Disability Pride Month

Since 2015, in commemoration of the 25th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), July has been Disability Pride Month. The ADA became the law of the land 31 years ago, on July 26, 1990, acknowledging the fundamental human rights of people with disabilities and guaranteeing them access, services, opportunity, and prohibiting discrimation on the basis of disability. Over the years, the celebration of the passage of the ADA has grown into a month of disability activism, when the disability rights movement celebrates its accomplishments, where the vast diversity of people who identify as disabled celebrate themselves, and when the community of disability advocates and allies reflects on the work yet to be accomplished. Activist Andrew Pulrang wrote a fantastic article on disability pride month and its evolution and purpose. 

All month long, The Nora Project has been celebrating. We sponsored our local disability pride parade, created disability pride and inclusion resources for our community, and we partnered with disabled advocates and leaders to train our educators to teach their students that disability is diversity, it is a proud identity with a rich culture, and that it comes with the same rights and dignities as all other protected classes--namely the right to be included without discrimination in all aspects of public life.

In a recent statement, Karen Tamley, President and CEO of Access Living and member of The Nora Project Leadership Council, reflected on recommitting ourselves to the ideals of the ADA for all disabled people. She acknowledged that, “[w]hile [the ADA] has opened doors of accessibility and inclusion to transportation, education, public accommodations, recreation and so much more, there are still too many in our community whose lives have yet to be touched by the ADA’s promise.” She noted the work Access Living is doing to make good on that promise, in particular for marginalized disability communities, and remarked that “[t]he disability community cannot do this work alone.” She emphasized that “[i]t is essential that all of us ... work together to dismantle the systemic barriers before us and to create a more just and equitable world for people with disabilities.”

In a similar vein, friend of the organization Emily Ladau recently tweeted, “The fight for disability rights didn’t start or end with the ADA. We can create policies for access and equality, but we can’t legislate attitudes. The ADA won’t be fully realized until we move toward an unquestioned understanding that disabled lives are worth living.”

At The Nora Project, we’re here as members of the disability community and allies to do our part to develop anti-ableist attitudes in educators and students, foster disability pride and acceptance in schools and communities, and support a generation with the vision, tools, and know-how to dismantle barriers and redesign systems and spaces that honor the dignity and worth of all people.