July is Disability Pride Month
#PridenotPity because We Belong and We’re Here to Stay
Disability Pride is one of those things one just has to know about, alongside Ableism, if you want to understand what accessibility is about.
Happy Birthday, ADA!
July marks the anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (a.k.a. the ADA), which was signed on July 26, 1990. Although made in the USA, it has been monumental for disability inclusion worldwide, often cited as a reference.
Disability rights are civil rights. From voting to parking, the ADA is a law that protects people with disabilities in many areas of public life.
The ADA defined the meaning of "reasonable accommodation" in employment alongside minimum access regulations for public entities and transportation, commercial facilities, and telecommunications.
The ADA website provides resources on accessibility for digital services and products. Even if you are outside the US, it’s worth stopping by once in a while!
Disability Pride Month may have started in the U.S., but it’s relevant globally.
According to the World Health Organization, over 1.3 billion people live with some form of disability. This number includes people with physical, sensory, cognitive, intellectual, and psychosocial disabilities, as well as chronic illnesses and neurodivergence. That comes to approximately 1 in 6 people with at least one disability. When we look towards the US and Europe (where a total of 54% of you, lovely readers, are from), that number increases to 1 in 4.
The jump in percentage is due to multiple factors (such as aging demographics, access to healthcare and diagnosis opportunities, yada yada yada), but mainly to what a country defines as a disability. The usual consensus is: “not like the other girls”… but in the eyes of the local economy.
And - let’s mentally say it together - not all disabilities are visible. Approximately 70% of disabilities aren’t, such as chronic pain, neurodivergence, or mental illness.
At the Intersection of Disability and…
Well, everything. Disability intersects with race, gender, class, and queerness.
Often referred to as the one minority you could become part of at any moment, disability is an inevitable part of life. With rising life expectancy, we will see more disability in the future because if you live long enough, you will experience disability at some point. We should prepare for more disability to pop up in every statistic.
And that is a good thing! More disability within one demographic means we live longer, have access to healthcare, and diagnostics.
It’s also important to notice that having multiple disabilities is a thing. Statistics and studies hate this trick! Because it messes with their results. Disabilities are already hard to quantify and measure objectively, let alone with another type of disability meddling with it!
Exclusion by Design
Disability is part of every community, every country, and every identity. And yet, people with disabilities are still underrepresented in digital spaces, policy decisions, and basically every other aspect of public life.
This is not by accident, but by design: Historically, individuals with disabilities have been institutionalized and locked away from the public eye. This has often been framed as variations of “for their own benefit” or as a “relief for their caretakers”, in varying nuances of “in the best interest of the public”. Throughout history as well as today. Think of the so-called Ugly Laws that prohibited being in public with a visible disability.
Disability Pride is important, not because it’s fun and cute, but because history has called disability “an unsightly or disgusting object”.
Many people have internalized this shame. Shit, I did a whole talk on self-stigma and that would barely even scratch the surface of how far internalized abelism extends!
Efforts against Structural Discrimination
This is also why the ADA became monumental to the disability rights movement. It was one of the first pieces of legislation targeting discrimination against disabled people on a structural level. It specified minimum requirements for access to buildings as well, which is a big deal! You can’t be in the room where it happens if you physically can’t get into said room!
You will see more people with (visible) disabilities turn up, if the space and the public transportation to get there are accessible, and the invite came as a properly tagged PDF or structured email instead of a screenshot.
Celebrate Disability Pride!
Amplify disabled voices and representation, not only in discussions surrounding inclusion (that should be happening all year round already). Diversify your social media feeds, get comfortable with seeing disability! Read own voices’ stories, support disabled artists and demand that they be paid accordingly, not in exposure nor in sub-minimum wage allowances.
Challenge ableism, especially in yourself. That is where you will have the biggest impact.
Disability isn’t rare, it isn’t always visible, and it definitely isn’t going away.