The plot thickens....

It would seem the tale of Miss Wheelchair America is slightly more sordid than I first thought! Aparently it's not really about Ms Lee's ability to stand and walk short distances at all, but more of a personal cat-fight between Lee and the 2004 Miss Wheelchair Wisconsin, Gina Hackel. This year, Hackel was Chair of the Board of Directors.
Ragged Edge reports that "Lee says her crown was taken away after she confronted Hackel over a series of anti-discrimination lawsuits Hackel had filed against 26 local businesses for allegedly violating the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act. Hackel said she filed the suits when she got no relief from those businesses over her concerns that they were not accessible to patrons with disabilities. Lee said Hackel's lawsuits were making it difficult for her students to raise money from those businesses for her to travel to the national competition in July. She also said the suits also made it more difficult for her to be an effective advocate for people with disabilities in her role as Ms. Wheelchair."
Ya know what? I stand by my earlier observation that her advocacy skills might be slightly affected by the fact that she was crowned in a competition that values the collection of pez dispensers.