Did you know that July is Disability Pride Month?

Disability Pride Month, a national annual awareness month which celebrates people with disabilities and the diversity of our community. Disability Pride Month was born from the passing of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)—a bipartisan achievement for the disability community! This month we recognize the tremendous progress we’ve made improving the lives of people with disabilities since the ADA’s passage on July 26, 1990.

Disability Pride works to shine a light on physical, learning and hidden disabilities, as well as mental health conditions. It enables people to have open conversations about disability through sharing experiences, raising awareness of the barriers and challenges the community faces, as well as celebrating diversity.

Disability Pride Month is represented by the Disability Pride Flag.The Disability Pride Flag was created by Ann Magill, a woman with a disability, and each of its elements symbolizes a different part of the disability community.

• Black Background: represents individuals with disabilities that have lost their lives due to not only their illness, but also negligence, suicide, and eugenics.

• Colors of Flag: representing 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 

Laken Brooks, a graduate student at the University of Florida, writer, and digital storyteller says, “Disability Pride is an event that celebrates people with disabilities and chronic illnesses. Now, some people may balk at that second word, Pride. But Disability Pride isn’t about appropriating LGBTQ+ Pride. In fact, the disabled and the LGBTQ+ communities have long been intertwined and have long survived under similar systems of oppression. Disability Pride, much like LGBTQ+ Pride, is all about celebrating and reclaiming our visibility in public because people with disabilities have historically been pushed out of public spaces.”.

Disability Pride Month means fighting so no person with a disability gets left behind, because pride in our community means working every day to build a future of inclusive work, play, and all aspects of life.