Paralyzed councilman asked to climb out of wheelchair onto debate stage

Denver City Council member Chris Hinds had come to a local dance theater on Monday afternoon prepared to debate politics ahead of an upcoming municipal election. There was no way for Hinds, who is paralyzed from the chest down and uses a wheelchair, to get onto the raised stage to join the other participants. Staff, puzzled, suggested lifting Hinds and his 400-pound wheelchair onto the stage. Hinds felt his reelection campaign was at stake as he clambered out of his wheelchair and onto the stage. Disability advocates slammed the theater’s lack of accommodation after images of Hinds struggling out of his wheelchair circulated online.