An official in Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown’s office addressed “the concerns raised by disabled activists” at a Disability Pride flag raising ceremony, but stopped short of apologizing for what one activist called an “insulting and disrespectful” decision.
Several disabled advocates left Wednesday’s ceremony in Niagara Square early after the head of a care agency, People Inc President and CEO Anne McCaffrey, was allowed to speak at the event before any disabled individuals were. As previously reported by WBFO, nine people, not including event emcee and ADA Advocate Brittney Montgomery, spoke first.
“The City of Buffalo acknowledges the concerns raised by disabled activists and recognizes the importance of their voices in our community,” City of Buffalo Chief Diversity Officer Darren Saxon said in a statement. “We regret any unintentional misunderstanding that may have occurred during this event. Mayor Brown is committed to celebrating and uplifting all members of the disability community.”
Saxon also touted the creation of the city’s Disability Advisory Committee, which was celebrated at the flag raising ceremony, and thanked disability activists for their “continued advocacy and engagement.”
Todd Vaarwerk, the chief policy officer for Western New York Independent Living (WNYIL) and one of the disabled activists who left the ceremony in protest, said that the Disability Pride Planning Committee had decided that representatives of agencies wouldn’t speak during the ceremony because they wanted to focus on disabled people themselves.
“Disability Pride is about people with disabilities,” Vaarwerk said. “Disability Pride is about celebrating their success: My success as a person with cerebral palsy, not my agency’s success in how many people we helped last year. I value all of our community agency services, and I think that the services are self-evident. I think the provision of quality services that improves the lives of people with disabilities speaks for itself and doesn't need any additional media attention.”
Since Wednesday’s ceremony, Vaarwerk says he’s had “candid and productive” meetings with city officials where they demonstrated that “they understand how serious the issue is.” But he’s still not sure how McCaffrey ended up at the lectern.
“They did, at least privately, express remorse over what happened, even if nobody could really identify for us how the particular agency person ended up on the dais,” Vaarwerk said. “Nobody seems to know how, and everybody’s putting in the other guy.”
But Vaarwerk says some provider agencies don’t seem to understand the problem. He’s heard from other members of the disability community that some agencies see what happened as a non-issue.
“If I can say anything to any of the provider agencies: the will of the people you serve is absolutely a big deal,” Vaarwerk said.
“People Inc. was pleased to be invited to participate in the recent Disability Pride Flag Raising Ceremony at City Hall,” Liz Kahn, vice president of marketing and communications at People Inc said in an email to WBFO on Wednesday. “We support all efforts to celebrate the accomplishments of people with disabilities.”