Chris Hinds/Denver Council
- A Denver councilman had to climb onto a debate stage on Monday because it had no wheelchair access.
- Chris Hinds told The Denver Post he was left "humiliated" as audience members watched on.
- If he did not take part in the debate, he would have had to forfeit $125,000 in campaign financing.
A Denver City councilman said he was left "humiliated" after he was forced to crawl onto a debate stage with no wheelchair access, according to The Denver Post.
Chris Hinds, who is running for re-election, was attending the city's District 10 council seat debate at the Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Theatre in Denver, on Monday when he was told there was access for wheelchair users.
The councilman has been using a wheelchair since August 2008 after a car crash left him paralyzed from the chest down, according to his official biography.
Event organizers had originally told Hinds that they had planned to lift his wheelchair onto the stage, he told Denverite in a separate interview.
The lack of access forced Hinds to crawl onto the stage himself as audience members watched on. Once he climbed on, he had to prop himself up against another chair to prevent himself from lying down, Denverite reported.
"What was going through my mind is, how do I remain composed?" Hinds told Denver television station KDVR on Tuesday. "I'm about to start a debate, I'm about to do my best to share with the people who are in front of me why I am the best candidate. Meanwhile, I am out of my wheelchair, laying on the stage."
Hinds said he had had no choice but to participate in the debate because if he would have refused, he would have had to forfeit roughly $125,000 in campaign financing.
"It was a choice between my campaign's viability or my dignity," he told The Denver Post.
When event organizers couldn't lift his 600-pound power wheelchair onto the stage, the debate had to be held on the floor in front of the stage.
A spokesperson for the Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Theatre told Denverite they didn't receive "requests for additional or enhanced accommodations" ahead of the event.
"I don't know how that's a legitimate response," Hinds told The Denver Post in response to the statement.
"I shouldn't have to ask them to follow the law. It is insulting to me that they are asking for me to go above and beyond and go out of my way … to make sure that their space is legally compliant," he added, referring to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
A spokesperson for the venue did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.
Hinds was elected into the council in 2019 and has spent the last few years heavily advocating for disability rights, and adequate access to public spaces. He did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.