Thread by @mari_ness

Hi everyone!

Turns out that Omni Shoreham hotel - the main #Discon #Worldcon hotel - while technically wheelchair accessible, is not wheelchair friendly.

I found this out yesterday on Twitter by accident, about an hour before the hotel cancellation fee kicked in, and reached out to Access and a couple of people at the hotel to confirm.

#Discon #Worldcon

I have confirmed with the people at the hotel and @MaryRobinette that the hotel WILL be difficult to navigate, and that the problems may even be worse than the hotel map would suggest.

#Discon #Worldcon

This leaves me with two options:

1. Spending several hundred more dollars to go to a wheelchair-unfriendly con AGAIN (for newer followers, this historically has not turned out well) OR

2. Swallow around $400 in cancellation fees to get to stay home and watch everyone else go have fun.

#Discon #Worldcon

Now, some of this is on me for not doing more research on the hotel. I'll own that.

But, that said?

#Discon #Worldcon

THIS SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN ON ME.

#Discon and #Worldcon have known about the accessibility issues at this convention FOR MONTHS.

They could have sent out some sort of email blast, or put a prominent explanation on their webpage.

THEY DID NOT.

What they DID say, over and over and over again on their webpage and email updates and tweets, is that they were committed to being an inclusive, welcoming convention.

A convention held at a wheelchair-unfriendly facility.

#Discon #Worldcon

I reached out to #Worldcon Access late last night. @MaryRobinette confirmed the issues with the hotel and apologized for the communication issues today.

So, yes, I have an apology.

And in the interests of full disclosure, yes, I had other concerns about this convention before this came up.

Nonetheless.

Oh, and @MaryRobinette told me that she is looking at some potential options to mitigate the hotel room service issue.

AND YET.

ONCE AGAIN I AM BEING ASKED TO PAY THE SAME AMOUNT OF MONEY FOR SOMETHING THAT I AM NOT GETTING THE SAME ACCESS TO.

GENRE PEOPLE.

THIS HAS BEEN A DECADE OF ME SCREAMING ABOUT THIS.

A DECADE.

This is my FIFTH Worldcon.

My FIFTH Worldcon with accessibility/wheelchair issues.

Along with other fan run genre cons.

I have spoken up. I have advocated. I have offered to help.

And here we are, TWELVE YEARS AFTER MY FIRST POST ON THIS

AND A MAJOR GENRE CON NOT ONLY RESERVED A WHEELCHAIR UNFRIENDLY HOTEL, BUT FAILED TO SEND OUT AN ALERT TO MEMBERS ABOUT THIS.

(here I am, using capital letters even after the apology!)

One of my long time friends, who has known me before I started using a wheelchair, told me that he felt I was now in an abusive/dysfunctional relationship with SFF and SFF genre cons.

It was a remarkably insightful comment.

Because look, it's not ALL bad! I've had fun times - great times - at many of the conventions. I've gotten to meet amazing people and made friends and laughed and so on. I love barcon!

And yet every single Worldcon has led to me breaking down and crying and crying (not always about wheelchair issues; there's also been some not at all fun social interactions that may or may not be related to the wheelchair.)

And at pretty much EVERY FUCKING WORLDCON I have ended up talking as much about the wheelchair and related issues than I have about books and movies and TV shows - the supposed reason that I am there.

And here's the thing:

Worldcon is designed by and intended for fans. That's what makes it special.

But for genre writers, it's also a PROFESSIONAL thing that we are highly encouraged to attend.

It's an event where we - in theory - can find fans to discuss our writing. Maybe sell a couple of books. Talk shop with writers.

It's also an event where I have often felt unwelcomed and unwanted.

And here we are.

San Antonio. London. Helsinki. Dublin.

Wheelchair issue after wheelchair issue after wheelchair issue.

Assurances that this con - #Discon - was going to prioritize accessibility. Was going to be inclusive.

#Worldcon

Only to find out - four days before the official start of the con - that this is a wheelchair-unfriendly hotel.

(I feel I should quietly note that this Twitter thread is a lot angrier than the email I sent to Access and that Mary Robinette last night.)

I don't know, frankly, if I can attend Worldcon live or virtually right now. Not just because of the wheelchair issues, but because of how angry I am.

And I want to stress a few more things here:

Whenever a genre con fails to communicate clearly with members about accessibility issues, it has a number of clear and less clear costs.

Clear costs: Here, I'm either paying for a wheelchair-unfriendly con after being assured that it would be friendly, or, paying cancelation fees.

Less clear costs: I would like to be writing stuff right now so I can submit things in January. Instead I'm typing this.

Hidden costs: Disabled voices often get silenced - or, as in this case, end up making the same complaints over and over, instead of getting to tell/live their stories.

SPEAKING OF WHICH.

I am on six program items at Worldcon.

The three program items that discuss/deal with disability? All virtual programs.

The three that don't? All live programs.

There is an explanation for this:

"The reason that the disability panels all moved online is because of the correlation between the people who are most in danger and people who chose to attend virtually."

....I'd like everyone to think about that. Carefully.

Meanwhile.

I see the usual retweets/sympathies/"We can't keep doing this,"/"We have to change" are going around.

The retweets/sympathies/etc that haven't worked the last 20 odd times.

I'd hoped that SFF fans could change.

I was wrong.

I give up.

#Worldcon #Discon