Jenny Maguire: Why the organisers of major Prides need to go back to basics and protest for LGBTQ+ rights
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Exclusive: Massachusetts mothers create mobile accessible bathroom
A pair of North Shore advocates are building a bathroom on wheels in hopes of making festivals, meetups and other public activities accessible to people with disabilities. Why it matters: Events of all kinds — from concerts to Pride festivals — shut out countless people with disabilities and others because they fail to offer bathrooms that truly fit their needs. Those individuals, and often their families, are effectively isolated from public life. Driving the news: Lisa Marie Tulipani and her business partner, Maria Riley, have designed the Lynnebago, a two-room accessibility solution in a trailer with air conditioning and heating. How it works: One room has a spacious bathroom with an ADA-compliant adult changing table that can adjust vertically. The second room is a sensory room, meant to console those experiencing sensory overload. There are signage and communication tools throughout for people who are non-verbal, hard of hearing and visually impaired. Zoom in: For Tulipani, the Lynnebago is a solution to a problem her family has run into time and time again: where to find accessible activities for her 5-year-old son Petey to enjoy. Petey, who has quadriplegic cerebral palsy, uses a wheelchair. Life expectancy for people with quadriplegic cerebral palsy ranges from 20 to 70 years. What they're saying:"I want those 20 years to be 20 years where we're out doing stuff. I want other families to be out doing stuff," Tulipani, a Lynn resident and co-founder, tells Axios. "I'm not going to sit here and wait for people in power to realize dignity in public spaces is important." Zoom out: Boston lags behind cities like Honolulu and St. Paul, Minnesota, in terms of accessibility, per several surveys and reports. A 2024 Forbes Health review ranked Boston 70 out of 93 cities in terms of accessibility, with only 5% of rentals being wheelchair-accessible. In Honolulu, which ranked No. 1, nearly one-third of rentals are wheelchair accessible. Honolulu also reported more accessible attractions and restaurants per capita than Boston did. Reality check: The Lynnebago is a prototype, and it'll take time for the company to scale up to send multiple trailers to parks or public events. The duo secured a $75,000 grant through the Arc Tank, a Northeast Arc disability innovation funding competition, to cover the cost of building the prototype. What's next: Lynnebago's founders are fundraising to fine-tune the prototype and launch it.
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Boston Globe
2 hours ago
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With LGBTQ rights under attack, R.I. hiking group provides community, sanctuary
Thibeault, who lives in Providence, said she launched the group about four years ago amid the pandemic. 'I was feeling pretty isolated,' she said. So she began looking for a way to find community, and getting outside seemed like a safe option. On social media, she asked if there were any Get Rhode Map A weekday briefing from veteran Rhode Island reporters, focused on the things that matter most in the Ocean State. Enter Email Sign Up So she did, and about 15 people showed up for the first hike. Advertisement 'It was kind of like, 'Oh, we're onto something,' ' Thibeault said. 'There's clearly this need.' Now, the group is hiking two to four times per month, depending on the season. And now, amid a 'I think merely by existing we're being activists, especially in today's current climate,' Thibeault said. 'I could kind of get scared and hide, or show up for my community. I think I'm choosing the latter because it's so important just to say, 'Hey, we exist, we're here. We're your neighbors, we're your friends, we're your family.'' Advertisement The organizers wear Queer Hike T-shirts and patches with a logo of a raccoon with a bandana around its neck. 'As a woman and as a queer person, I don't know that I feel the most comfortable just walking around the woods by myself, especially wearing a shirt that says 'Queer' right on it,' Thibeault said. 'But I try to put on a brave face and say, 'This is important, and I'm gonna wear it.' ' Sylvia Vaccaro, who helps plan the hikes, said, 'They want to fracture and isolate. So coming together in any capacity, even if it's purely for fun, even if we're not like organizing or being super politically active, just being together is already like forming those bonds.' Sharon LeBeau, who began coming to the hikes a few years ago, said, 'It's nice just to be around your people and to feel safe — to have a safe space occasionally to kind of recharge." The hike took place soon after the 'I think it's just another example of them trying to remove queer people from public life,' Henderson said. 'Removing a suicide hotline is particularly nefarious because it's removing resources from folks who are clearly in crisis. I just think it's a very cowardly move. And it does make me in some way think: How can we as a group fill that void?' The hike took part one day after the Advertisement 'We as queer people exist, regardless of other folks' desires for us not to,' Henderson said. 'Here we are. We're all going to gather, and we're all going to go on a hike. And we're going to continue to exist regardless if they are going to tell our stories or not.' In December, LeBeau said some of the younger hikers have no idea what it was like for queer people in the 1980s, when she was a teenager. She said she recently told someone that Pride events weren't parades back then — they were rallies for LGBTQ rights. 'I think a lot of people are in a place where they take their freedoms for granted,' LeBeau said. 'With the way things are right now, the feeling that it could very easily go back to that, it's unnerving.' LeBeau had this advice for some of the younger hikers: 'You have to stick together, and you have to stand up for each other.' Thibeault said that's the idea. 'It's important for queer adults and allies to make some noise and say, 'We're here,' 'We're here to support you,'' she said. 'Sure, federally things are not great, but I think that's where there's an opportunity for the local communities to step in and and really band together.' To get the latest episode each week, follow Rhode Island Report podcast , , and other podcasting platforms, or listen in the player above. Advertisement Edward Fitzpatrick can be reached at
