Making sense of a dark Pride season

When I was a teenager, I rarely heard about LGBTQ pride. In the church my father attended, LGBTQ people were spoken of as sinful, and the obstacles to the culture I grew up in were embarrassing and hidden. I couldn’t imagine one day becoming an openly transgender activist with autism, working with disability and LGBTQ rights groups all over the world, from Ukraine and Russia to the US, the UK and Australia.

But I still remember the cube of the fist emptiness I felt when my favorite stand-up comedian joked that gay people were “ill people with proven hormone problems.”

“We don’t celebrate illness,” he said. “What are you proud of?”

The audience applauded. But for me, it felt cruel. At the time, I was afraid to think deeply about LGBTQ rights, but I saw children with disabilities being bullied and excluded. And I remember hoping that people with disabilities had a way of celebrating their survival and resilience.

A few years later I learned what it actually means. LGBTQ people aren’t just proud of who they are. They are proud to be still here despite the hatred and violence they faced. And when I learned more about the pride of disability, I realized it was rooted in the exact same principles.

Disabled Pride Month is July.

that It has origin The Americans with Disabilities Act was passed in the United States in 1990. The movement borrows directly from LGBTQ pride – from ideas from that pride Pride flag of failure, It was created in 2019 by Anne McGill, a writer of cerebral palsy. Today, the flag is used not only in disability pride events, but also in strange spaces.

Like many movements that began in the US, pride in obstacles has since become global. It has been officially celebrated in the UK since 2015 and has been heard in Russia for the first time at a queer community event.

“Disabled people have their own stonewall,” a colleague once told me during his presentation. He mentioned Capitol crawla protest in 1990 when more than 1,000 Americans with disabilities marched from the White House to the Capitol. Upon arrival, around 60 activists, including 8-year-old Jennifer Kieranchafin, placed their wheelchairs and mobility AIDS in the back, raw up the Capitol stairs and held hands. This powerful act of civil disobedience exposed the disabled by the brutal disabled people who face each day. By the end of the day, 104 participants had been arrested.

That protest helped push the ADA through Congress – and, like Stonewall, it is remembered as a groundbreaking moment. Disabled rights activists around the world have long seen LGBTQ pride as inspiration. The impact cannot be denied.

Even amid the wider rights movement for people with disabilities, small communities form their own pride traditions. Autism’s Pride Day It was June 18th and I was the first person to promote it in Russia – again, inspired by American activists. It was the local LGBTQ organizations that helped to host these early autism pride events.

This seemed like a logical collaboration, but sadly, this support didn’t happen more frequently than it should have.

Young LGBTQ activists, especially Gen Z activists, are often extremely supportive of people with disabilities and nervous people, but large LGBTQ organizations still struggle to follow. As someone who worked with both LGBTQ and disabled communities in Ukraine, Russia, Israel, Europe, Australia, the UK and the US, I can honestly say this.

The LGBTQ pride culture is overwhelmingly neural and is built by people without disabilities for those without disabilities. This is at least despite that fact 16% of LGBTQ people are disabled – Same percentage as the general population. In fact, the actual number could be even higher because of the intersection of oddity and autism, and because LGBT people have a higher percentage of mental health challenges. Minority stress.

It’s not difficult to make pride more accessible. It just requires intention.

• Select a wheelchair accessible route and venue
• Allow support animals
• Create a quiet room for sensory regulation
• Avoid epilepsy being triggered by lighting or visuals
• Provides clear and easy-to-read information about the event
• Image description and Communication Badge

But above all, listen. Adopt the principle of the Disability Rights Movement, “There’s nothing about us without us.” Include disability LGBTQ activists in leadership for planning, outreach, and pride preparation. Not as a checkbox, but as a core contributor to the event and community. We deserve more than just being a token.

Even among the Trump administration, the American LGBTQ movement has had a strong influence all over the world. If US Pride Events commit to accessibility, they will help set new global standards. And it will be a powerful message. Especially when both LGBTQ and disabled rights are under political attack in the US and beyond. An accessible and comprehensive Pride Parade might be your first step. The LGBTQ and the rights community for people with disabilities need to cooperate against prejudice and hatred, especially because of the pride history we share.