The Null Device

And justice for all: A disabled woman is suing the organisers of a mingers' swingers' party for discrimination after she was allegedly discriminated against because she was in a wheelchair. Kathleen Ball claims that she was told to move off a bed that other guests wished to use, after which she staged a "non-violent sit-in" in protest.

Ms Morgan gave evidence that she made the comment about wheelchairs when flustered and intimidated by Ms Ball. She said she had experienced four hours of harassment. Guests had been upset and she had tried to talk to Ms Ball about her body odor and language, but Ms Ball had started screaming. In court yesterday, Ms Ball said she had bathed an hour before the party.

Ms. Ball is claiming that the incident left her "highly suicidal" and feeling "dehumanised", and is seeking unspecified damages for unlawful discrimination and court orders forcing the organisers to invite her to future parties. (If this was the U.S., there'd probably be a bit about them having violated her civil rights to get laid or something.)

There are 2 comments on "":

Posted by: Debbie N http:// Sun Jul 20 02:06:51 2003

My heart goes out to Ms. Ball and to all women who have suffered this horrid discrimination. She had felt dehumanized about her body odor and handicap. Hygiene, by the way, does not equate to how someone smells. I'm starting to dislike living in this country when it comes to these silly prejudices. Maybe I'll move to France--where people are free to be naturally smelly [though clean].

Posted by: acb http://dev.null.org Sun Jul 20 13:56:01 2003

There is no such thing as an inalienable human right to be found attractive or desirable. If people find someone unappealing for whatever reason, that's their prerogative. If people find you unattractive and that bothers you, change something about yourself. But don't go around suing people for violating your human rights by not having sex with you.