Where's the Pride??
On June 28, 2015, the day of the Gay Pride March, Newsday reported that "hundreds of thousands attended the march..." to celebrate the Supreme Court's ruling to legalize same-sex marriage across the nation. The event interrupted regular TV programming.
On July 10, 2015, the US celebrated our woman's team winning the Soccer World Cup. According to an ABCNews article, over 12,000 tickets were requested to this celebration for a venue that could only hold 3,500 people. This event also interrupted regularly scheduled TV programming.
On July 12, 2015, The Wall Street Journal said the Disability Pride Parade "attracted 3,000 people..." and it "was relatively small..." TV programming carried on as scheduled!
I spent two hours flipping through channels to see coverage of the parade, but found not a single live report. Many people may say, "Well, this is only the first one." To that I say, for that very reason it should have been one of the best!
I chatted with Tiffany Hall, a DiversAble Model, who expressed on her Facebook page that she felt the parade was unorganized. When I asked her to explain she wrote, "The streets were only partially blocked off, so we had to wait for traffic lights. We had to wait in the sun for the parade to start" She personally wrote me a message stating, "I doubt many people outside the disabled community even really knew about it. Felt like a waste of time."
This did bring up some important issues though, like the limited accessibility of trains and taxis. Perhaps that's why more people didn't attend. I was disheartened at Mayor de Blasio's treatment of the limited taxi accessibility. ABCNews quotes him as saying his administration is, "very, very committed already on the issue of accessible taxis, but all Tom Harkin had to do was say London was doing better to get my competitive fire going," He is reported to have laughed while making this statement. REALLY?? Full access to my city is left in the hands of a man who sees the issue as a competition??
I am clearly disappointed with the impact, or lack thereof, of this parade. I think we missed the mark today. I know we can do better!
Please do not confuse my criticism of the parade as a lack of acknowledgment of everyone who supported and "organized" the event. I'm proud of those who went out today and celebrated the accomplishments we've made so far! Thank you for proudly representing all those with Diverse Abilities. I'm grateful for the friends & families (DiversAble Allies) who attended and brought their children out to this history making event. I congratulate you all for rising up and making a dent in society!
HELP ME MAKE A DIFFERENCE! SUPPORT THE DIVERSABLE MODEL PROJECT BY PLACING AN ORDER AT http://bitly.com/AbilityPride
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| Crowds gathered to celebrate a history making event! |
On July 10, 2015, the US celebrated our woman's team winning the Soccer World Cup. According to an ABCNews article, over 12,000 tickets were requested to this celebration for a venue that could only hold 3,500 people. This event also interrupted regularly scheduled TV programming.
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| How many people are behind the rails? |
On July 12, 2015, The Wall Street Journal said the Disability Pride Parade "attracted 3,000 people..." and it "was relatively small..." TV programming carried on as scheduled!
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| How many people are behind the rails?? |
I spent two hours flipping through channels to see coverage of the parade, but found not a single live report. Many people may say, "Well, this is only the first one." To that I say, for that very reason it should have been one of the best!
I chatted with Tiffany Hall, a DiversAble Model, who expressed on her Facebook page that she felt the parade was unorganized. When I asked her to explain she wrote, "The streets were only partially blocked off, so we had to wait for traffic lights. We had to wait in the sun for the parade to start" She personally wrote me a message stating, "I doubt many people outside the disabled community even really knew about it. Felt like a waste of time."
This did bring up some important issues though, like the limited accessibility of trains and taxis. Perhaps that's why more people didn't attend. I was disheartened at Mayor de Blasio's treatment of the limited taxi accessibility. ABCNews quotes him as saying his administration is, "very, very committed already on the issue of accessible taxis, but all Tom Harkin had to do was say London was doing better to get my competitive fire going," He is reported to have laughed while making this statement. REALLY?? Full access to my city is left in the hands of a man who sees the issue as a competition??
I am clearly disappointed with the impact, or lack thereof, of this parade. I think we missed the mark today. I know we can do better!
Please do not confuse my criticism of the parade as a lack of acknowledgment of everyone who supported and "organized" the event. I'm proud of those who went out today and celebrated the accomplishments we've made so far! Thank you for proudly representing all those with Diverse Abilities. I'm grateful for the friends & families (DiversAble Allies) who attended and brought their children out to this history making event. I congratulate you all for rising up and making a dent in society!
HELP ME MAKE A DIFFERENCE! SUPPORT THE DIVERSABLE MODEL PROJECT BY PLACING AN ORDER AT http://bitly.com/AbilityPride
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