‘Cerebral palsy beer’ issued to Swedish pubs

Pubs and bars in the Swedish city of Gothenburg with good access for the disabled are being “rewarded” with limited edition bottles of “cerebral palsy beer”.

According to the BBC, the initiative is the work of The Gothenburg Cooperative for Independent Living (GIL), which hopes that the beer (pictured) will get people talking about the issue of physical and mental disabilities.

Known as “CPA”, the beer is a hybrid of Indian and American pale ales and features a stylised picture of a woman in a wheelchair with cerebral palsy.

The beer has been brought in as a way of highlighting the lack of disabled access to many of the city’s nightspots.

A law passed in 2010 was meant to ensure that proprietors put in first floor access and disabled toilets but GIL has said that the law was poorly enforced.

By introducing a beer that “everyone will want” it is hoped that more venues will install disabled-friendly access.

The beer was launched at the Gothenburg beer and whisky fair in April. Only 220 litres were brewed at first but it has apparently been so popular that a further 1,600 litres have been brewed.

Anders Westgerd of GIL told the BBC: “We like to cause a stir and make people react and create feelings.

“Disabled people are marginalised in media and hence you have to do something non-traditional to create feelings and make people angry.”

However, it is thought that it will only be a limited edition beer as Westgerd added: “We’re a disability organisation and we haven’t decided yet whether we want to branch out into being a full-time beer maker too.”

Anyone unsure of the latest campaign should consider GIL’s recent efforts which included a “retard doll”, or CP-docken in Swedish (cerebral palsy doll), with the tagline: “treat her like a real retard”.

Again GIL claimed it was seeking to “create discussion” about the treatment of disabled people and the perception of them as being somehow different to everyone else.

“We’re not cuter than anyone else. We’re just as stupid, smart, confident, horny and happy as you are,” Westgerd said in a statement at the time.

Another campaign earlier this year saw 30 fridges scattered around Gothenburg covered with phrases from “Independence Day” such as: “This is not the time or place to have the same old discussion”.

GIL said that the topic of disability, like the fridges, were not “sexy” and usually brushed under the carpet or tucked away out of sight.

Critics say that the campaigns only risk making the disabled and their handicaps into figures of fun.