(no subject)
Dear Dana/Queer Party PDX,
Hey! I am Reece, one of the Q10 organizers. I read your recent post about Queeruption and accessibility. First off, I wanted to thank you for being excited/interested in Queeruption enough to try pull together a meeting/meetings to try to improve it. The collective is fairly small, and we have received a lot of really important instruction, advice and input from individuals who are not involved in the collective, but who have shared their thoughts with us.
I wanted to clarify some points made in your email though, as well as share some of my thoughts.
There has been a change in the camping situation- the entire event, with the exception of the 5th, is now taking place outside of the city. I would like to address your concerns about the camping site as well as explain this change.
One of your concerns was that the camping was inaccessible to people, however, we selected this space for its ability to be accessible. Vehicles can drive right up to the site, along a flat, wide road. The site itself is fairly flat and navigable, possibly with the exception of some of the forest trails. Sleeping, eating, washroom, workshop, party, healing and all other activity sites are accessible. We have rented two wheelchair accessible portapotties, and will have handwashing and drinking stations that are accessible. The drive from the city to the land is short, and broken up by a ferry ride so that people who cannot sit in cars for long periods of time due to injuries will have the opportunity to stand and walk around/lie down, and will never have to stay seated for longer than 40 minutes. We are in the process of getting exact measurements for the site that we can publicize.
We are aware that many people cannot camp, due to various reasons- an inability to sleep comfortably on the ground due to chronic pain, the need for electricity while they sleep to power life-preserving machines, etc. This site was chosen partially because we have access to a house nearby which is available for people to sleep at. The house has a limited number of beds as well as electricity. We have asked people to contact us if they require this type of housing, and there is still a lot of room there.
We are providing access to the site from the ferry (which is accessible by public transportation, and wheelchair accessible), so riding bicycles, though entirely possible, is not at all necessary. We have large vans, including one with a ramp and the space to accommodate chairs.
As for the space in the city, this was not something that was recently decided upon, this was part of the event initially. We have decided not to have any workshops, etc. in the city, and just come into the city on the day of the pride parade and Oddball (an accessible queer dance party which happens twice yearly in Vancouver). One of the major reasons we have decided not to have activities in the city was that we have been unable to find accessible locations that were large enough for Queeruption and affordable.
I would like to state that we have never offered to carry people up stairs. I personally would object strongly to anyone who suggested this as an option for making a site accessible, as I agree with you on every point you stated regarding this tactic.
It is true that not all of our fund raisers have been completely accessible. Some of them have been put on by groups other than the collective for the purpose of benefiting Queeruption, and we have not stated that these need to be accessible in order for us to accept the donations. Maybe we should have stipulated this, though in some cases the event would have happened anyways with the money benefiting another group. The vast majority of the events we have organized were in locations that were either fully accessible, or accessible in a limited way (ie. a ground floor that would be accessible to most wheelchairs but door sizes too narrow for some of the larger scooters). We have tried to publicize the specifics regarding these sites, acknowledging that this was not ideal. In some cases we failed to do this in a timely manner, and that is one of my regrets, and something I have learned from organizing here. I think communication between the collective and people who will/will potentially come to Queeruption has not been as clear as it could be. That issue comes from the collective being stressed and overworked, but the consequences, which I believe include the email you sent, have obviously been dire. This is an issue we have discussed as a group and we are working on improving communication.
I am sure that many other thoughts, suggestions and questions will arise in your meeting, and I (as well as the rest of the collective) would really like to work with you in a collaborative manner. Please contact myself at q10zine@gmail.com or 604-675-9841(my home phone), or the collective email q10vancouver@queeruption.org.
Thanks again,
Reece
For additional information, please see our Accessibility Meeting Minutes posted here: http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=d3r558t_59c9dr6p