<img title="A translator shows how volunteers will help out participants this Saturday" src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/images/2017/jan/Pride-Parade-1.jpg" alt="A translator shows how volunteers will help out participants this Saturday" /> A translator shows how volunteers will help out participants this Saturday
This Saturday&rsquo;s pride parade, an annual walk by the city&rsquo;s lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) community and its allies, will serve up a much-needed lesson on inclusivity: that disabled queer persons need to acknowledged, too.
For the first time, volunteers will accompany each disabled queer or LGBTQ ally during the course of the walk.
<img title="Sanjana Aswani (right) started MobiCab with her brother Gautam (centre) after seeing the trouble her wheelchair-bound mother had to go through while getting in and out of cabs" src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/images/2017/jan/Pride-Parade-2.jpg" alt="Sanjana Aswani (right) started MobiCab with her brother Gautam (centre) after seeing the trouble her wheelchair-bound mother had to go through while getting in and out of cabs" /> Sanjana Aswani (right) started MobiCab with her brother Gautam (centre) after seeing the trouble her wheelchair-bound mother had to go through while getting in and out of cabs
&ldquo;We are, in our way, trying to create and convey ideas on accessibility, making the walk a little more welcoming for the disabled,&rdquo; said Nidhi Goyal, programme director of sexuality and gender of NGO Point of View, at a sensitisation workshop at her Bandra office yesterday for volunteers assisting the disabled at the pride walk.
<img title="A cab from MobiCab&rsquo;s fleet" src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/images/2017/jan/Pride-Parade-3.jpg" alt="A cab from MobiCab&rsquo;s fleet" /> A cab from MobiCab&rsquo;s fleet
Most disabled-friendly Right from releasing pamphlets written in Braille to having translators assigned for street plays and free cab pick-ups for the disabled, this year&rsquo;s pride month has proved to be the most disabled-friendly. &ldquo;Apart from having translators for speeches and street plays, we have assigned students to accompany each disabled person at the walk. In a crowd of thousands, it becomes extremely difficult for them to march,&rdquo; said Koninika Roy of Humsafar Trust, which champions the rights of the LGBTQ community.
Also, an L-shaped 16-foot-long ramp will be provided to the stage at the pride parade.
&ldquo;Earlier, we had to seek help to attend workshops and plays. But now, it&rsquo;s become much easier. We are really excited,&rdquo; said Nisar, who is hearing impaired who is raring to take part in the Pride Parade.
Still in the closet Goyal explained that the plan to have a more disabled-friendly event was born out of the realisation during past projects that a number of disabled queer women refuse to come out of the closet since they are either in a state of confusion or in denial owing to scarcity of public representation of other such women. &ldquo;A woman in a wheelchair can also be a lesbian. We need to understand and welcome that,&rdquo; she said.
Sanjana Aswani (34), who launched MobiCab, a fleet of cabs modified to make travel easier for wheelchair users which will ferry queer persons and allies for free on Saturday, said a queer woman with a disability lies at the complex intersection of gender marginalisation, sexuality and disability, which makes it all the more difficult to come out.
&ldquo;I have been going to the pride walk for the last two years. For me, the Pride Parade is about people asserting their rights. People with disabilities have as much a right to public space as every other citizen of this country, and for us, this is a great way to combine the two.&rdquo;
For her, the issue of accessibility hit home when she realised that her wheelchair-bound mother, struggled to get in and out of cabs. &ldquo;Mobicab is about supporting the rights of people with disabilities&rdquo;, said Aswani, who started MobiCab two months ago with brother Gautam, after quitting as a computer engineer.
Roy said each year&rsquo;s Pride Parade fell short of total inclusiveness by failing to address the issue of disability. &ldquo;So this year, we are going all out for inclusiveness. We just put up a video where a translator is inviting people to come for the pride walk. The response has been overwhelming.&rdquo;

This year&rsquo;s pride parade will have volunteers accompanying each disabled queer or LGBTQ ally during the march; aim is to get the disabled queer to come out of the closet

Queer, disabled and proud

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Queer, disabled and proud

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