Celebrating Disability Pride Month
July is Disability Pride Month, a time to recognise disability history, identity, culture, community, and the contributions of people with disability.
Disability Pride Month is connected to the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act on 26 July 1990. The first official Disability Pride Month celebration took place in July 2015, marking the legislation’s twenty fifth anniversary. It has since grown into an international opportunity to celebrate disability communities and continue conversations about rights, access, representation, and inclusion.
Disability pride does not mean that every person has the same relationship with disability. People may use different language to describe themselves, and people’s experiences of disability can be very different.
For many people, disability pride is about rejecting the idea that disability is something shameful or something that must be hidden. It recognises that people with disability have always contributed to families, workplaces, communities, advocacy movements, arts, sport, education, and public life.
The Disability Pride Flag was created by Ann Magill. Its current design features coloured diagonal stripes on a charcoal background, representing different experiences within the disability community and the shared history of disability rights and advocacy. The design was updated after community feedback to make it safer and more accessible for people who can experience visually triggered symptoms.
Disability Pride Month is also a time to recognise that barriers remain. Inaccessible environments, discrimination, low expectations, and exclusion can prevent people from participating equally.
Celebrating disability pride means listening to people with disability, recognising disability leadership, challenging disablism, and creating communities where people can participate as themselves.
This July, we celebrate the experiences, achievements, creativity, leadership, and diversity of people with disability across the South West and beyond.
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