Seattle mom says Green Lake bathrooms are reserved for the homeless

Green Lake Community Center. (Photo by the Seattle Parks Dept)

A Seattle mother says she was prevented from using the public bathroom on Green Lake because it is reserved for the homeless.

While Kristen was playing in the park with her 18-month-old daughter, she went to the bathroom but found they were taped off. When she asked what was going on at the community center, a staff member told her that the bathrooms were reserved for the homeless and that she had to use a potty instead of the public toilet.

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She told KIRO Radio’s Dori Monson Show, “The woman behind the desk at the community center said the bathrooms are currently reserved for our unoccupied neighbors. I was surprised because I didn’t know how to react. “

This meant squeezing herself into a potty with her young daughter, which she said was unsanitary to the point of danger.

As a taxpayer, Kristen feels betrayed when she cannot even get access to basic human necessities in a park funded by her tax dollars.

“We don’t expect us to just take to the streets,” said Kristen. “It should be available to everyone.”

Listen to the Dori Monson Show on weekday afternoons from 12pm to 3pm on KIRO Radio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.