Warm weather and sunny skies make summer the perfect time to go to festivals in Western New York and Southern Ontario. But for people with disabilities, festivals are sometimes set up in a way that is difficult to navigate, overstimulating or inaccessible.
WBFO’s Grant Ashley took a deep dive into accessibility the LGBTQ+ Pride festivals held in Buffalo and Toronto this summer. Ashley sat down with disabled festival-goers, pride organizers and disability advocates to determine how accessible those festivals are, and what organizers are doing to improve them. Here’s what he found.
Overall, one in three (36%) LGBTQ+ adults self-reported having a disability, compared with one in four (24%) non-LGBTQ+ (cisgender and heterosexual) adults.HRC Foundation
Note: This is part one of a two part series. You can find the second story here.
PLAIN LANGUAGE DESCRIPTION: Some festivals have barriers that make it hard for disabled people to attend. WBFO’s Grant Ashley spoke about accessibility with attendees and organizers of LGBTQ+ Pride festivals in Buffalo and Toronto. In recent years, organizers in Buffalo and Toronto have worked with disabled people to improve accessibility at Pride festivals. Some disabled people still found it hard or impossible to go to LGBTQ+ Pride festivals because of crowds, hot weather and COVID-19 RISK. Some disabled people have created more accessible pride events, but they say big pride events should still be accessible.
TRANSCRIPT
This is a rush transcript provided by a contractor and may be updated over time to be more accurate.
Emyle Watkins: Hi, I'm Emyle Watkins and this is the WBFO Disabilities Beat.
Warm weather and sunny skies make summer the perfect time to go to festivals in Western New York and Southern Ontario, but for people with disabilities festivals are sometimes set up in a way that is difficult to navigate, overstimulating, or inaccessible. This week, WBFO reporter Grant Ashley has a deep dive into two local LGBTQ plus pride festivals that happened this summer in Buffalo and Toronto. According to a Human Rights Campaign analysis of CDC survey data, 36% of LGBTQ+ adults self-report having a disability compared with 24% of non-LGBTQ+ adults. With the likelihood these festivals would have a significant attendance from the disability community, Ashley asks what these festivals are doing to make their events more accessible. Here's what he learned.
This is the first installment in a two-part series. You can find both parts on our website at WBFO.org.
Maryke Bugeya: It's been wonderful. It's been fantastic.
Grant Ashley: Maryke Bugeya went to Toronto's LGBTQ plus Pride Festival to support one of her children.
Maryke Bugeya: I haven't been out to the parade because I do find it a little hard to get up to the front to see the parade, but there's so much activity that happens here on Church Street. It's pretty satisfying. I've had a great time.
Grant Ashley: Crowds at this festival are a given. The Canadian government has referred to Pride Toronto as one of the largest pride events in North America, but Bugeya says the only barriers she's encountered were physical, not social.
Maryke Bugeya: I've had so many people stop and compliment that I had the rollator decorated, so it has been positive experience.
Grant Ashley: A positive experience like Bugeya's is exactly what Toronto Pride's Accessibility Committee is trying to create. Disabled attendees can borrow mobility aids, get assistance from attendant care workers and view performances with American Sign Language Interpreters. Organizers also set up six accessible viewing platforms for the parade, another two platforms that performance stages, a sensory area, and an accessibility hub for questions and assistance. Drew Herrema, an accessibility curator for Toronto Pride, who has disabled himself, said the features were meant to show disabled attendees that they're an important part of the queer community and deserve to have a good time.
Drew Herrema: Requirements don't usually create a good experience and usually are even not the bare minimum, so it's important to go way beyond what's required and onto what creates a good experience. What fits an amazing experience.
Grant Ashley: Many of those accessibility features came from suggestions made by Toronto Pride's Accessibility Advisory Committee. The committee is made up of people with disabilities and caregivers. They meet at least once a month to identify and solve accessibility issues. Dania Niles-Ross, the Community Engagement Manager for Toronto Pride says that the committee advised them on what accessibility features were necessary, how to give volunteers disability training, how to promote accessibility features to the public and more.
Dania Niles-Ross: It's just creating a space where we're not the ones who are making most of the decisions, but the community is included in it, and that's where you get a fair kind of look at what is expected and what people are looking for.
Grant Ashley: Toronto Pride may have offered more accessibility resources than some LGBTQ+ pride festivals or festivals in general, but disabled attendees still faced obstacles. As Toronto Pride's website notes, inaccessible buildings, hot or rainy weather and large crowds may affect accessibility. Kevin Bazkur, who is using a rollator at Toronto Pride this year said it was difficult to pass through dense crowds at the parade.
Kevin Bazkur: It's a difficult situation because you've got a large, very large crowd in a small area, and I know, I believe they do have an area that you can view from. There is an area, I just don't know where it is right now, but I mean, it's like most major events. They try their best, and when you have this big a crowd, it's hard to make it as accessible as you'd like.
Grant Ashley: And because they attract so many people, large festivals also heighten the risk of contracting viral illnesses like COVID-19. Chiron Barron has myalgic encephalomyelitis postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome, and mast cell activation syndrome. They used to go to the trans march and other Toronto Pride events while managing the pain and fatigue their disabilities cause. But since the onset of COVID-19 dense crowds and a lack of widespread precautions are a no-go for many individuals with disabilities, including Barron, who has developed long COVID in recent years.
Chiron Barron: It was hard even before. It's kind of impossible now because of COVID. The pandemic is still going on, and there's absolutely no precautions in place except for people got vaccinated and stopped taking every other precaution.
Grant Ashley: Burlesque performer, Amelia Fakim feels the same way. They performed in shows at Toronto Pride for several years before the COVID pandemic, even though the stages weren't always accessible to them. Since the pandemic, the prospect of navigating dense crowds and potentially contracting COVID have kept her away from some of the biggest Toronto Pride events. Some of their medications also make them heat sensitive, which makes uncovered venues challenging if the weather is hot. She says she wishes that there were more places for attendees and performers to sit down or get out of the sun.
Amelia Fakim: I will have friends who are like, "Oh, let's go watch the parade." And I'm like, "I just physically, I can't do it." There isn't really an option that allows for you to be seated and not outside in the heat. So that's it. I don't really feel safe going to a lot of the crowded events right now. Yeah, most of it is just generally not accessible. Even the stuff that is just the street festival that I do tend to go to, like most of the time I'm fine, but if I'm having a harder day in terms of navigation, that's just not an option for me because the way things are set up in terms of cords on the ground, uneven ground, it's quite challenging to get around that. So if you're not quite stable on your feet that day, it's a no-go.
Grant Ashley: According to Toronto Pride's website, some things are out of organizers control. They can't limit how many people attend or change the weather or pause any ongoing construction projects in the area. But organizers say they're working on improving accessibility and mitigating those barriers when they can. Niles-Ross says her team is considering ways to increase the number of ASL interpreters, recruit more people with invisible disabilities to the Accessibility Advisory Committee, and provide accessible parade viewing areas at street level. In the meantime, many disabled people are going to smaller pride events or organizing their own. Fakim avoids the parade and instead goes to the festival earlier in the day when the crowds are thinner. And Barron organized a small COVID safe comedy show with several other comedians. They haven't been able to celebrate Pride for the past few years, but their comedy show changed that this year.
Chiron Barron: It's very exciting to be doing this and for Pride, especially. When I started this month, I didn't know that I was going to be doing this, something that started just develop during this, and I was like, oh no. It's another Pride Month where I'm not going to be able to celebrate, but it turns out I'm planning this. So it feels good to have this, and hopefully people will enjoy it.
Grant Ashley: But the goal shouldn't be for disabled people to have their own specific events. Fakim says, while these events are great, larger events should learn from them and make sure disabled people always feel welcomed and safe at pride.
Amelia Fakim: It can be isolating and saddening when you feel like you are the only one speaking about those issues. No one wants, you don't want to have to invite yourself to the party. You want someone to invite you.
Grant Ashley: Grant Ashley, WBFO News with reporting from Emyle Watkins in Toronto.
Emyle Watkins: You can listen to the Disabilities Beat segment on demand. View a transcript and plain language description for every episode on our website at WBFO.org. I'm Emyle Watkins. Thanks for listening.
