
Celebrating Disability Pride Month and the Americans with Disabilities Act
The month of July each year has become a Pride celebration. This year marks the 32nd year after the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was passed on July 26th, 1990, prohibiting discrimination against people with disabilities. Social Security works hard “every day to help improve the lives of [their] beneficiaries and employees with disabilities.”
Although Disability Pride Day isn’t technically a declared nationally recognized holiday, people within this community have come to taken July for accepting and honoring the uniqueness of individuals and their abilities.
Within a disability there are subcultures to which that individual can relate with, thus having a disability is an identity in itself. They take pride in the disability they have and come together in unity because they have an understanding of the convoluted world they are in – how they are treated and often not acknowledged.
Did you know that there is also a Disability Pride flag? It was made by a disabled woman, Ann Magill, who wanted to represent each part of the disability community by symbolizing its unique elements.
1. The Black Field: this field represents the disabled people who have lost their lives due not only to their illness, but also to negligence, suicide and eugenics.
2. The Colors: Each color on this flag represents a different aspect of disability or impairment.
- Red: physical disabilities
- Yellow: cognitive and intellectual disabilities
- White: invisible and undiagnosed disabilities
- Blue: mental illness
- Green: sensory perception disabilities
People with disabilities deserve to be treated and heard the same way as everyone else. We honor those with limitations during the month of July for Pride Disability to show our gratitude for them playing a valuable role in our communities.
Dr. Carlie Rhoads, a research specialist for the American Foundation for the Blind, comments in her article “as someone with an invisible disability, I consider myself a member of the disability community and I am happy to have any opportunity to lift up my friends, family members, acquaintances, and others with disabilities. Disability Pride Month is our month to be loud and proud and to let our voices ring out and be heard. I encourage everyone to spread the word about this wonderful pride month”
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