I am decidedly upset because of what happened a few weeks ago as I was hassled in public at my local theater because of my disability. At a bag check, immediately after several people, including my able-bodied family were passed over with no more than a cursory inspection, I was stopped and briefly detained. I was told that I would not be allowed in with the contents of my bag. I explained that the items which she had indicated were medically necessary. The woman persisted, insisting that it was house policy, to which I replied that denying me access over a matter of medical necessity where it pertained to a legally recognized physical disability would be a blatant case of discrimination and a clear violation of the law. Or I tried to; I was flustered by her unusually pugnacious attitude, and the crowd that was gathering behind me.
After a few more moments of back and forth she switched to saying that while I might be allowed to bring in my backpack, I would certainly have to dump out the contents of my water bottle, which I also need for medical purposes. I was initially prepared to accept this on the assumption that it was a matter of security (this is, after all, what I do at TSA; I empty my water bottle before screening and refill it after at a public fountain) until she added the suggestion that I could purchase water at the concession stand; that this was a matter of commercial policy. That’s a horse of a different color. After all, I need my water. If I’m not able to refill it for free, then I’m being forced to pay because of my medical condition. And of course, when one is compelled to pay extra because one is disabled, that’s discrimination.
I tried explaining this. The lady seemed to relent on the water, but then demanded that I prove that I’m disabled and need these things. This is a trap, for two reasons. First, it’s essentially impossible for a person to positively prove that they need something to survive and be healthy to someone who is determined to be skeptical. To use an intentionally ludicrous example: Sure, you say you need oxygen, but have you tried going without it? Maybe you should try not breathing for a while and then get back to me. So asking someone to prove they’re disabled isn’t so much an honest question as a remarkably effective logical fallacy used to browbeat people.
The other reason this is a trap relates to HIPPA. Legally*, medical information is confidential and privileged, unless and until the patient reveals it voluntarily. Once the information is disclosed, however, it’s fair game. Kinda, sorta. It gets complicated real fast, and comes down to the comparatively squishy world of case law, reasonableness and intent. But it does mean that they can try and argue, based on whatever bits of medical trivia they happen to know, that they know your disease better than you, and they can (try to) say you don’t need whatever specific thing you’re asking for.
Usually, this is a moot point, because HIPPA is very clear that a person can’t be coerced to reveal their confidential medical information. The interpretation of coercion is broad enough that it could reasonably include requiring disclosure of medical issues to receive disability accommodations. The logic here is that if you are, in fact, disabled, that either option results in your rights being violated; either your right to equal opportunity or your right to privacy.
As a result, most institutions have a policy of not asking at all and only acting on what you give them. So, at most places, if you tell them you need a water bottle, and you haven’t given them any reason to disbelieve you (i.e. you haven’t mentioned a specific diagnosis that they think they’re familiar with), they won’t bother you. But apparently this lady didn’t get the memo.
I showed her the Medic Alert bracelet that I wear just to get her to let me go. Of course, I didn’t tell her that the bracelet, which is a third party nonprofit, wasn’t particularly more legitimate as proof than my backpack, which is a design given by another nonprofit to families with children diagnosed with one of my issues. The truth is that there is no universal, or even officially sanctioned, form of proof, since that too would either violate privacy by being tailored to specific diagnoses, or would have to be so broad as to give every person carrying an EpiPen personal aides, full access to handicap parking, free motorized wheelchairs, and every other accommodation in history.
I did politely tell her, because at this point I was growing rapidly annoyed with her attitude, that asking me to reveal my diagnosis and to try and prove it was a violation of my HIPPA rights. And since I’m the only person being required to disclose, is still discrimination. She shook her head indignantly, and tried to justify to me, claiming that she had encountered many other people who had claimed to need various things for medical reasons, but didn’t really need them.
I kept my mouth more or less shut, because I couldn’t at the time think of a polite way to respond; to suggest that it was quite possible that some of those people, though perhaps not all, did in fact need as they said, and that rather than catch the guilty, she had merely browbeaten the innocent into bending their medical protocol and risking their health in the process, as has happened to many I have met. I did not retort that her finding a way to reconcile her employer’s policy and federal law is distinctly not my problem, nor is it my problem to speak on behalf of everyone who might need disability accommodations to bring her up to speed.
If ever I seem to act entitled, it is because, as a matter of fact, the world does owe me. The world owes me not because I have suffered pain in the past, or because I have been discriminated against in a society that is supposed to avoid such things, and punish violators. Although it might be nice to receive some recognition for the struggles I have gone through, I am not so naive and petty as to think that the world is fair, and that I am entitled to compensation, even if I might deserve it. I am, however, entitled to my rights, and to my dignity. I believe that I am entitled to going out in public without being accosted and interrogated. I do not think this is too much to ask.
*Obligatory reminder: I am not a lawyer. And while I do my best to always be right, if you’re having actual legal issues, you should consult an actual lawyer. Which I am not.
