Index The Guardian : Promoting negatives attitudes towards disabled people Why disabled people are complaining Two Guardian writers have offended disabled people recently. Simon Hoggart wrote on August 25, 2001 that he did not believe there are many disabled people around or else he would see us "by the dozen" on every train or aeroplane that he is on. He seems to think that only wheelchair users are disabled people when in fact most disabled people are not wheelchair users. He does not seem to know that trains, buses and the stations are inaccessible to wheelchair users and many other disabled people. He also did not seem to know that trains have no more than one space for a wheelchair user, on others it is the guards van and in either case staff assistance and advance booking is essential. Also he does not seem to know that most disabled people are in the poorest sections of society and do not have the money to do many of the things non-disabled people take for granted, such as travelling. But The Guardian did not let ignorance stop him having column space to give an erroneous opinion. Polly Toynbee believes that disabled people should be helped to die or not be born in the first place (Aug 22, 2001 and Aug 24, 2001) . This supports the idea that our lives are not worth living. Disabled people believe that women should be given accurate information and not feel pressurised into having an abortion based on ignorant misinformation and prejudices of non-disabled people. Polly Toynbee also said (24th August) that "Disability campaigners have over-identified with other civil rights issues" and that the "militant disability rights movement has developed a confident and strident identity... in the tradition of the battles for black, women's and gay rights". Clearly, she believes that disabled people, unlike other civil rights campaigners should not be so "strident" - maybe she prefers us as the "pathetic cripples pleading in soppy charity ads" that she says are no more. Disabled people have a right to demand equality, including the right to have our lives protected by the law, alongside other groups who face discrimination and unequal treatment in society. Who we are We are part of a network of disabled people around the country who want to be citizens on equal terms with non-disabled people. We believe that this can only happen when disabling barriers in society are removed, these barriers can by physical barriers, institutional barriers or attitudes and prejudices. We believe that negative media portrayals of disabled people play a large part in maintaining the disabling barriers we encounter. We also believe that negative media portrayals influence disabled people into thinking that they would be better off dead, as well as reinforcing this idea in the rest of society. What we want We want the Guardian to give disabled people and their organisations (not charities) the same column space for a right to reply as is given to non-disabled writers and charities who feel they know more about our situation than we do.