SAN JOSE, CA—A law suit was filed yesterday in Santa Clara County court in behalf of another minority fringe group seeking acceptance and demanding accommodations from the majority population. The group calls themselves the Door-Pushers and claim that their rights are being violated each time they must pull a door open.
Jasper Cutlass, 33, the attorney working pro bono for the group, issued an official statement at a news conference announcing the lawsuit. He said, in part, “Opening doors is a right that should be, but is not yet, protected by law. Decisions about which way doors open should not be made by corporate America with their capitalistic ideas. Pulling or pushing is not a choice, and individuals with the inherent make-up of a pusher should not be denied access to any building just because a bunch of bureaucrats think the door must be pulled open.” He also asserted that door-pushers nation-wide have suffered from emotional as well as physical persecution for their orientation, although he offered no scientific data to corroborate his claims.
Carl Hunsaker, 54, who has struggled with doors for years, explained the transformation he experienced ‘coming off the hinges’ [a term coined by Mr. Cutlass] and finally admitting to his family that he is a Pusher: “It felt so liberating; all my life I have had difficulty pulling doors open, especially if my hands were carrying things, I nearly always dropped something or smashed my foot with the door. I thought something was wrong with me, you know, 'why can’t I be like normal people.' Now, to realize that I am normal, I’m just wired different—well, it is such a relief to finally be true to who I am!”
Chelsea Murdock, 33, has been worried about her daughter, Olivia, 8, since she was tall enough to open doors. “It didn’t make sense to me that she could open her bedroom door from the outside but not from the inside until I realized she couldn’t pull. For years I tried to deny we had a problem, who wants their child to suffer as a pusher in a pulling world? Last year we put her into therapy, which was unsuccessful, so now to know she’s not alone, there's nothing 'wrong' with her, and that she can lead a normal life with the help of progressive legislation, well, we are so thrilled!”
Mr. Cutlass says the lawsuit isn’t about money, but is about raising awareness of this growing issue. While many larger retail establishments have automatic doors, Cutlass hopes to force all public places to either go automatic or at least install manual doors that can open with a push or a pull upon exit and entry. He is hoping home builders will take it upon themselves to accommodate the needs of pushers, which he estimates to be 0.02% of the population. Cutlass believes that number will grow rapidly as the stigma of being a pusher eases and more people feel safe enough to come off their hinges.
The growing popularity and success of the Pusher movement has emboldened members of another stigmatized group that some anticipate will merge with the Pusher movement: the Pullers.