Ms. Wheel Chair Wisconsin

Okay, I didn't think I was going to weigh in on this issue, but I'm starting to feel the need to defend Janeal Lee, the Wisconsin Ms. Wheel Chair stripped of her title because a newspaper photographed her standing. My mother has a thankfully mild case of a usually severe form of Muscular Dystrophy. She has her good days, but usually extend periods of moderate physical exertion are quite difficult on her. Trust me, they are much more difficult on her than they are on an overweight, out of shape person. Extending that to Ms. Lee, I'm sure that she can stand for limited amounts of time, but the exertion required to do so is extremely tiring for her, requiring the use of the wheel chair most of the time. I know that is the case for my grandmother, who also has MD. She has a scooter which she even uses to get around her apartment. She can stand and she can walk, she just cannot do it for very long. The Ms. Wheel Chair competition used a technicality to bear down on Ms. Lee. There is very little she could do about the photo that appeared in the Appleton Post-Crescent. It appears that the Ms. Wheel Chair competition is either discriminating against women who are not 100% confined to a wheel chair or it is a slave to both pity for those who are disabled and also to political correctness. I'm proud of Ms. Lee's sister Sharon Spring and Wisconsin runner up Michelle Kearny for supporting Ms. Lee and pulling out of the competition. They did the right thing.