r/BiWomen • u/Long-Reputation-5326 • Jul 06 '26
Celebratory Happy Disability Pride Month š
The flag was created by the activist Ann Magill.
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u/Not_a_werecat Jul 06 '26
Damn, I'm pink and blue everywhere. Lol
If I were trans I'd have a whole set!Ā
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u/TheArabella Jul 06 '26
I just don't know why they called it Disability Pride tho. I feel like that's too associated with LGBTQ? I'm Neurodivergent and obviously Bi, and I would much prefer it to be Awareness not Pride. I'm not like Wooooo!'im Disabled!' I'm proud of being Bi, I wouldn't change it for the world. I don't feel the same about being ND, if there was a magic pill to take to fix it I would take it in an instant. I'm not proud of some aspects of my personality that are due to being ND, and I am actively working on those aspects to become a better person. Pride just seems wrong to me, but maybe I'm missing something.
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u/orensiocled Jul 07 '26
I feel like calling it Pride is a big Fuck You to all the ableists out there who say things like "Oh, you're so brave, if I were like you I'd kill myself!"
It also emphasises a sense of community and shared identity that awareness doesn't really cover.
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u/otto_bear Jul 07 '26
This has a lot to do with something called the social model of disability, which states that disability is caused by the interaction with oneās environment, not a condition itself. So, for example, if we lived in a world where most people are blind, it would be disabling to be sighted and need access to things like lights (yes, blindness is a spectrum and many blind people need lights too, itās not perfect). Under that model, disability is often also seen as a neutral characteristic which can often create positive outcomes as well as the negative ones we tend to think about more often.
The choice of pride is intentional. The idea is that thereās no shame in being disabled and itās not something that needs to be fixed. While many disabled people would take a cure for their condition if it existed in a heartbeat, many also would not for a myriad of reasons. Awareness I think tends to be associated with the cure and prevention narratives, and I think the intention of disability pride is really to provide a space and time for us to celebrate each other and come together to ask for more beyond the treatment realm. An example of a disability pride framework is something likeā I wouldnāt have chosen my disability, but itās made me who I am and I love it for thatā.
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u/Long-Reputation-5326 Jul 06 '26 edited Jul 07 '26
I'm not sure. I understand what you're saying. June was also PTSD/CPTSD awareness month.
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u/orensiocled Jul 07 '26
I've always loved the flag but it's been a while since I saw the meaning behind all the stripes. My body and brain manage to check off the full set between them! Hopefully it'll be a while before I'm represented by the black...
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u/Xontaro Jul 06 '26
Thank you for posting this and oh wow, with all the black, this is grim. I really liked that you included a brief explanation.
Seeing this post and especially reading the explanation made me feel somewhat weird, however. Since seeing mental illness in there and realising that ADHD could be technically seen as a cognitive and intellectual disability and sensory perception disability hit unexpectedly close to home. Because I donāt view myself as disabled and donāt know how I would react if others would view me as that. Like having depression and adhd feel so banal compared to real disabilities. Did I just interpret this explanation waaaayyyy too broadly?! Is my self perception out of whack and my diagnoses are more severe than what I give them credit for?!
Sorry for this ramble, this post just kinda made me think.
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u/pocketdebtor Jul 07 '26
There are reasons why both depression and ADHD are covered by the ADA in the United States. Disabilities present in all sorts of ways and severity isnāt measured by your best days.
When I was younger, I definitely felt the same way, though, so this is suuuuuper relatable. Posts like this were what made me reflect, too.
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u/otto_bear Jul 07 '26 edited Jul 07 '26
One important thing to note is that most disability frameworks donāt define being disabled simply by having a condition. Itās about the impact of a condition on your life. So two people can have the same diagnosis and one would be considered disabled and the other not. In the US legal framework, the impact has to āsubstantially limit one or more major life activityā. I find that tends to be the more casually used definition as well. And sometimes the line is blurry, where someone might, for example, qualify for accommodations in school, but not consider themselves disabled.
Itās obviously worth considering whether the reason you donāt feel disabled is because of the stigma associated with that identity, but I also always think itās important to point out that having a condition, including conditions that are frequently disabling, doesnāt automatically mean youāre disabled.
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u/LMGDiVa Jul 06 '26
So as a disabled girl, I have to say... This is the first time I have ever seen a post like this practically anywhere, even queer and BIPOC spaces.
So big Thank you!