Profile: Bethany Stevens, Disability rights activist
Bethany Stevens, who holds both a law and sexuality studies degree and works at Georgia State Universitys Center for Leadership in Disability, recently helped organize the Reel to Real Disability Film Fest to better portray the realities of disabled people.
When did you first become involved in disability rights activism?
I lost somebody that I loved to suicide. Before he committed suicide, he told me that the reason he was feeling so tired was that he couldnt achieve erections because he had a spinal cord injury. I also hosted a conference about disability and sexuality while I was in law school, and that experience really shifted my focus to disability and sexuality.
Tell us about the film festival.
Ive selected films that focus on people with disabilities played by actual people with disabilities. Were moving away from things like My Left Foot with Daniel Day-Lewis, when people get Oscars when they play people who are disabled. Similarly, if they act like theyre gay — like with Milk. Thats just annoying. There are actors who are disabled and gay Why cant they be playing those parts? Shouldnt they have visibility? Shouldnt they have a presence in media?
More By This Writer
Profile: Andy Odle, street minister Article
Add It Up: So much weed, so few ideas Article
Estimated value, in dollars, of marijuana seized by police in Gwinnett County on April 26: 327,000
Estimated value, in dollars, of weed seized seized by federal agents in south Fulton on April 24: 1 million
Estimated value, in dollars, of marijuana that law enforcement officials seized in Rabun County on April 7: 3.5 million
Estimated cost, in dollars, of pot arrests for Georgia...
| more...Add It Up: So wired Article
Percentage of metro Atlanta's population who own an Apple product: 26
Percentage of people nationwide who own an Apple product: 21.6
Atlanta's rank on Forbes' list of "Most Wired Cities," out of 30: 2
Rank of Atlanta, out of 10, in a survey of cities with the most tech-savvy small businesses: 1
Atlanta's rank on a list of the world's top Twitter cities: 5
Approximate...
| more...Add It Up: Lowering Higher Education? Article
Amount, in dollars, of proposed cuts to Georgia state colleges and universities: 600 million
Percentage by which tuition might be increased at state colleges and universities to meet shortfall: 77
Total number of temporary faculty and staff jobs that could be eliminated to make up the shortfall: 2500
Estimated drop in freshman enrollment at UGA thanks to reduced number of...
| more...