6:39pm August 11, 2014

➸ George Takei: Take Down the Image of the Wheelchair User Standing Up

queerability:

Queerability expresses our profound concern about George Takei and an image he shared. The image was of a woman who uses a wheelchair standing up to reach a bottle of alcohol, and the image was captioned with  ”There has been a miracle in the alcohol aisle.” This image reinforces dangerous misconceptions and stigmas around people with disabilities. Some wheelchair users are able to stand or walk for brief periods of time, but this does not make the wheelchair user’s disability any less significant. 

We are also concerned that George Takei refused to listen to people with disabilities and our allies when the disability community expressed its concerns about the image to George Takei. George Takei, an openly gay man, has been a strong voice for the acceptance of LGBTQ people, however; we are concerned that he is ostracizing people with disabilities, especially LGBTQ people with disabilities, by sharing this image.

Queerability urges George Takei to take down the image and issue an apology to people with disabilities. We also urge the disability and LGBTQ community to sign our petition and share it widely to ensure that George Takei gets the message that sharing these kinds of images is unacceptable and that they reinforce prejudice and stigmas surrounding people with disabilities.

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