I've done some government advocacy, but this is not one of the projects I worked on--but I'm so grateful someone did!
🚽
It's probably a little hard to imagine the mental gymnastics a person with these medical issues is going through.
The minute you get the pain, you start thinking of places you can stop, and it's all you can do to wait to get to a 🚽. My last crisis sent me into a CVS, but the worker said their bathroom wasn't working. She started into a plumbing story, but I had to leave her mid-sentence & run.
This is just 1 of the reasons I have a #handicapped ♿ placard. I don't always make it on time. #InvisibleDisabilities
I've had #mastocyticenterocolitis since my 20s--but I didn't know until a few years ago...prior to that it had been diagnosed as Crohn's. I could never tell how well the meds were working, because we could always tell that something would be worse than what my current condition was.
UPDATE: I tested this out in a restaurant that had no public restrooms on 8/10/2024. The employee immediately showed me the way to the bathroom hidden in the back. When I came out, I told her this is the first time I had tested things out after the new law. She had no idea about the new law...but ironically, she herself has Crohn's.
See also:
VA #HB474 #Restroom #Access #Act; civil liability:
https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?241+sum+HB474
#mastcell