Hey, That’s Entertainment!

By Raymond D. Cohen

Hey, that’s entertainment! Or is it… Sure, going to the movies is a nice way to spend some recreational time -- and, clearly, people with disabilities are just as passionate about the arts as their able-bodied counterparts. But when you are a person with a disability, theatres and art venues that are less than fully accessible are at the least annoying -- and at most prohibitive.

When one makes the effort to transcend the inconsiderate structure of an inaccessible theatre, as Ing Wong and her boyfriend, Tim Ward, did recently in Toronto, and then be informed by theatre staff that you are not welcome to return, that you pose a potential hazard to others... that there is an actual policy to keep you out... well, somehow a matter of some inconvenience takes on much more macabre dimensions. Perhaps this added to Ing Wong’s impetus to take legal action against Famous Players Theatres.

In a letter to "The Toronto Star," Canadian Abilities Foundation chairperson Patrick Watson advocates Ms. Wong’s right to frequent any establishment she chooses. "Famous Players is not permitted to single out any segment of the population -- not people with disabilities, not people of colour, not women, not ANY group -- and deny access to that group. We call this discrimination," he writes.

Similarly, Abilities board member Catherine Frazee points out in correspondence to Toronto Film Festival director Piers Handling that "the Festival, and too many of its venue theatres, are in blatant violation of the legal obligations imposed by the Ontario Human Rights Code. Perhaps even more disturbing, the Festival, in its continuing failure to provide access to persons with disabilities, undermines the very principles of social, artistic and political discourse and exploration upon which it must surely be premised."

In discussion with me, Catherine Frazee also expressed her support of Barbara Turnbull, another woman with a disability, who successfully compelled Toronto’s Cumberland Theatre towards renovations for accessibility when she filed a human rights complaint against that Famous Players theatre.

Most recently, the Manitoba League of Persons with Disabilities has launched a human rights complaint against Famous Players. Members of that organization, too, have been prevented from attending one of its theatres. They too, are unwilling to accept that any public facility has the right to deny them access.

The issue here is not about going to the movies. The issue is about regression. Let’s not forget that access to public facilities in our society is a fairly recent development. It is this access that has facilitated the emancipation of many people with disabilities, and vice versa. Access and emancipation are extremely important concepts, and in this instance they are young and fragile. These concepts need to be nurtured, not battered.

There is some ugly writing on the wall: Accessible transportation is being threatened; integrated education is falling into question (see "The Eaton Case" by Mel Graham, this issue); and support services across the country would be falling completely out of reach were it not for the glimmer of hope provided by the Task Force on Disability Issues report (see "An Essential Force" by Andy Scott, this issue, and http://indie.ca/taskForce, online).

It’s easy for me to imagine some genius, sitting in some position of power and influence, musing on all the recently vacated institutions and figuring out how they might best be used: "...hey, why NOT give all those handicapped people a place to stay where they can be looked after properly, where transportation and accommodation ain’t issues, and where employers won’t have to try to figure out how to give them people jobs... why not...?"

Sound a little far-fetched and paranoid? Well, maybe. But full participation needs to be supported -- and access needs to be protected. Any regressive steps, be they in our classrooms, in our places of employment, in our services or in our theatres, must be prevented. These would be dangerous steps backward to a much darker age.

We each have a responsibility to act. Let’s not have the likes of Ing Wong, the Eatons, Catherine Frazee, Barbara Turnbull and the members of the Manitoba League of Persons with Disabilities stand alone. Stay involved, speak out and act whenever you come across barriers to independence.

Enjoy this issue of ABILITIES. It is brought to you by an accessible future!