Earlier this month at a city park in Augusta, Maine, Chrysanthemum Gates got a chance to speak at her first in-person Disability Pride event. Gates, a social media disability advocate with Tourette syndrome, said she wished more people knew about events like this in New England.
鈥淚 really feel like if more people knew about the event and attended if they were able to, they would also kind of share the sentiment of, 鈥榃ow, I feel very empowered by this鈥� and feel a lot better about themselves,鈥� Gates said.
Sarah Trites shared a poem she wrote at that same event. She鈥檚 a Maine resident and has a speech impediment. Trites said the dialogue surrounding people with disabilities has come a long way.
鈥淲hen I was growing up, the disability, you know, was kind of hidden back then and now it鈥檚 more out there and more people are aware of it, because anybody can become disabled at any time,鈥� Trites said.
The idea for Disability Pride Month originated in 1990, the same year the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was signed into law. Members of the disabled community in Boston are credited with holding the first Disability Pride celebration that same year. The event was held in Boston for a second year, but ended after that.
This July, Disability Pride events are taking place around the U.S., but there have been few events in New England.
Kasey Mimitz, director of youth services at Stavros Center for Independent Living in Amherst, Massachusetts, said before he was hired, he had no idea that there was a Disability Pride Month.
There鈥檚 also a Disability Pride flag, which has been displayed at in-person events and on social media. Mimitz says he doesn鈥檛 see the flag flying anywhere in New England.
鈥淲here鈥檚 the Disability Pride flag?鈥� Mimitz said. 鈥淚f I didn鈥檛 work where I work, I wouldn鈥檛 even know what it looked like, because I鈥檝e actually never seen one out and about in the community.鈥�
Advocates in New England say Disability Pride Month is becoming more well-known, but it鈥檚 not recognized like Disability Employment Awareness Month in October or Disability Awareness Month in March. Mimitz says these months are very different from each other.
鈥淒isability Awareness Month, it鈥檚 like bringing light to the more medical side, like you have Breast Cancer Awareness Month, it鈥檚 very specific, where the difference with Disability Pride, it鈥檚 more celebrating, not trying to find a cure like 鈥榣et鈥檚 be aware of this problem.鈥� But I don鈥檛 look at it as a problem,鈥� Mimitz said. 鈥淚 think one is more like a celebration and one [is] more like the educational portion.鈥�
Max Barrows, the outreach director of Green Mountain Self-Advocates in Montpelier, Vermont, said more recognition of Disability Pride Month would benefit everyone.
These kinds of events increase visibility for the disability community, Barrows said, and they help bring disabled people into discussions about issues that affect them.
鈥淲e often say this: Nothing about us without us,鈥� Barrows said. 鈥淧eople with disabilities need to have the final say in all decisions about our lives.鈥�
Barrows said his organization is focusing on tolerance and recognition for other parts of identity too. For example, Barrows says it鈥檚 important for him to be accepted both as autistic and Black.
鈥淚 want both sides to continue to understand me as a whole person no matter what my identities are,鈥� he said.
More pride and recognition can help disabled people become more normalized in their communities, Barrows added, and get rid of the stigma that their conditions are a burden to others and a problem that needs to be solved.
鈥淒isability Pride Month would be a way for society to recognize that a disability is just another part of what it means to be a human being and for us to be proud of who we are,鈥� Barrows said.
Gates agrees.
As part of her work on social media, Gates has had some success getting businesses in New England to give more access to wheelchair users.
For her, Disability Pride Month is about increasing inclusion and creating safe environments for disabled people to be themselves.
鈥淢y disabilities, especially the Tourette's, have shaped so much of my life that I would not be the same person that I am today if I didn鈥檛 have it,鈥� Gates said.
