Who Gets to Go? Washrooms, Dignity, and Public Space
Closing a public washroom is a deliberate decision. And it’s a telling one.
So is only building 4 of them across a 13-station transit line. So is putting changing tables only in women’s bathrooms. So is installing blue lights to make veins harder to find — which, by the way, doesn’t stop drug use. It just makes the washroom worse for everyone.
A place to go when you need to go shouldn’t be a privilege. And that’s exactly what I talked about with CBC Ottawa Morning host Rebecca Zandbergen. Because public washrooms aren’t just about convenience. They’re about dignity, safety, and the right to exist in public — for all.
From unhoused neighbours, gig workers, and people with disabilities to parents, caregivers, and 2SLGBTQIA+ folks — especially trans and non-binary individuals — inadequate washroom access can mean exclusion from daily life. It’s a barrier to participation, a threat to personal health, and a denial of basic human needs.
The way we design public washrooms — or close — them tells you exactly who we think deserves to be in public space.
It’s Personal. And It’s Political.
As a mom of twins, I know that washrooms are never just about waste removal. They’re where you change a baby (or two!). Administer medication. Perform ablution. Manage a health condition. Breastfeed. They’re public health infrastructure. And the way we design, or close, them tells you exactly who we think deserves to be in public space.
Reference Man, the default “neutral” human baked into our cities, is a 6ft-tall heterosexual able-bodied neurotypical white man. He completely disregards women, children, the elderly, people of colour, LGBTQ+ people, people with disabilities, and most men — just about anyone who doesn’t fit this so-called “ideal.” So more or less all of us. He doesn’t have a stroller. He doesn’t have a chronic condition. He isn’t unhoused. We’ve been designing for him. And it shows.
The solution to drug use in washrooms must not be to close them. It’s harm reduction design: sharps disposal, doors that open outward, naloxone on site, dignity by design. And beyond that, it’s systemic change. In housing, public health, and mental health care.
This is a topic close to my heart, I served on the jury for TO the Loo!, Toronto’s public washroom design competition, which asked designers to reimagine these spaces as genuine community assets.
In my Pride Talks, I often speak about how bathrooms have become flashpoints in the fight for 2SLGBTQIA+ justice. Public washrooms are one of the most visible and contested spaces when it comes to bodily autonomy, identity, and safety.