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City council member crawls on Denver debate stage due to lack of wheelchair access

Risky Thicket

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"City council member forced to climb onto Denver debate stage due to lack of wheelchair access​


Denver City Council member Chris Hinds said he was humiliated when he had to get out of his wheelchair and attempt to crawl onto a stage before a debate because the venue did not have proper accessibility.

'I am incredibly disappointed and disheartened after the public humiliation I endured at Monday’s District 10 City Council Debate,' he said in a Twitter statement.


The debate was held at the Cleo Parker Robinson Dance school in Denver. Photos posted on social media showed Hinds sitting on the edge of the stage as he tried to make his way to the debate area.

'The lack of wheelchair accessibility on the stage at the debate culminated in an extremely uncomfortable outcome: I had to climb out of my wheelchair and attempt to crawl onto the stage in front of a crowd,'" Hinds wrote. - NBC News

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This kind of thing happens to many people with disabilities much more frequently than most people realize. It is unnecessary, disgusting, shameful, inexcusable and illegal but more often than not temporarily able bodied (*TABS), even the courts, ignore it.

*Most all of you reading this will acquire a disability before you die or a family member or someone you love will become disabled. Don't mistakenly think that it only happens to other people or happens to people after a certain age.

I hope the disability you acquire is one you like.
 
Sounds like a stunt to me. Why couldn’t he enter in his chair from the wings instead of making a spectacle of himself?
 
Lovebug said:
Really?
Click to expand...
Yeah, really. This is a screenshot from the event and the video in the article:



As you can see - there is tons of space there for him to enter the stage from the wings. So why did he put on a show by climbing over the top?
 
Napoleon said:
Yeah, really. This is a screenshot from the event and the video in the article:

View attachment 67437397

As you can see - there is tons of space there for him to enter the stage from the wings. So why did he put on a show by climbing over the top?
Click to expand...
How should he get to the wings?
 

While this certainly is terrible, considering Denver has serious issues with ADA compliance, it's not surprising.

Denver needs to do more to make things more accessible for wheelchair-bound folks.
 
Napoleon said:
Sounds like a stunt to me. Why couldn’t he enter in his chair from the wings instead of making a spectacle of himself?
Click to expand...
JFC. Bringing attention to the illegal inaccessibility of a venue isn't a stunt. The organizers offered to physically lift him as his ONLY other option but he declined.

City councilmember hopes debate inaccessibility serves as a teachable moment

Denver City councilmember for District 10 Chris Hinds, who uses a wheelchair, said debate organizers made him get out of his wheelchair and crawl onto the stage.
www.9news.com
 
Napoleon said:
Sounds like a stunt to me. Why couldn’t he enter in his chair from the wings instead of making a spectacle of himself?
Click to expand...

Sounds like you're trolling.

americanwoman said:
I don't, can you enlighten me?
Click to expand...

He says contrarian things to try to piss people off, the uglier the better. There's no deeper point here. He just figured that it might bother a liberal somewhere to see disabled people being mocked and accused of faking it.
 
I think if it was pure trolling he would have come back and 'splained why it was better for a disabled man to be carried than it is for him to crawl.
 
From another article...

Denver Clerk Paul López said in a statement that he regrets Hinds “had an adverse experience” at the debate.

López said his office reviews and approves applications for venues looking to host debates. Cleo Parker Robinson Dance’s application, obtained by The Denver Post through a public records request, indicated that its “theater is ADA accessible via our back entrance.” López office granted the application approval.

‘Humiliating’: Denver City Council candidate had to crawl on debate stage due to lack of wheelchair access

“It was a choice between my campaign’s viability or my dignity,” Denver City Councilman Chris Hinds told The Denver Post.
www.greeleytribune.com

So...either the venue was lying about access or Hinds didn't use the ADA accessible access that was available.
 
Napoleon said:
Yeah, really. This is a screenshot from the event and the video in the article:

View attachment 67437397

As you can see - there is tons of space there for him to enter the stage from the wings. So why did he put on a show by climbing over the top?
Click to expand...

So you think all those people there completely overlooked there actually was ramp he could access and instead they tried lift his electric wheelchair onto the stage? Then the venue went even further to make the statement they weren't aware wheelchair access was needed?
 

The venue being ADA accessible doesn't mean that the stage was. It just means he could get into the building, which he obviously did.
 
It says the theatre is accessible, not the stage.
 
Napoleon said:
Sounds like a stunt to me. Why couldn’t he enter in his chair from the wings instead of making a spectacle of himself?
Click to expand...
Likely because those entrances were not accessible either.
 
Napoleon said:
Yeah, really. This is a screenshot from the event and the video in the article:

View attachment 67437397

As you can see - there is tons of space there for him to enter the stage from the wings. So why did he put on a show by climbing over the top?
Click to expand...
Uh, because he's a shameless sympathy suck and drama queen who doesn't realise that there's people like you who can't be fooled.
Obviously.
 
Napoleon said:
Sounds like a stunt to me. Why couldn’t he enter in his chair from the wings instead of making a spectacle of himself?
Click to expand...

Ahhh, I'm going to take a wild guess and say because the wings nor the stage were accessible to him.

Many venues with a permanent or assembled stage are not accessible to people who use wheelchairs.

Why in the hell would crawling on a stage be a stunt? Give me some sound logic for your statement.
 
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