BY GWEN KENNEDY & NIALL JORDAN PROUD TO BE
Tips for Pride Organisers and Event Organisers: Consider the pricing of events and activities, many disabled people live on welfare supports and so cannot budget for large scale events. Consider the physical access to space. This isn’t just wheelchair access equals ramp. While wheelchair users do need ramps, also needed are suitable lifts for the increasing number of powerchairs to access buildings and rooms during Pride. Speaking with taxi companies in your area to identify and signpost to, would be good (but be mindful that many accessible passenger vehicles only have ramps suitable for manual wheelchairs). • Performing an access audit on venues and routes (including the Pride Route) can be a good way to field any questions from disabled people attending your Pride! Many of us are adept at knowing our own capabilities so empower us to make choices that suit us. • As you design your fabulous posters and images consider alt-text descriptors. Does the layout work to guide the person to the relevant information? Extra tip: not all social media is equal here, so watch out for sites that do not support alt-text as they link to other accounts! • Plain English text in social media posts and on posters work wonders for everyone! While it’s important from an access angle it actually is helpful for organisers too. Last thing you need is too many words taking up space and losing the audience! • We know it’s tricky under the current circumstances but Irish Sign Language interpretation is so important! Please do your best to source one in time. • Some Prides are really great at taking advantage of open community parks, so for those events we suggest signposting to Family-Friendly areas, Calm or Sensory Safe spaces. Such spaces can be ideal for alcohol-free events too. • Badges, everyone loves badges and lanyards so for those working at Pride a lanyard identifying who you are remains visible as some of us may not be able to hear or identify you. • Similarly, for those of us who may find communication difficult consider badges in the “lollipop” traffic system where green means ‘I’m happy to talk’, yellow means ‘Let me talk to you first (i.e. break the ice)’, and red means ‘I’m don’t want to talk/communicate’.
A question presents itself in the theme for Cork Pride this year: “Proud To Be...” For many of us in the disabled community we get to ask ourselves what is Pride to us as we explore our intersectional identities. What does it mean to be proud as both Disabled and LGBTQI+ individuals? We are LGBTQI+ and we are Disabled, and likely much more as well. These two identities often run into each other. As Disabled people, depending on our impairments our sexuality can become muted in daily conversations. This is done through a process known as infantilisation, which applies to situations where a person is prevented from developing along their natural course. It isn’t just sexually or about our sexuality, it can happen with financial choices or medical choices over our own bodies. Claiming spaces to be proud in is a core part of the Pride Movement, our forebears did so when their spaces were being encroached upon during the Stonewall Uprising. It lead to LGBTQI+ activities gathering in a new, dynamic way to take over Christopher Street in protest, it developed into providing a visible space for LGBTQI+ individuals to express their individuality through costuming – think fast on all the powerful Drag Queens and Kings, Trans people, Kink and Leather groups who would who would marshal their gender discombobulation, their inner beauty and strength, their unashamed sexuality to enrich our cause to bring LGBTI+ Rights to the fore of not just the sexual revolution but the Human Rights movement.
These are just some of the things that enable access to Pride events for Full Spectrum Ireland members and would have the knock on effect of moving from being excluded to being included in Pride. Efforts like this bring the community together across various levels of intersectionality and should be seen as something to be proud of. Full Spectrum Ireland was borne out of the need for Disabled people to be included in queer spaces, particularly during Pride. We are proud to serve as Ireland’s first peer-led Disabled LGBTI+ organisation. We are proud of our cultural heritage as Disabled People and as LGBTQI+ people. We are proud to be part of the tradition of Disabled activists and the tradition of LGBTQI+ activists who have pushed to advance the Human Rights Movement as a whole and championed minority voices. Since FSI formed in July 2020 we have heard from many disabled people who are LGBTQI+ and seen how important it is for all of us to share our stories and be proud of who we are. There is a power in being proud to be who you are. If you are Disabled and LGBTQI+ please don’t hesitate to reach out to us: FullSpectrumIreland@gmail.com or through our social media on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter (@FullSpectrumIRL) as we’d love to hear from you! Membership is open all year round and not just for Pride!
Diversity has always been a core part of learning to be proud and being proud to be! With this sentiment in mind, we leave you with the thought: if Pride is a protest then surely we should take the time to reflect on who it exists to represent? The reason we felt compelled to reframe this year’s theme as a question was simply put because we have to ask, “How does Pride truly include all LGBTQI+ people, if some of us with disabilities are being left out?” O ur aim is not to single out Cork Pride with this question, it is a question borne out of the need for all disabled people wishing to participate in Pride in Ireland have to ask themselves. It takes a lot for disabled people in Ireland to navigate connecting (insert dry cough here) public transportation routes, where one link can break the entire chain. Or for us to try booking accessible accommodation that is close to all the Pride amenities. Some of us have to consider sensory issues too, so managing Pride Parades and Marches is important. Follow-up question, “If members of Full Spectrum Ireland – Ireland’s only Disabled LGBTI+ peer organisation, were to come to Pride this year, would we have the equality of opportunity to take part in any or as many events as they wish to?” This question lends itself to Pride’s responsibility to coordinate with their community and business partners alike to open the discussion around accessibility and always strive to build on access for disabled people.
www.corkpride.com
#CorkPride2022
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