Carl & Kate Go on an Accessible Date

While gauging the accessibility of several downtown Columbia buildings, we imagined our date as a power chair-user with upper-body mobility. Oftentimes, this involved assessing the width of doorways and pathways, how doors opened, the levelness of the ground and/or access to elevators, and the height from the ground of counters, tables, mirrors, and various dispensers in the bathrooms. Those observations were made under guidelines found in Chess, et. al’s “PISSAR Checklist” which above all considers “queer queerness, a queerness that encompasses both sexually and medically queer bodies, that embraces a diversity of appearances and disabilities and needs.”[1] Still however, we were imaging a date, not simply measuring material accessibility. Where were there spaces to be intimate and feel comfortable expressing this? Where could we imagine crip sexual culture to “claim and celebrate impairment as a sexual advantage”?[2]

We started out meeting at the new Fuzzy’s Tacos on S. 9th street, close to both Carley’s apartment and a public bus drop off. The area is very newly developed with a luxury student apartment complex above; it follows that we found wide, freshly paved (and therefore even) sidewalks throughout the date. At first we were unsure whether either of the entrances was wide enough, but soon a power chair user came in and we could rest assured. We felt it made sense that a chain restaurant such as this would be better ADA compliant than a small, local business. From there it seemed the outer rim of the restaurant was the least obstructed, so we went straight to order at a counter that was approx. 3 1/2 feet off the ground. Moving on to find a table, there were plenty of open, low (~3 feet high) options with moveable chairs, and we settled at one with an open side to park. The bar area however was crowded and had a significantly higher counter, even though it was attached to the lower counter we ordered at earlier. A buzzer went off once our food was ready, meaning we, rather than waitstaff, were responsible for picking it up at ~5 foot tall counter. For our date, this meant we would need to pick up both meals or think to request when ordering that our food be brought out to us. Non-alcoholic drinks and condiments however were nearby at an accessible serve-yourself counter.

Like many fast food franchises, more labor than traditional sit-down restaurants is expected out of the consumer, partly keeping the price down. Many of these acts, like ordering and filling a drink, are done at lower counters, but the “adult” tasks of ordering an alcoholic drink at the bar and getting one’s own food are significantly higher, designed with “walkies” in mind. As for the bathroom, we had several clear paths to both, which were both single-stall, visibly designated as wheelchair accessible, and gendered, therefore meeting most elements of PISSAR’s checklist on disability accessibility but not on gender safety.[3]

Single-stall bathroom at Fuzzy's Tacos

Wide Path to Place Order, Photo Taken from Entrance

Seating Area at Fuzzy's Tacos

Food Pick-up Counter -- Notice the height

Crowded Bar Area, Obstructed Pathway

We then headed next door to Silverball for what could have been a fun night at the arcade. However, once we got past the garage door-esque entrance, the accessibility came to an abrupt halt. The majority of the games offered in the arcade were on a raised platform or upstairs. Both of these areas were only accessible via stairs, which relegated us to the back of the arcade, under the staircase case near the restrooms. Furthermore, the few games that were available to us were not very accessible. Table games like foosball and air hockey can require a certain level of mobility around the table that may be difficult to a wheelchair user given that the games are packed closely together with not much room in between. Additionally, one of the games in the area we were confined to was Dance Dance Revolution, a game that is anything but accessible. 

We were also near the restrooms, and noticed that the women’s room was not labeled as accessible, or as women’s. The only indication that it was meant for women (besides a scantily clad female character painted on the door) was that the other restroom was labeled for men. Once we went in the restroom, we noticed that what one would assume to be the accessible stalls (we inferred that because they were the biggest they were supposed to be the accessible stalls). These stalls were hardly accessible however, as they had no handrails. The sinks and paper towel dispensers were at an accessible height, but the soap dispensers were a reach even for us. The one positive in the bathroom was a large mirror that took up most of the wall. One could easily use the mirror, regardless of the size of the wheelchair they use.

Wide Entrance to Silverball

Wide and Low Bathroom Mirror

Our Pathway to the Back along the Bar, Elevated Game Area on the Left

Entrance to Women's restroom, No Accessibility Designation

The final stop of the evening was back to Carley’s place for some emotional (and possibly physical) intimacy. The walk/roll from Silverball to University Place Apartments was a good one, as the journey keeps to level and well-maintained sidewalks with low grade curb cutters. University Place is extremely accessible, and some wheelchair users actually live in the building. There is a ramp into the entrance, which is framed with automatic doors (a common theme throughout the main doorways in the building). The floors are all level in the lobby, halls, and apartments, allowing for easy rolling. The door into the apartment and into Carley’s bedroom require being opened manually, but they do open inwards, which allowed for some added accessibility. The floor plan and layout of the apartment is also fairly open and easily maneuverable. This allows for private intimacy in the living room or bedroom, depending on our comfort and preference. The one downside is the restroom, where the toilet occupies a narrow alcove on the other side of a narrow doorway. Depending on the width of the wheelchair, this may or may not hinder access to the toilet. The shower is slightly raised and in the shape of a narrow cylinder, again posing a possible blockade to the wheelchair user.

Wide Entrance with Automatic Doors at Carl's Place, Elevators on the Right 

Carl's Bedroom, Floors are all the Same Level

Small and Tight Bathroom at the Apartment, No Hand Rails

Narrow Shower at the Apartment

A recurring theme that we kept stumbling upon during our date and during discussion afterwards was the idea of access to intimate spaces for queer bodies, both in the visceral and/or sexual sense. Since sexual behavior “bestows human status” according to Siebers, limitations to accessing intimate spaces such as improper bathroom signage only reifies notions that queer/crip bodies are less than human and sexually deviant.[4] The ability to freely use spaces constitutes a certain level of intimate citizenship, or “the control (or not) over one’s body, feelings, relationships: access (or not) to representations, relationships, public spaces, etc.; and socially grounded choices (or not) about identities, gender experiences.”[5] The gendered experience of our date was a very binary one, as there were no gender inclusive/neutral designated bathroom at Fuzzy’s or Silverball, and the women’s room in Silverball was not even marked as accessible. This got us thinking about how much signage matters in deciding where one is willing to go and do. For example, the only accessible space in Silverball was hidden away under the stairs; does this mean a wheelchair user is to be hidden away so as not to disrupt the rest of the bar, or is this an opportunity to reclaim a space for intimacy?

[1] Chess, et. al, 225. PISSAR stands for People in Search of Safe and Accessible Restrooms, a genderqueer/disability coalition assessing accessibility on the UC-Santa Barbara campus.

[2] Siebers, 43

[3] Chess, et. al, 232

[4] Siebers, 41

[5] Siebers, 38

Works Consulted

Siebers, Tobin. “A Sexual Culture for Disabled People.” In Disability Theory. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2008, 36-53/135-156.

Chess, Simone, Alison Kafer, Jessi Quizar, and Mattie Udora Richardson, “Calling all Bathroom Revolutionaries.” In That's Revolting: Queer Strategies for Resisting Assimilation, ed. Mattilda. Brooklyn, NY: Soft Skull Press, 2004, 216-233.