These toilets owe their existence to no less a figure than George Bernard Shaw, who served on the local council during a time of mass expansion in public toilet provision, and who stood up against the apparently philanthropic scheme’s greatest drawback: Queen Victoria, having refused to sign legislation making lesbianism illegal (on the grounds that she refused to accept such immoral behaviour could possibly exist), also refused to believe that women went to the lavatory, as her priveleged lifestyle meant she had a servant who went to the toilet for her so, assuming that the same was true of all women, only passed into law the statutes providing public toilets for men.
Shaw, a committed socialist, was appalled that the Queen was so out of touch with her subjects so set about campaigning for women’s toilets; along with arranging petitions he wrote Mrs Warren’s Profession, a play that is today famous for dealing with the subject of prostitution but in its original production was about the social stigma that came with being a toilet cleaner and, as a result of the campaign, Queen Victoria reluctantly passed the relevant laws and this toilet was opened by Shaw in 1898 amidst much fanfare.
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