As Pride Month comes to a close this is a reminder that July is Disability Pride Month!
It's not super well known in my experience, so basically this is a time to acknowledge that disabled people exist and we're not going anywhere, and honor different experiences and disabled history and struggles. Some things to remember:
Disabled is not a bad word. Please just say disabled instead of things like "differently abled".
Not all disabilities are visible, you can't always tell if someone is disabled.
If someone tells you they're disabled, believe them. We already deal with enough doubt and gaslighting from doctors and the medical system. The amount of people who actually fake disabilities is very low and also, not your problem to police!
Anyone can become disabled at any time. We're not so different from you. However, the idea that you may become disabled should not be the only reason you care about these issues.
You are not entitled to information about someone's disability. You can ask questions IF someone says it's okay and depending on the situation. For example, I'm usually pretty okay with questions. Some people aren't. Avoid personal and invasive questions, and never give unsolicited medical advice. Just don't.
We do not owe you inspiration. We can be proud of who we are and we can be angry at the same time. We're humans, don't expect us to be perfect little poster children.
Actual support is better than sympathy. We don't need your pity, but you can still get involved and be an ally.
Educate yourself about ableism and do not assume you are incapable of it, even if you have disabled friends/family. Heck, even if you're disabled yourself. You're not a bad person if you notice you've fallen into the same kinds of ableism prevalent in society, but it is your responsibility to change your behavior/language/etc. Call out ableism when you see it.
Pay attention to political issues in your country that impact disabled rights. In the US, problems with accessibility, education, access to healthcare, wages, marriage equality, etc. aren't new, but we're losing protections right now. (This is a good article, though the title... as mentioned earlier, the idea that issues could affect abled people too really shouldn't be the reason you care).
Use your position as an abled person to help advocate, but try to direct back to disabled voices and spotlight actual disabled people.
I also wanted to go over the meaning of the disability pride flag (shown at the top of this post) because I like it and it's not well known.
Black background - mourning and anger for disabled people who have died from illness but also from negligence, violence, eugenics, and suicide
Parallel, diagonal bands - solidarity in the community and cutting across barriers disabled people face
Red stripe - physical disabilities
Yellow stripe - cognitive and intellectual disabilities and neurodiversity
White stripe - undiagnosed and invisible disabilities
Blue stripe - emotional and psychiatric disabilities
Green stripe - sensory disabilities
So anyway, I'll probably be doing more disability posting for a while as well as my usual, and this is why. Happy Disability Pride Month, and helping spread awareness is appreciated!
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