The Act of Consideration
It's 2023 and I'm still masking. In fact most of us in the disabled community are. Why? Because we're still dying, but the general public seems to have forgotten that a severe respiratory virus is still around and mutating into more contagious and still deadly variants.
I could focus on that, but we in the disabled community have been screaming for help for years and those pleas have fallen on ears that have chosen not to listen.
Instead I would like to ask you, reader, some questions about what you believe community and theatre could be like. With the knowledge that these questions are merely the starting point to truly becoming inclusive, and none of these questions are new. Please ask those around you these questions, and ask them often. It is when these discussions keep happening that change truly begins.
Do you notice when there aren't any disabled people in a room?
Do you notice if they can even enter?
What is one thing you can do to create a more inclusive environment, wherever it is you spend your time?
Have you spent much time with anyone who is open about their disability?
Have you looked at them with judgement or celebration when they tell you about their limits?
I encourage you to sit with these questions, don't stop after your first thought or initial response, especially if it brings up discomfort. Disabled people can not move away from these questions, they are what we live with every day.
Have you purposefully searched for and found books, tv shows, movies, and art about disability?
Was it made by disabled people?
Can you tell the difference without looking up who made it?
Us in the disabled community talk a lot about disability inspiration porn. Most things created by not yet disabled folks will focus on being inspired by disabled people's existence. Whereas disabled people create stories and art focused on the reality of being disabled: the grief and joy. It's complex and beautiful.
Have you ever not invited someone because you didn't think they'd be able to join?
Have you considered changing your plans so they could?
Do you view mobility aids as a burden or a freedom?
The last time I went out of town for a theatre show I was greeted by a previous teacher who saw my cane and apologised that I had to use it. I'm sure they meant well, but it landed like a hot brand. I stood up tall, nodded, and moved on. But my brain keeps circling back because this cane is just the start of my mobility aid journey and it has given me such freedom and joy.
Are you listening to racialized disabled people?
Are you listening to disabled people with high care needs?
Do you know non-speaking disabled people can still communicate even if most people wouldn't consider them capable of it?
Do you know their words are even more important because of that?
Do you know that disabled people aren't inherently inspirational?
Disability is not a monolith. We must learn from as many voices as we can. They see and experience things most do not. And they often do not get the assumption of capability, the acknowledgment that they can learn and are able to express complex and beautiful thoughts. Those thoughts may come out as a roar or a whimper, and those are all the more important. Rage and sorrow are often hidden or seen as unwanted emotions, but they are key tools in recognizing injustice and moving to correct it.
Do you know we hear you when you say you'd rather die than live like us?
Do you know we'd rather live like this than die?
We are all around you. We are alive and we want to thrive just as you do.
Do you still wear a mask?
Do you still wear a mask only inside?
Do you notice when people aren't masking?
Do you know how many disabled people need to access public spaces like grocery stores and buses?
We make art, we work, we breathe the same air as you.
Do you know that sometimes you can't tell by looking at someone that they're disabled?
Do you know that you are merely not yet disabled?
Do you know that you can become disabled at any time?
Do you know that we will welcome you into our community with no need for you to prove that you are "disabled enough"?
It doesn't need to be a scary thing. If we support and celebrate disability, we can thrive together.
Do you know what accessibility looks like?
Do you know the difference between accessibility and inclusion?
Do you know what eugenics is?
Can you spot it even when it hides under fancy words?
Will you fight with us?
We are beautiful and handsome beings full of life, as long as you do not kill us first. Please let us live.
Photos: A portrait of Oliver, a white-appearing non-binary artist. They are standing on one foot facing down to the left with their left foot being removed from a pair of red leather pants. Their hair is dark and curly and covers part of their face with it's green, orange and brown curls. They have a fishnet body suit, black shorts, and knee braces on and are wearing a black mask with they/them pronouns in white text on one half of the mask. Tattoos cover their chest and parts of their arms and thigh. This image evokes a sense of power and control, as they reveal themself and one the visible parts of their disability in the knee braces helping them stand.
A landscape picture of Oliver, a white-appearing non-binary artist. They are casually leaning onto a mattress on their right elbow with their legs on the ground. A tiny 22 year-old stuffed dog, named Beethoven, lays in front of them on the mattress with a small rainbow blanket. Oliver has a purple lace umbrella in their right hand. They are wearing glasses, a blue bus-print mask, dark green shawl, a grey dress with a brown paisley velvet skirt underneath it, green leg warmers, and heels with cat faces on them. Their curly shoulder length hair is orange and green on one side and brown on the other. There is a softness in this image as Oliver and Beethoven bask in the light from a window together.
