Originally Posted by
bocastephen
Even if the lavatory smoke detector is broken, rather than disabling it for passengers, perhaps just allow males who need to do a #1 use it with the door left open. That would at least alleviate some of the line for the other lavatories at the back. There is still plenty of privacy with this arrangement.
Beside not be generally socially acceptable, the MEL requirements are not suggestions for the crew and have been approved by the FAA.