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ANNOUNCER: From our neighbourhood to yours...
WOMAN: I'm Michelle Creedy for Accessible Media.
Richard Marion is on his way to Qmunity,
a resource center for people who are gay, lesbian,
bisexual, or transgendered.
They're known as the LGBT community.
I think the biggest barrier that I face, possibly meeting people.
Um, in situations where body language
and eye-contact is really important.
Um, that's probably the biggest barrier.
Um, access to pertinent information,
sometimes, is also a concern as well.
CREEDY: Dara Parker, is Executive Director at Qmunity.
How does Qmunity find material that's accessible
in audio format or Braille?
We don't. I don't have a good answer for that
because we, unfortunately, are a small organization
with limited resources.
And so, that hasn't been something
that we've been able to source to my knowledge.
CREEDY: The Vancouver Public Library
is an important community leader in Vancouver.
Sandra Singh is Head Librarian.
If someone like Richard is coming to the library
and they're not finding material,
my first recommendation is talk to a librarian.
We'll figure out what the titles are,
and then we'll try to track down an accessible format for you.
CREEDY: What kinds of attitudes have you found in the LGBT community
toward people with disabilities?
The LGBT community was is a minority within society,
so you just assume they'd be a little more understanding.
But people with disabilities are a minority within the minority.
When I first came out of the closet,
my timing couldn't have been much worse than it was.
It was three weeks before Christmas.
I worked for the family firm.
And I really didn't know if the end result
would be losing my job, or what it would be.
We worked it out, though, relatively unscathed.
Friends say I'm a much happier person now,
and I think they're right.
In Vancouver,
I'm Michelle Creedy for Accessible Media.