This Ottawa Man Built A Ramp For A New Trans Library For Free & Made It More Accessible

Talk about a lift! The Ottawa Trans Library, which opened last month, has a new accessibility ramp thanks to the kind deed of one home renovator.

"Too many people face hate. Too many spaces aren't safe," tweeted Fresh Reno Ottawa. "Last week the new @TransOttawa Library in Hintonburg shared that they need a ramp to be accessible. I'm a cis straight male contractor who believes that #TransWomenAreWomen and #TransMenAreMen. So I reached out."

The owner of Fresh Reno Ottawa, Paul Gratton, said he saw a Twitter post about someone needing wheelchair access to the library, which has two small steps at the entrance.

So, on July 15, he put his home reno skills to work.

"The motive behind doing it was that I'm well aware that trans people face, you know, daily barriers," Gratton told Narcity.

"And then when you add into that a trans person facing those barriers, and then they're also in a wheelchair, and we know that those people also will face barriers at certain businesses."

The home renovation expert said he took on all the costs himself, adding that "as a straight white man, I have never faced any barriers in life."

"I'm lucky to be healthy and upwardly mobile too."

The library in Hintonburg will also have a second small ramp to cover a second step further into the building.

"The ramp is in great condition, is lightweight and just needed a good cleaning," reads a follow-up tweet. "It's considerably lighter than anything I could have made out of wood. It folds up to store and can easily be put into place when someone needs it."

Gratton said the initial post, which has over 700 likes, received a lot of positive feedback from city councillors and residents alike.

"I just wanted to help," he said of the kind deed.