From low-sensory spaces to masked events, expanding the menu of options can help make queer spaces accessible to everyone<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For most, getting ready for a night out at The Rocky Horror Picture Show<\/em> might involve a trip to the dollar store for toilet paper, toast and playing cards, or a few last-minute costume and makeup flourishes. For some disabled fans, it also involves a thorough investigation of the venue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Will theatre staff and audience members be wearing masks? Will the house lights be on, off or dimmed during the show? How many stairs are there between the theatre and the bathrooms? Is there a working elevator? Have the event organizers bought or borrowed a HEPA filter in order to make sure the air is as clean as possible? Will the performance be amplified, or captioned or have live interpretation?<\/p>\n\n\n\n For Keat Welsh, a queer and disabled activist and educator based in Toronto, these were some of the questions on their mind as they got ready to head out to a Deaf shadow cast screening and live performance of Rocky Horror<\/em> at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre last October, hosted by local arts organization the Disability Collective<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The event \u201cwas a really cool mixture of disability and queerness\u2014I was blown away,\u201d recalls Welsh. \u201cNot only was it a very iconic queer culture thing and a Deaf shadow cast, and they put the money into Deaf performers, but it was also a masked event. They had financially accessible tickets, as well as reserved seating for people who needed seats where there were no stairs. The Disability Collective also made little videos showing how to get into Buddies in Bad Times, so you could view what it was like and how to get around if you had never been there. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAs disabled folks, we know that going to any place requires prep work, and they did all this prep work for you, and one hundred percent that made a difference for me being able to be in this space.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Whether we\u2019re getting together for a night at the theatre, a picnic in the park, a walk downtown or a crafting meet-up at a makerspace, queer communities can grow, thrive and put down deeper roots when we are able to connect and find each other in all sorts of places. <\/p>\n\n\n\n But when there are few options for what these gathering spaces can be, or when these spaces are all set up and organized along similar lines, \u201ccommunity\u201d becomes as small as \u201cwhoever is able to get through the door and up the stairs to the local gay bar\u201d \u2026 or, say, \u201cwhoever is able to comfortably spend hours outdoors in the middle of a big crowd, in the summer heat, with few places to sit down and loudspeakers blasting different music around every corner at the Pride parade.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n