In the film “Hidden Figures”, Katherine gives a speech about having to walk over a quarter of a mile to another building just to use the toilet because there “are no coloured bathrooms here”.
Female legislatures are having a similar problem; but not because of the colour of their skin, but because the buildings simply do not women’s facilities….or a very limited number.
In Kentucky, the Statehouse building has a grand total of TWO bathroom stalls for women…on the THIRD FLOOR! Currently there are 41 female members of the legistaure.
For Katherine, it took her 40 minutes just to go to the bathroom and back; while female legislators in Kentucky don’t need quite that much time, having to go to the toilet can be time consuming enough for them to miss an important speech, debate, or vote.
Not only do the nearly 100 men in the legislature have plenty of options for a toilet, speakers have been installed so that they can hear everything going on in chambers.
“In a pinch” House Speaker David Osborne will let women use his private toilet; but that still invites a waiting line like a rock concert.
Representative Lisa Wilner noted, “you get the message very quickly: This place was not really built for us.”
Professor emerita at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign’s School of Architecture Kathryn Anthony noted, “the issue of parity may seem comic, but its impact runs deeper than uncomfortably full bladders. It’s absolutely critical because the built environment reflects our culture and reflects our population. And if you have an environment that is designed for half the population but forgets about the other half, you have a group of disenfranchised people and disadvantaged people.” Anthony has previously spoken to Congress on this matter.
For Katherine, her boss simply knocked down the “white’s only” sign and told Katherine to use whatever bathroom she wanted “preferably closed to your desk”. But for the 155 year old building, the Kentucky Capitol is currently undergoing a $300 million renovation; but it will not be ready until 2028 at the earliest. The upgrade includes additional bathrooms for women. Kentucky is among the last state legislatures to provide some parity and add adequate facilities for its female legislators.
Chief of Staff in Georgia Gerald Pilgrim noted that when the Georgia Capitol was renovated, expanding the women’s bathroom facilities is a priority; along with complying with the Americans with Disabilities Act. “We know there are not enough bathrooms,” he said.
While many of the state houses are complying with federal law regarding bathroom facilities in public buildings; historic buildings are exempt.
Maryland’s State House was built in the 1700’s; it included facilities for white men only. Female facilities weren’t added until 1922 but are not adequate for the number of female legislators.
When Delegate Pauline Menes continually complained about the situation, House Speaker Thomas Lowe gave her a fur toilet seat and named her the chair of the “Ladies Rest Room Committee” in 1972. The following year she launched the women’s caucus. More bathrooms were finally added in 2019; along with one for nursing mothers and a gender neutral bathroom.
In Nebraska, women had to ask a state trooper to guard the door while they made use of the single toilet available; women finally got one of their own in 1988.
Colorado House women had a big celebration in 1987 and had a big plaque made to mark the event honouring Rep. Arie Taylor who pushed for the facility.
Hanging in the women’s bathroom, the plaque reads, “Once here beneath the golden dome if nature made a call, we’d have to scramble from our seats and dash across the hall … Then Arie took the mike once more to push an urge organic, no longer do we fret and squirm or cross our legs in panic.”
In New Mexico, Rep Liz Thomson missed a vote because there were no facilities in the chamber’s lounge. But things began to change just last year.
It was 1962 before the female congresswomen got a restroom of their own; with the female Senators having to wait until 1992 and finally in 2011 female House members had one available in the House chambers.
The first female elected to a congressional seat in 1916.