When I said I was going to write about the open-air pissoir in Dolores Park, everybody had the same question: Did you try it out?

Let’s put it this way: I assumed the position, but I didn’t free Willy.

In the continuing, endearing saga that is life in San Francisco, we now have a lawsuit filed against the city in Superior Court by two groups that really don’t like the free-range public urinal installed at the top of the park.

This should not be confused with complaints that there are not enough places at Dolores Park to drain the dragon. In that case, neighborhood groups were upset that party-hearty Dolores Parkers were peeing willy-nilly on walls, trees and sidewalks.

“The issue the neighbors had was that several of the park users would relieve themselves on bushes, houses and sidewalks,” said Recreation and Parks spokesman Elton Pon.

In response, the Recreation and Parks Department tried a little outside-the-box thinking and went with a European-style pissoir. (By the way, and this was news to me, it is pronounced piss-WAH, not piss-SOIR.)

The pissoir was installed in February as part of the significant and long-planned update of Dolores Park. Supervisor Scott Wiener (and I’m leaving that one alone) says there were “at least 50 community meetings” and lots and lots of free-flowing ideas. Among them was the idea of putting an open-air pee station at the top of the park, an area known as Gay Beach.

“One thing we heard was we needed significantly expanded restroom facilities,” Wiener said. “The rationale for that particular corner was that it was disproportionally male, and a pissoir would take some of the pressure off the restroom buildings.”

Or as Pon put it: “It had to do with the flow, excuse the pun, of people there.”

The pissoir peeved a couple of right-wing legal groups. The legal counsel for the Pacific Justice Institute sent a 12-page letter — headlined “re: outdoor urination hole” — to Rec and Park General Manager Phil Ginsburg detailing the group’s concerns.

Among them was that “Because of the unique way in which females urinate” they would be exposed to “extreme embarrassment” if they used the facility.

Of course, given that Dolores Park ranks No. 1 on the Yelp list of Best Nude Parks in San Francisco, you’d think that the embarrassment question has pretty much been asked and answered. Actually, given the consumption of pot brownies and the widespread beer, wine and booze tippling on weekends, you’d have to wonder if anyone would even notice.

As city attorney spokesman Matt Dorsey responded in a droll press release titled, “Ain’t that a pissoir?”: “If I had to predict the top 100 things in Dolores Park likely to offend these plaintiffs, I wouldn’t have guessed this would make the cut.”

The lawsuit was filed late Friday, although the groups have been threatening to do it since the letter to Ginsburg in February. Technically, the plaintiff is the San Francisco Chinese Christian Union, but the attorneys include Kevin Snider of the Pacific Justice Institute.

The institute has been active in the effort to deny gender-appropriate bathroom facilities to transgender individuals. It has been labeled an anti-LGBT hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

So this may be more about getting a splash of publicity. And there’s a section of the lawsuit alleging “unlawful sex-based discrimination.”

But that’s only part of it. There’s a whole long stream of complaints. The plaintiffs say the pissoir “emanates odors which are offensive to the senses,” because “urine is nauseating and offensive when excreted in public places.”

Oh, and they also complain it isn’t accessible to people with disabilities. So, to review, it’s a vile, disgusting place ... but we want everyone to have the opportunity to go there.

Now, it should be said, the location has some problems. It’s in plain view and is just off the Muni rail line, so some critics have suggested that passengers might look out the window and see some pissoir-ers in action. Of course, if they look out the window on the other side they might see the same thing, except with no connection to a sewer line.

That’s why they put the facility where it is. It was already a pee hot spot, according to park officials.

Admittedly, the screening is clearly not large enough. Rec and Park didn’t want an enclosed facility because that brings a whole set of problems in, from drug use to sexual activity — none of which I understand has ever happened at Dolores Park.

“It is not screened as well as it should be,” Wiener said. “I agree there needs to be more. And there will be.”

But for now, indications are that the pissoir is both popular and useful. Wiener says there are often lines of men waiting to use the facility.

And Pon says Rec and Park hasn’t gotten many complaints.

“Just a handful,” he said.

So to speak.

C.W. Nevius is a San Francisco Chronicle columnist. His columns appear Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Email: cwnevius@sfchronicle.com