Disability Pride Month
Did you know there is a Disability Pride Month in the UK?
Yes, there is, and it is celebrated every year in July. Disability Pride initially started as a day of celebration in 1990—the year that the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was signed into law.
Why is July Disability Pride Month?
The celebration is aligned with the passing of the disabilities Act in America, which took place in July. The celebration aims to promote visibility and mainstream awareness of the positive pride felt by those within the disability community.
What is the colour of Disability Pride Month?
There is a disability pride flag, it has a black background and diagonally across the flag are five zigzag lines coloured blue, yellow, white, red, and green. The diagonal lines are to represent lightning bolts and each colour represents something unique about the disability community.
The original Disability Pride flag was created in 2019 by writer Ann Magill, who has cerebral palsy.
After receiving input from people with visually triggering disabilities, the flag was changed in 2021 to have muted colours and straight diagonal stripes.
The amended flag now displays stripes to represent intercommunal solidarity. The straight band of stripes is positioned diagonally to showcase cutting across barriers that disabled people face and to evoke the concept of light cutting through the darkness.
- Green is for sensory disabilities
- Blue represents emotional and psychiatric disabilities
- White stands for non-visible and undiagnosed disabilities
- Gold is for neurodiversity
- Red represents physical disabilities.
The stripes are displayed on a faded charcoal black background which commemorates and mourns disabled people who’ve died due to ableism, violence, negligence, suicide, rebellion, illness and eugenics. The dark background also represents rage and protest against the mistreatment of the disabled community.
https://youtu.be/lBzhWmMCIv0?si=DhSVBbearGYhWetH
Disability Pride North Yorkshire 2024