Wheelchair user exposes discrimination on night out in viral Twitter thread

Bouncers would not allow the woman into a nightclub because they said the music would be 'too rowdy' for her

(Getty Images/iStockphoto)

A wheelchair user has documented her experience of a night out in London to expose how she’s discriminated against in a viral Twitter thread.

In the series of tweets, journalist Lucy Webster recalls going to a club in Clapham called Aquum, which she chose because, she says, it is described on Google as being “accessible”. However, on arrival, she claims a bouncer told her she wasn’t allowed in “in [her] chair”.

“This is where it starts to get odd. The bouncer informs me that the physical access is fine, but the club is busy and he just wants to ‘keep me safe’.”

Webster responded by assuring the bouncer that she’s used to being in busy environments and can take care of herself.

But another bouncer soon interfered and told her the music would be “too rowdy” for her, “as if, as a disabled woman, I can only listen to girly pop and, presumably, very sad songs.

"I feel my discrimination hackles raise. I ask if she’s seriously saying this to me. She is.”

Webster explained how she told the bouncers she felt discriminated against, to which they suggested she enter the venue alone so that she could see how unsuitable it would be for her.

At this point, Webster and her friends give up and decide to go to fast food chain KFC “because sometimes you just give up and get chicken,” she writes.

“KFC is of course not accessible, so I wait outside and my mates go in. But I am a magnet for drunk people. I am pointed at, laughed at. A man asks if he can spin my chair. I am done. I shed some tears in the taxi. I eat a lot of chicken.”

In a subsequent tweet, Webster added that her colleague asked Aquum for a response and they have since apologised and said they plan to retrain their third-party staff.

Webster’s tweets have been shared thousands of times since they were posted on Monday, prompting outrage among commenters at how she was treated.

“I’m sorry. It’s disgusting that life is so hard for wheelchair users,” wrote one person.

“Thanks for sharing,” added another. “So powerful to know as much as we have improved on attitudes to disability as a nation and world, there is so much more work to do.”

Speaking to The Independent, a spokesperson for Aquum said: "We do not tolerate any form of discrimination against any individual or group. We operate a non-discriminatory policy and we place a strong emphasis on diversity and inclusion.

"Accordingly, we take any complaint of discrimination very seriously and will thoroughly investigate the matter and take the necessary actions to ensure that such an incident never happens again."