor which can detect if there is more
than one person using it. A weight distri
bution facility compensates if a parent and
child use the toilet and disabled users are
issued with a special key that overrides the
weight restriction.
The toilet’s introduction follows a scries
of well-publicized incidents in which local
authorities received complaints about gay
cruising and sexual activity taking place in
public restrooms.
A spokesman from Healthmatic,
the company that produces the
street side toilets — you won’t
encounter them stateside —
admitted that the toilet was a hot
political potato. He said that local
authorities are concerned by anti
social behavior and are attempt
ing to prevent the problem of pub
lic sexual activity. The spokesman
said that the toilet has been
designed to prevent couples from
having sex inside and added that
it would also discourage drug
abuse,
Healthmatic said that the toilet
had been welcomed by the police,
local authorities wishing to place
orders and the, British Toilet
Association, who have been cam
paigning vigorously for better pub-
lie toilets.
The spokesman denied that
the new toilet would simply drive
the problem out into the open, for exam
ple, on the gay beaches and deserted park
ing lots nearby the toilet in Ayr. He said
that Healthmatic is a manufacturing and
sales company that it is merely responding
to the current market.
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Garry Otton of the Scottish Media
Monitor, a gay rights group in Scotland,
said; “The general public seems to agree
that these toilets are a good thing because
they believe they stop crime. In fact they
actually feed people’s prejudices and pro
mote repressive attitudes."
He added: “Gay sex is seen to be alright
if it’s not.done underneath people’s noses
or out in public — but having sex in a toi
let is not the same as having sex in public!”
Otton remarked. “The real problem is
prudery, and Scotland has a big issue
with that.”
— Wire reports
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