Accessibility issues at Pride events, LGBTQ spaces can be isolating, say people with disabilities

Heartbreaking: that's how Ariana Giroux describes being excluded from LGBTQ events because of her disabilities.

Giroux is a neurodivergent person with a physical disability. She uses a cane for walking and also sometimes uses a wheelchair.

Giroux says she sometimes has to sit out of events with friends because of accessibility issues.

That feeling of isolation is particularly hard to stomach at a time when gender and sexually diverse people are coming under increased attack.

"What I need is community care. What I need is to feel in solidarity with my community, and I can't because my community is being in solidarity in places I can't access," says Giroux, who lives in Regina.

"It really pisses me off," says Ryan Young, who lives in Saskatoon.

"Especially as a drag queen, it frustrates me because we as a community who fought so hard for the marginalized are [now] marginalizing people within our own community."

Young, who goes by the stage name China White, has been "visually impaired" for about eight years.

They say navigating Pride events as a performer is challenging. Young often depends on the help of their friend and colleague Iona Whip.

"If she's not there, sometimes, I'm really screwed," Young says.

Pride Month, celebrated in June in Saskatchewan, is a time to embrace diversity and show support for LGBTQ people. But with its traditions of parades and rambunctious parties, some celebrations can pose barriers for people living with disabilities and they say more can be done year-round to make this community inclusive.

On its website, Saskatoon Pride says the group wants to ensure its events and programs are accessible and barrier-free.

"We have heard from people in the past how this is an issue," says Mike McCoy, co-chair of the organization.

For its parade on Saturday, Saskatoon Pride plans to offer a shaded, accessible viewing area at 24th Street and Fifth Avenue, with easy access for people to be dropped off and picked up. Some parking is available on a first come, first served basis.

Shuttles between the two festival grounds at River Landing and Friendship Park will help people who have difficulty walking and navigating crowds.

McCoy says one of the accessible spaces is also intended to be a quieter area to escape over-stimulation.

Regina's Pride parade, held last weekend, "has room for improvement" on the accessibility front, admits co-chair Lisa Phillipson. Queen City Pride tried to offer American sign language interpretation during the festival, but it fell through.

"This year is probably not the best example of that we have put forth with accessibility," she said."We do keep accessibility as an important thing that we try to strive to."

Prince Albert Pride allows people to participate in its parade on foot or behind a wheel an approach the organizationadopted due to the pandemic but that has also made it more accessible.

"In some ways Pride festivals are making significant strides every year to be able to create a more accessible and more available space for everyone," says Giroux, "but there's still a lot to be done."

Jes Battis, an autistic person in Regina, wrote in an email that they've always found Pride "to be a bit overwhelming."

"For many neurodivergent people, this can create sensory overload and lead to exhausting meltdowns."

That's why some people are offering alternatives for celebrating Pride. Two Saskatoon birders, for instance, led a guided tour at a local park last weekend. Like Battis, one of the hosts found many Pride events overstimulating.

Saskatoon Morning6:06Fabulous Feathers Bird Walk celebrates diversity in nature

The CBC's Theresa Kliem joined local birders Ryan Bradshaw and Ryan Dudragne on their Pride Month's Fabulous Feathers Bird Walk tour at Donna Birkmaier Park.

Giroux, who is the executive director of the UR Pride Centre for Sexuality and Gender Diversity, says organizing hybrid events that occur both online and in-person has also helped to make events more accessible.

Most of the centre's Pride events this year are also happening in dry and sober spaces, she says.

"It's about doing our best to organize [and] make sure that there are at least a few options for everybody to get to," says Giroux.

The call to make LGBTQ-friendly spaces more accessible extends past Pride Month.

Q Nightclub, Regina's hotspot for LGBTQ events year-round, doesn't have an accessible entrance. The ramp had to be removed because it became dangerous, says Cory Oxelgren, president of the Gay and Lesbian Community of Regina, the non-profit organization that runs the venue.

"We've been concerned about this for a while. There's been a number of people that have requested that we work on this, so we have," he says.

The organization wants to host a fundraiser soon to make the front entrance accessible.

OutSaskatoon, the city's LGBTQ community centre and service provider, has a fully accessible main floor but also an upstairs level with a library, boardroom and office space that is harder to access.

"We have a lot of room for improvement, as does everywhere," says Anndi McLeod, the organization's community support advocate.

McLeod says OutSaskatoon has been talking of installing a lift for some time. They say they would "love to see that happen sooner than later," but notes the cost.

Giroux says money is a common barrier to making these improvements. She wants a commitment from all levels of government to fund "queer initiatives" to make safe spaces more accessible.

In the meantime, OutSaskatoon has moved some books downstairs and has worked on making the space more welcoming to people experiencing sensory overwhelm, says McLeod something they face themselves.

Looking elsewhere for inspiration

When it comes to making Pride more accessible, McLeod recommends looking for inspiration in other cities.

This month, Pride Toronto is offering ASL interpreters, mobility aids that are rentable for free, designated accessibility viewing areas and sensory spaces, as well as personal support workers, according to the organization's website.

We're a very cis-centric society and a very able-bodied-centric society, so I think all of these things are considered 'extras' a lot of the time when in reality they should be kind of a baseline that exists for all spaces, all the time.- Jaye Kovach, Regina resident

Giroux recommends being proactive about these improvements.

"Make your event accessible now so that when you need it to be accessible, it will be, right? Because chances are we're all going to become disabled at some point in life, especially later in life."

Jaye Kovach says getting more diversity on LGBTQ organization boards and event planning committees can help identify barriers and accessibility accommodations.

The Regina resident says she has missed out on events because of barriers, and even begun planning her own as a result.

She recommends building relationships with venues to work collaboratively on improving accessibility.

"We're a very cis-centric society and a very able-bodied-centric society," says Kovach, "so I think all of these things are considered 'extras' a lot of the time when in reality they should be kind of a baseline that exists for all spaces, all the time."