DABC Recognizes Disability Pride Month
July is Disability Pride Month! We recognize that people with disabilities will have wide-ranging feelings about the month; not everyone experiences disability the same way, and the ableism entrenched in existing institutions and society in general can make the lives of people with disabilities very difficult. It can be hard for people to feel disability pride when they’re struggling.
On why the month is important to them, one DABC staff member said “There is more to me than my disabilities, but they’re a meaningful part of who I am. My disabilities (both physical and mental) have helped shaped how I navigate the world, and how I view difference in general. I think that’s important for people to understand. I want to live in a future in which people without disabilities will see people with disabilities as whole people, so that barriers to people with disabilities participating fully in society will be reduced and eventually removed altogether.”
We want to acknowledge that identities are intersectional and do not exist in silos. Many people with disabilities are also members of other equity-seeking groups, such as people who are IBPOC (Indigenous, Black, People of Colour), women, 2SLGBTQIA+, unhoused, and/or sex workers. Notably, “Disability Pride Month” riffs on “Pride Month,” which falls in June and celebrates people from 2SLGBTQIA+ communities. These communities have been key players in the disability rights movement.
However you may be acknowledging Disability Pride Month this year, DABC stands with you as we work to honour and uphold the dignities and rights of all British Columbians with disabilities.