Lambda’s commitment to accessibility
We want to acknowledge that we have not adequately served our members with disabilities this fall by hosting Lambda Halloween at Tabu, which is an inaccessible venue. Members raised concerns that by holding Lambda Halloween at this location, we excluded members of our community from attending. Excluding anyone is strongly against our values, and we acknowledge that Tabu's inaccessibility made it an inappropriate venue. We deeply apologize for this failure on our part and that we let down our members.
Over the past month, the Board has talked through solutions to address institutional ableism in our offerings. We know that this list of changes to the organization is not definitive of all the adjustments we plan to make this year, but in the spirit of transparency, we want you to know what we are planning to do thus far.
We are making the following changes to Lambda Halloween in the future:
We will not work with any venue that is not fully accessible and compliant with the ADA
We will work with E&I to ensure that the venue is fully accessible to every Lambda member
Lambda Halloween has historically been held at Tabu because they donated the space for our use. To change the venue for future years, the Board will both work with E&I to obtain funding and reallocate Lambda’s budgets so that this new venue will be fully funded for the future Lambda Board. We will also confirm and book the venue on behalf of the future Board during the spring of 2023. In doing so, we aim to ensure the sustainability of this change.
We also donated a portion of funds from Lambda Halloween to Sins Invalid, a queer, POC-led disability justice-based performance project. You can find more of their work here.
Lambda’s institutional ableism is not limited to Lambda Halloween. Along with following E&I’s accessible and inclusive event planning checklist, we will specifically be ensuring the following for all of our offerings:
Advertising accessibility for each event (most likely through Google Form RSVPs)
Allowing attendees to request accommodations via Google Form RSVPs
Refraining from hosting events at any venue that is not ADA-compliant
Using large, descriptive, and sans serif fonts on visual materials
Using microphones for larger events
Continuing to work with E&I to assess Lambda’s accessibility and develop other changes for future events
Communicating logistics of this information and resources to future Lambda Boards to ensure sustainability
Note: One of Lambda’s larger goals for the year is to create transition manuals to ensure institutional knowledge. All this information will be communicated via these written manuals.
And specifically for our next large event (Symposium in the spring), in addition to the above changes we will:
Coordinate ASL interpreters
Provide a live transcript for presenters and attendees on Zoom
Ensure accessibility of physical spaces used
Scheduling breaks at least every 90 minutes
Provide a quiet room for attendees
We are grateful for the labor and vulnerability of those who gave us this feedback, and acknowledge that they should not have had to do so in the first place. The Board takes full responsibility that this was our failing and will spend significant time working to rebuild the trust that was broken. We look forward to building a future with you that is free, liberated, and safe for everyone.
If you have any questions, feedback, or thoughts, please feel free to email us at pennlawlambda@gmail.com or contact any of our Board members.
Best,
The 2022-2023 Penn Carey Law Lambda Board
