This is an article I wrote following a meeting on Monday with self advocates and the Editorial Board of the Portland Press Herald, it was truly self advocacy in action and a powerful meeting.

(Editor's Note; Apologies to any who may be offended by language used as an example in this article. I know personally that These self-advocates do not use this language regularly and any offensive terms were used to talk about language the press would not dare to use. Steve Hoad, editor)

Monday April 2, 2007
Advocates in action

Today I had the privilege of watching some truly amazing self advocacy in action, as a group of six self advocates made their voices heard at a Portland Press Herald editorial board public meeting, in the Welcome Center at the Statehouse.

The voices of self advocacy included SUFU members; Tyler Ingalls from Biddeford, Chandra Murphy of Augusta, SUFU officers; Laura Antranigian from Portland, Jane Anderson from So. Portland, and Maryann Preble of Augusta. Christina Mailhot a young self advocate from Portland also spoke. Julie McKown, a SUFU member from Leeds sent a written statement to be read.

Advocates waited patiently for legislators to speak with the four members of the editorial board, John Porter, Mike Harmon, Charles Cochrane, and Jeannine Guttman.

Maryann and Christina stood, and Maryann explained how the quote they had chosen to use made her feel, one of the men on the editorial board explained that it was his decision to OK the use of the quote, and that the content of the article would have been affected by the lack of the quote. Christina explained once more that it was not an acceptable word to use; she shared the fact that people use it to her face in a derogatory manner and it is hurtful and painful. As each self advocate spoke one of the editorial board members would have a reply. There were statements such as "Maybe I would have made a different decision….Maybe I made a mistake. Then MD Harmon made a clear brief statement…" I wrote the article, I used the quote and I will not apologize for doing it." He attempted to explain that the quote was necessary to the article. Tyler spoke about the dictionary meaning of the word, and how it is used now, he also stated that people are able and the use of the word retard does not imply ability. Jane told them they needed to use people first language and they should not use the word under any circumstance. Laura Antranigian stated that she did not believe that they heard them and she was outraged, she asked them if they would use the words, nigger, or faggot in the paper. MD Harmon smugly responded that he had used the term homophobic recently and justified using it to describe the treatment someone was receiving. Chandra Murphy gestured to show them how tall the use of the quote made her feel, and read a statement from Julie McKown who could not attend but wanted to make sure her voice was heard. Julie asked "What in the world were you thinking to use that quote, the paper has a responsibility to show dignity, courtesy and respect, when you use that word in the paper other people think it is OK to use that word, please do not use this word in the future and learn this as a lesson."

Each and every time there was a justification for using the quote it was countered by one of the self advocates with an explanation of why it was not acceptable and the amount of pain it caused to the disability community. I believe it was Christina and Tyler who both asked for a retraction in the paper. There was the promise of an article being written to explain the choice to use the quote, but I think hopes of a meaningful apology are slim.

Although M. D. Harmon's mind appears to be totally closed, and does not think there is anything wrong with using offensive language to describe people, the rest of the board fell into silence and listened to each person present, with Jeannine Guttman closing with the remark that they would learn a lesson from this, and the group left the meeting at this point.

I am sorry that I cannot not truly convey with words, the passion and determination, the group used to make it clear that they would not back down nor would they accept any excuse for justifying the use of the quote.

If I had to describe the actions of the self advocates with one word I would have to say "Inspiring."