22 year old Camp Counselor @ Prospect Park, he/him

“The bathroom horror stories of Prospect Park truly never end.

Toward the end of our staff training week, I was stationed in the Park Slope wing of Prospect Park, near the Bandshell. There are many very nice porta potties around the bandshell, but all are padlocked during the week and reserved for music events. The Call-A-Head porta potty I found was probably weeks overdue it’s pick up, filled to the brim with waste that was somehow growing mold. I used it out of desperation the first time, nearly vomiting. I was unable to clean myself due to the lack of toilet paper. I refused to use it again. I tried desperately to find another. I stopped drinking water out of fear I’d have to pee again and wouldn’t be able to find a restroom near enough to my staff training location. Four hours later, I’m told there’s a restroom building in one of the playgrounds we were near, and I ran to it, desperate.

What I found nearly brought me to tears. The two only two stalls in the men’s room were missing doors, and yellow tape blocked the openings.

As a trans man, I’m not physically able to use a urinal, and to have to use the toilet with no privacy is a major safety concern for me. I would have gone to the woman's’ room, knowing that I’m only sometimes perceived as a man, but with the park being crowded and the restroom full of children I was more afraid of being perceived as a man by an angry parent and having the police called on me or being attacked. My coworkers offered to clear the entire restroom and block it for me, but I didn’t want to cause trouble with the parents in the park. I held it for a total of 7 hours, and ended up with dehydration and heat exhaustion.

I’ve torn my pelvic floor/wall from the effort of holding it on so hard for so long, and now the need to pee comes on suddenly and violently, making my need for a nearby restroom even greater in the coming weeks.”