Celebrate Disability Pride Month
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July is Disability Pride Month! We invite you to learn about this important moment of observance by acknowledging the work of the civil rights activists’ work that have made Disability Pride Month possible.
What is Disability Pride Month?
Disability Pride Month celebrates people with disabilities by promoting visibility, inclusion, and acceptance within our society.
Why do we celebrate Disability Pride in July?
We celebrate Disability Pride in July as an acknowledgment of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) signed into law on July 26, 1990. From that point forward, the ADA protected people with disabilities from discrimination in employment, transportation, public accommodations, communications, and access to state and local government programs and services.
In July 2015, Disability Pride Month was officially established in celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act. However, the celebrations began much earlier when Boston held the first Disability Pride events in 1990.
What do the colors and shapes on the Disability Pride flag mean?
The Disability Pride flag features five colors (red, gold, white, blue, and green) that form diagonal stripes across a dark grey background.
- Red represents physical disabilities.
- Gold represents cognitive and intellectual disabilities.
- White represents those with non-apparent disabilities and undiagnosed disabilities.
- Blue represents psychiatric disabilities.
- Green represents sensory disabilities, including deafness, blindness, lack of smell, taste, audio processing disorder, and all others.
- The dark grey background represents mourning for victims of ableist violence and abuse.
- The colorful panel of stripes represents the many contributions that disabled individuals have made in our society and the ways they are reclaiming societal visibility despite ableism.
What are non-apparent disabilities?
The term “non-apparent” represents a spectrum of disabilities that are undetectable in one’s physical appearance. You may see members of this group also referred to as those with “invisible disabilities” or “hidden disabilities.”
There are many kinds of non-apparent disabilities. Examples include cognitive impairment, the autism spectrum, chronic illness, sensory impairments like deafness or blindness, mental illnesses like anxiety or PTSD, and more.
How can I celebrate Disability Pride Month?
- Attend a Disability Pride Event in your local community.
- Read a book from Boston Public Library’s “Disabled, Not Unable” book list for Children, Teens, and Adults.
- Make a friendship bracelet using the colors of the Disability Pride flag!
- Check out these amazing resources developed by the American Bar Association.
