Why Disability Pride Month Matters
Visibility, Justice, and the Power of Intersectionality
Every July, a celebration unfolds across communities that often don’t receive nearly enough recognition: Disability Pride Month. While it may not yet have the global fanfare of LGBTQIA+ Pride in June, its message is just as vital—visibility, empowerment, and the unapologetic celebration of disabled identities.
Disability Pride Month is about much more than awareness. It’s a bold, joyful, and deeply political affirmation that disabled people exist, matter, and deserve access, respect, and representation. For those who are new to the observance or curious about its significance, this post breaks down the “why” behind Disability Pride Month—and why it matters now more than ever.
Where It All Began
Disability Pride Month takes place every July, in honor of a pivotal moment in U.S. history: the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) on July 26, 1990. The ADA was a landmark civil rights law that prohibited discrimination based on disability, ensuring access to public spaces, transportation, and employment.
But just like the Stonewall Riots shaped LGBTQIA+ Pride, the ADA didn’t happen without protest, resistance, and the fierce organizing of disabled activists. One of the most iconic moments leading up to the ADA’s passage was the Capitol Crawl, when over 60 activists, many of whom used wheelchairs, got out of their mobility aids and crawled up the steps of the U.S. Capitol to demand equal rights.
It was raw. It was powerful. And it showed the world that disabled people would no longer be silent or invisible.
But Isn’t Every Month About “Pride” Now?
It’s true that we’ve seen a growing number of observances that celebrate different identities: LGBTQIA+ Pride Month, Black History Month, Trans Awareness Week, Neurodiversity Celebration Week, and more. Sometimes people wonder: “Can’t this all fall under one umbrella?”
Here’s the thing: visibility doesn’t dilute when it’s shared—it strengthens when it’s specific.
Disability Pride Month creates intentional space for the disability community to tell its own stories. While disabled people are part of every identity—queer, trans, BIPOC, immigrant, and more—their experiences are often overlooked or misunderstood, even within progressive movements.
By setting aside a month to focus on disabled experiences, identities, and activism, we’re able to center the unique struggles and triumphs of this diverse and vibrant community.
The Disability Pride Flag: A Symbol of Complexity and Power
In 2021, artist Ann Magill, a disabled woman, redesigned the Disability Pride Flag to be more accessible and inclusive. Each color on the flag represents a different aspect of the disability experience:
Red – Physical disabilities
Gold – Neurodivergence (including autism, ADHD, and more)
White – Invisible and undiagnosed disabilities
Blue – Psychiatric disabilities
Green – Sensory disabilities (like Deafness, blindness, etc.)
Dark/Charcoal Gray background – Mourning those lost to ableism, abuse, suicide, and neglect
The zig-zag line cutting through the colors symbolizes the non-linear journeys and barriers disabled people face, and the creativity used to navigate them.
It’s not just a flag—it’s a declaration: We are here. We are many. And we deserve to be seen.
Disability Is Diverse—and So Is Pride
Disability is not one experience. It can be:
Visible or invisible
Acquired or lifelong
Physical, sensory, neurological, psychological, or intellectual
Constant, fluctuating, or episodic
And disabled people exist across every culture, race, gender identity, and sexual orientation. In fact, research consistently shows that disabled people are more likely to identify as LGBTQIA+ than nondisabled people—a reality that challenges both the queer and disability communities to become more intersectional and inclusive.
Yet even within LGBTQIA+ spaces, disabled people are often left out—due to inaccessible venues, overwhelming environments, or simply being seen as “too complicated.” That’s why Disability Pride Month is not just about celebration, but about calling in communities to do better.
From Inspiration Porn to Real Empowerment
Too often, the mainstream media portrays disabled people in two extremes:
As “inspirations” for doing everyday things (“Wow, she’s in a wheelchair and she has a job!” 🙄), or
As objects of pity, tragedy, or fear.
This kind of representation—what activist Stella Young famously called “inspiration porn”—is harmful. It reduces people to their disabilities rather than recognizing their full humanity, their agency, and their right to live joyful, complex, and ordinary lives.
Disability Pride Month rejects those limited narratives. Instead, it invites the world to:
Uplift disabled voices
Challenge ableism (both systemic and internalized)
Celebrate disabled joy, beauty, culture, and resistance
🛠️ Pride, Not Just Awareness
Let’s be real: awareness alone doesn’t change systems. We’ve been “aware” for decades.
What we need is equity, access, and justice. That means:
Designing events and public spaces that are fully accessible
Listening to and compensating disabled activists, creators, and experts
Recognizing ableism as a structural issue, not just individual prejudice
Advocating for inclusive education, healthcare, and employment policies
Normalizing mobility aids, ASL, screen readers, neurodivergent communication styles, and more
Pride goes beyond tolerating someone’s presence—it demands that we honor their existence, fight for their rights, and celebrate their contributions.
How to Celebrate Disability Pride Month
Whether you’re disabled yourself or an ally, here are ways to meaningfully engage with Disability Pride Month:
Learn from disabled voices
Follow creators, activists, and educators on platforms like Instagram, TikTok, Substack, and YouTube. (Start with people like Imani Barbarin, Alice Wong, or Lydia X. Z. Brown.)Make your spaces accessible
Whether it’s a Zoom call or a live event, think about captions, ramps, quiet rooms, lighting, and more.Call out ableism when you see it
Yes, even the “well-meaning” kind. Jokes, assumptions, and inaccessibility all contribute to harm.Support disabled artists and businesses
Buy their art, share their work, and put your money where your allyship is.Celebrate disabled joy
Not just activism—art, beauty, fashion, humor, and the everyday magic of living life on your own terms.
In Solidarity, Not Pity
Disability Pride Month is not about perfection or overcoming anything. It’s about embracing disability as an identity, a culture, and a powerful source of community. It’s about centering the people most impacted by ableism—and letting them lead the conversation.
And for those of us who live at the intersection of queer and disabled identities, this month can be a life-affirming reminder that we don’t have to fragment ourselves. We are whole, we are beautiful, and we are worthy—exactly as we are.
So this July, let’s celebrate not just Disability Pride Month, but the possibility of a world where access isn’t an afterthought, but a given. A world where Pride means everyone gets to show up, be loud, be seen, and be loved.
And that, my darling, is something truly worth marching for. 🖤♿🌈
In Solidarity, Always
-Ryder