LGBT Center teams up with Office of Accessibility Services for an upcoming survey on accessible and inclusive bathrooms.
The LGBT Center and the Office of Accessibility Services are teaming up together to make sure that people at Ohio University know where to go when they need to go.
Those two departments will soon be conducting a survey of bathrooms in nonresidential buildings on campus to see if their facilities are accessible and inclusive.
“It’s an opportunity to verify that what we’re advertising is what it is,” delfin bautista, director of the LGBT Center, said. “Both from an accessible perspective, but also an all inclusive perspective when it comes to single occupancy restrooms.”
While there is a list already of accessible and single occupancy bathrooms, the list hasn’t been updated in 10 years, according to bautista, who uses they/them pronouns and the lowercase spelling of their name. A new, up-to-date list will make finding safe bathrooms easier for people.
Making a bathroom accessible encompasses following specific measurements and requirements set out by the Americans with Disabilities Act. Accessible bathrooms and single occupancy bathrooms can benefit many, including those with disabilities and people that identify as transgender or gender variant.
“Something that I’ve noticed from my work experience is that there are students who are uncomfortable using a gendered bathroom,” Kyle Amore, a graduate student in the college student personnel program, said.
Marty Dagostino, the university’s professional ergonomist, will be meeting with volunteers and will train them on what qualifies a bathroom as "accessible." There will be a form on what to look for and a document in each restroom. Volunteers will be given measuring tapes to ensure that their findings are accurate, bautista said.
“It’s an opportunity to promote the health and wellbeing among all on campus,” bautista said. “Everyone has the right to feel comfortable and safe while using the restroom and this survey will help to make this possible.”
Making those bathrooms accessible and inclusive will be a challenge, and an ongoing one at that, bautista said. As offices move from building to building there is a need for the conversation to be revisited regularly to keep the list updated, they said. After figuring out which bathrooms on campus aren’t truly accessible, those restrooms will need to be fixed. When renovating buildings, new bathrooms that are accessible and inclusive is important and should be considered.
“I don’t think it’s very updated whatsoever; I think a lot has to be done. I feel like a lot of these dorms aren’t very disability-friendly,” Sam Neff, a freshman studying forensic chemistry, said on the state of bathrooms around campus.
Concern about inclusive restrooms is something experienced by current and incoming students. Having the list easily attainable to them shows acceptance and appreciation of those students, Amore said. Amore added that the steps being taken toward raising awareness of inclusivity by departments at OU shows the importance of creating the safest environment on campus.
“We need all the hands we can get,” bautista said about the upcoming survey. “We want to have a design that’s great.”
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