A German government party may unwittingly have turned gender neutral bathrooms into an election topic.

On Thursday, the Christian-Social Union (CSU) – sister party to Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union – posted an image on their social media channels making fun of a push for gender neutral bathrooms.

‘New gaga proposal from the Green Party: unisex toilets,’ the image reads.

‘We think: down the loo with weird gender mania-proposals.’

In the caption, the party also said they were ‘working for a better security situation, and the Greens campaign for gender-inclusive toilets. #gendermania’

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The comment refers to events in Berlin, which could see gender neutral bathrooms installed in all city authorities’ buildings across the capital.

It was set in motion by the Berlin senate by Dirk Behrendt, representing the Green Party, and does not apply to all of Germany.

The CSU didn’t release any further details or comments with their post, but the image opened a lively discussion on their Facebook page.

But only few users voiced their support, with plenty of others making fun of the party’s policies – which include a recent push for vegetarian meat alternatives to be renamed, because they could ‘mislead’ customers – or accusing the CSU of taking a stance usually seen in the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD).

‘Congratulations, you’ve reached the lowest possible niveau AfD standard,’ one user said.

‘Unisex toilets are, of course, not the most pressing political topic, but I also haven’t heard anyone claiming it is. It’s also not the devil’s work, and completely common in Nordic countries.

‘But to take two topic not in the least related to each other, and to pitch them against each other like this, is sleazy. It’s calculated rabble-rousing.’

Others pointed out the irony behind it, because while it’s the Green party driving the change in Berlin, the original proposal came from a CDU politician.

Like the Scottish National Party in the UK, the CSU can only stand for election in one single state – Bavaria, in the south of Germany – but it is still part of the coalition government through its relation to Angela Merkel’s main party.