Few accessible gay venues in Kansas City

[Slyder]

I have not posted before to this forum as I live in Kansas, but most of my social life occurs in Kansas City, Missouri. I am a gay man who uses a wheelchair. In my nearly 20 years of going out to gay venues in Kansas City, I have yet to find one that I can get into by myself. One I regularly visit has a separate entrance, which is acceptable. Most do not have accessible restrooms. In some I have to use a bottle in a dark corner or back into the women's restroom, use a bottle, and pour it over my shoulder. Use of the dark corner, I am told makes me liable for arrest and a permanent listing on the sexual offender register. None has offstreet handicapped parking (in fairness there are very few with offstreet parking of any kind), requiring me to park on the street and assemble a wheelchair in on-coming traffic. And the one Kansas venue I sometimes go to has a handicapped parking place often used by a rental car agency in the same building for its vehicles. I have not joined many organizations because when I do I often find they, even the political organizations, meet in inaccessible venues. The gay and lesbian community center is up a flight of stairs in KC. When it takes five people to carry you up an ice-covered fire escape to attend a meeting one tends not to return to that organization. (Although I have to thank those who risked life and limb to assist me.) It does not feel right that gays should discriminate against their own in the same way (exclusion) that the rest of society still often treats all gay, lesbians, bisexuals, transsexuals, and other sexual minorities. Owners and management of gay venues often tell me that they don't have enough disabled customers to make it profitable to make changes. Duh! Going to such venues is the only way to meet other gay men.

Are their others like me who see the need for change? I suspect the local gay press doesn't want to touch this as the aforementioned owners of establishments who cater to a gay clientele are their advertising lifeblood. No organization where I have made informal inquiries has said this falls in their bailiwick, although I have not exhausted the list. Any suggestions? Do I need to start a new organization? It would be good to start with a non-confrontational approach, and a new organization might seem confrontational. In fact, some find just bringing up the subject confrontational. Another problem might be finding a venue where such an organization of disabled persons could meet!

[proud2BlibKansan]

1. Have you called The Whole Person?

http://www.thewholeperson.org/