A portion of tennis fans have kicked up a fuss after it was revealed that Wimbledon officials had installed gender neutral toilets at the prestigious tennis competition.
The All England Lawn Tennis club is renowned for its age-old traditions, but it seems its latest progressive move has angered some.
According to reports, the gender neutral bathrooms were installed during the Covid-19 pandemic but have only been seen in the flesh just now as the tournament kicks off once again.
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But instead of praising Wimbledon chiefs for driving inclusivity, people have taken to social media to criticise the decision.
One person said: "Wimbledon is about tradition, it doesn’t have to follow every fad."
While one bloke tweeted: "Gender neutral toilets to have a Wimbledon debut. Game, set and match to the woke."
Another added: "I have no words!"
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It's understood single-sex restrooms will still be available to those attending Wimbledon.
The introduction of gender neutral toilets comes not long after tournament officials removed the 'Miss' and 'Mrs' titles on the women's honours board – aligning with the male players.
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The All England Lawn Tennis Club came under scrutiny in 2018 too after the New York Times criticised the practice of officials identifying males and females differently during play.
The practice saw umpires identify women’s names with their titles, while males were referred to simply by their surnames.
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The rule saw umpires call out ‘Game, set, match Mrs Williams’ if Serena Williams were to win a matchup, while the officials would instead say ‘Game, set, match Federer’ if Rodger Federer were to claim victory.
A year later Wimbledon decided to change the rule so that females would be referred to by their last names, a rule that has now been reflected in the honour board.
Shortly after that, 'his' and 'hers' coloured towels were also removed.
Max Sherry