Finn, a friend who's blind, was on the front page of Stockholm City (that's the second biggest free daily magazine in Stockholm) today. Finn has reported Eriksdalsbadet, a big Stockholmian swimming facility, to the local handicap-ombudsman, for discrimination. The synopsis of the matter and a picture of Finn from the front-page can be found here. The main article with another picture is here.

Finn wasn't allowed into their premises because he had his dog with him. This clashed with the rules of Eriksdalsbadet, stating that no furry animals are allowed on the premises because there are allergics about. Said dog is needed to lead Finn. Two Swedish associations have created a policy that says if there's a clash between separate interests, e.g. when a blind person needs to bring his leader dog into premises that do not dogs, solutions for both parties have to be produced, e.g. creating separate entrances for allergics and people with leader dogs.

We'll see what happens, and I'll report the fight. Finn's words: "I'm the last one who wants to step on allergics' toes, but I think [the people in charge] don't give a toss about the allergics. They just don't want to change a bit of their daily routines; they simply don't want problems."

Finn, fight the power!