My Durham News column: Our Disability Challenge

A snippet from this month's column on how disabilities are viewed by the public, and how the City is handling compliance with the Americans With Disabilities Act.

How are we doing in the Bull City in terms of the ADA? The City of Durham Web site says it will "make all reasonable modifications to city facilities to ensure that people with disabilities have an equal opportunity to enjoy all City programs, services, and activities." In terms of physical disabilities, that includes what most of us notice around us each day – carving curb cuts into sidewalks at intersections, providing buses that "kneel" to accommodate wheelchair access, and providing access to information and services for residents with speech, hearing and/or vision impairments.

In 2005, as a result of a complaint that several city-owned facilities constructed after 1992 did not met ADA Standards, including the Durham Bulls Athletic Park and Stadium, City Hall, the Carolina Theatre/Cinema, and several city parking facilities, an agreement was reached with the federal government to remedy the situation. The city requested and received an extension and projects full compliance by December 2010.

For people with "invisible," not-always-readily apparent disabilities (diabetes, hearing impairment, mental illness, etc.), the issue of what the public perceives as a disability versus the reality of what constitutes disability still represents a wide cultural gap, despite the ADA being in place for almost 20 years.

Durham News column drops today: 'Night at the City Council'

My column is up: "Night at the City Council." A snippet:

How many of you have attended a City Council meeting? I recently attended one and it was interesting in many respects, particularly because I write about national and state politics for my blog.

This meeting drew a standing-room-only crowd to the council chambers. I was there because the members of the council were going to vote on a resolution that would endorse and support "the rights of same-sex couples to share fully and equally in the rights, responsibilities and commitments of civil marriage." Many of my blog's national readers were looking for a first-hand account, so I was there as a citizen journalist.

More behind-the-scenes action during my on-the-scene coverage of the politics in the room. See my Aug. 17 coverage with video, "NC: Durham City Council votes unanimously for marriage equality resolution."

My columns for The Durham News

[UPDATE (8/18): I had lunch with editor Mark Schultz, and the N&O/The Durham News has decided to extend my gig! He asked me whether I'd like to increase the column to twice a month, but I don't know that I can add that much to my already-full plate. I will be able to go longer on pieces if I want/need to -- usually I was constrained to 550-600 words.]

I'm the first out lesbian columnist for the News & Observer, one of the largest newspapers in the state and possibly the first out lesbian columnist for a major newspaper in NC; I have no idea. Anyway, several columns have now run in The Durham News, its Bull City community edition. It's a monthly column (I rotate with other local folks), a gig for six months that began in March 2009, so I'm wrapping up my stint.

Mark Schultz, the editor of TDN and The Chapel Hill News (as well as one of the Western Triangle editors for The News & Observer) just asked me out of the blue to do this. I was recommended by one of my old pals and former neighbor in Old West Durham, John Schelp, since I'm a Durham native. It's a small world.

My column is not like my blog -- about national politics -- this is about community flavor, but I do take on politics The first piece is still so far the one that has generated the most mail -- about breed-specific discrimination regarding American Pit Bull Terriers. I adopted Casey from a local shelter in 2008 and seen bias around here that reminds me all too much of racial discrimination. I only have about 650 words to jabber on -- no freedom for endless commentary like I have at the Blend.

My Columns

Night at the City Council
Sept 9, 2009
2 degrees of Stuyvesant, NYC
Aug 12, 2009
How city grew out of its shell
Jul 08, 2009
Sounding off on the need for speed
May 13, 2009
Pols now tight-lipped on gays
Apr 08, 2009
Fighting pet prejudice
Mar 15, 2009

Full list is on the Publications page of my site.