Milan, August 19, 2023 – “Signature collection to draw attention to the issue of accessibility of concerts for people with disabilities went very well, but it’s time to report it.” After petition and social appeal Silvia Stoyanovawhich has already collected 35,100 signatures to ask for additional seats due toTaylor Swift’s only italian scene at the San Siro (July 13 and 14, 2024) speakeractivist and journalist Valentina Tomirotti. What is not new for these battles: it is she who sued Arena di Verona and Vivo Concerti for the Coez show, having realized (by the end of the year) one new footboard also with legal support of the association Luca Coscioni and attorney Gerardi.
More places for the disabled in Meazza
The precedent that Sylvia herself brought to ask expansion of places for the disabled in Meaz. “The problem of accessibility and reception at concerts, both small and large, is now known to everyone, but there is not even a shadow of solutions,” emphasizes Valentina Tomirotti, “discretionary ways to buy tickets, wrong places that they do not allow a glance, a lack of sociability with other people, and the list will still be long.”
The latest case was reported by Milan fan Taylor Swift, who also bought a ticket for 300 euros to the VIP area which, however, the organizers told her she would not be able to access “for security reasons”.
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“What is the real operational step to solve the problem? Just act on behalfbut to bring useful solutions for resolution upstream, to engage the political side properly and, why not, to condemn in the competent authorities to set precedents”, urges Tomirotti, repeating that “competent tables are needed to have a hand in true unified regulation in the context of public events, it is impossible for the decision to be in the hands of the organisers.”
Disability Minister Locatelli “be active”
“I understand Sylvia,” he concludes, “and I know how she felt, but my advice is not to stop at collecting signatures, which are usually ignored, but which expose the situation: what Sofia Righetti and I did, now sets an important precedent and useful for changing things in other places as well.” The call to combat discrimination and barriers to equal access to culture is also addressed to Rome: “In Italy Ministry of Disability Affairs: Yes loaded with even the most playful aspects lives of people with disabilities so that such events are not minimized. Concerts or events are often the only form of socialization for people. There Minister Locatelli it needs to be activated: we are tired of second-rate treatment. People with disabilities are people, political actors and economic actors like everyone else.”