Here’s why 4 Utahns with disabilities chose to crawl, climb the Utah Capitol’s marble steps

Over the years, the 41 gray marble steps leading up the south side of the Utah Capitol have become a platform for the people of Utah: to rally, come together, speak up and out.

On Saturday, Kerri Knudson, who uses a wheelchair, and Briel Adams-Wheatley, who has Hanhart syndrome and is limbless, painstakingly crawled and climbed up them in the early heat of a July morning.

Adams-Wheatley tipped her body to the side, climbing up each step almost shoulder first, but at a quick speed. Knudson lifted her body on her palms, sliding up each step one at a time, sometimes using the nearby railing to drag herself up.

Knudson and Adams-Wheatley had planned their inspirational ascent to pay homage to those who came before them, commemorating the 35th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The historic civil rights law “prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities in everyday activities.”

An empowering playlist (featuring songs like “Fighter” by Christina Aguilera and “Girl on Fire” by Alicia Keys) boomed as a crowd of around 50 people gathered to support Knudson and Adams-Wheatley.

And they were joined by two others who came to the event: Marcelyn Esther, a wheelchair user with a dynamic disability and Christi Christiansen, who runs Service Paws in Layton — along with her service dog Panda.

Though each of the women climbed the stairs at a different speed, they waited for each other and encouraged one another. Below, the crowd cheered them on, chanting their names, and “ADA!” right before they all reached the last steps. Knudson and Esther held hands.

Esther leaned on one forearm, while using the other palm to slowly lift herself up step after step. Christiansen climbed the stairs alongside Panda and later on crawled over on her palms and knees to join the others at the top.

“My own disability journey … I didn’t have access [or] understanding of community or anything like that,” Esther said after the climb. Having Knudson to chat with during the demonstration gave Esther energy. “When we get together as a community, there is something that just really unites us and empowers us to move together.

Esther and her husband Jared wore shirts commemorating the 35th anniversary of ADA, with sayings like “Disabled isn’t a bad word” and “We belong here and we’re here to stay.”

Before the ADA was put into place, Knudson remembers, her mother had to fight to get her access on the neighborhood school bus.

“Having equal access was not even a thing that people thought mattered. And now here we are. In 35 years, we’ve had lots of improvements, but there’s still room to go,” Knudson said.

Knudson, a wheelchair user with a rare joint and muscle disorder called arthogryposis multiplex congenita (AMC), said her idea for Saturday’s demonstration had its roots in her order for a new manual wheelchair — which she requested in March 2024, but still hasn’t received.

During the peak of her frustration with this, she said there were also several protests happening at the Capitol for different minority groups.

“I thought to myself, ‘I don’t know the last time that I saw some kind of demonstration or protest or anything for the disabled community,’” Knudson said.

That’s when she saw a video of the 1990 Washington D.C. “Capitol Crawl.”

In a demonstration to encourage Congress to pass the ADA, 60 disabled people abandoned their wheelchairs and other assistive devices to crawl or even drag themselves up the 83 steps of the U.S. Capitol.

Knudson said after seeing the video, she thought, “Why the heck can’t I do that and do something to show that there’s still more work to do?”

When she mentioned her idea to Adams-Wheatley, her friend immediately agreed to accompany her.

Before the event, Adams-Wheatley told The Salt Lake Tribune that she hoped participating in the Utah crawl would help people understand that everyone’s disability is unique.

“I grew up in a household where my mom taught me to go up and down the stairs every single day for 20 minutes, 20 times for about 15 years straight,” she said. “For me, [the crawl] is going to be a walk in the park. Where[as] Kerri’s bound in a wheelchair all the time.”

Knudson and Adams-Wheatley say that no specific piece of Utah legislation encouraged them to do this demonstration, but they are thinking of how Medicaid cuts from President Donald Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” will impact the disabled community.

Nate Crippes, an attorney with Disability Law Center, said it’s difficult to “overstate the impact ADA has had” in the past 35 years. The law, he said, not only requires compliance and non-discrimination, but also impacts accessibility for everyone.

There’s programmatic access, like usage of an ASL interpreter, or large print for those who are low vision. Things like curb cuts on sidewalks that make it easier to navigate with strollers or doors that open automatically.

“It’s just an incredibly expansive law that has certainly made a huge difference in the lives of people with disabilities,” Crippes said.

While the ADA has “set a floor” as a federal law, Crippes said there is always “room to grow.” One suggestion he has: adding more state protections and expanding on what ADA already provides.

After the climb was completed, Knudson said while doing it, she wasn’t sure if she would be able to make it all the way to the top. But seeing the others next to her, making the climb with their own unique limitations, gave her strength.

The Capitol building is ADA accessible, but the ADA ramp on the south side is located off to the right side of the steps where the women were climbing.

“What I would hope for is that someday the entry for me won’t be in the back corner, where I can’t find it,” Knudson said, on the future of accessibility in the United States.

Knudson is raising and donating $5,000 for AMSCI, an organization that supports individuals (and their families) who have AMC. Knudson said any funds raised above the $5,000 goal will be donated to Chair the Hope.