Episode 77: It's Called Pride for a Reason

TRANSCRIPT OF “IT’S CALLED PRIDE FOR A REASON”

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MALE VO [00:03]
This is Bad Attitudes.

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LAURA [00:20]
Hello friends and strangers! Welcome to another episode of Bad Attitudes: An Uninspiring Podcast about Disability. I’m your host, Laura.

We’re taking a step back from history this week, but still celebrating Disability Pride Month!

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As always, I want to remind you that disability is not a monolith. My experience as a disabled person is going to be different from the experiences of other disabled people. I am one voice for the disabled community but I am not the only voice.

[01:47]
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There has been some discussion on this in the disabled community, but I wanted to weigh in on it myself. Some people have been calling July Disability Awareness Month, which is incorrect. July is Disability PRIDE Month. The distinction probably doesn’t mean much to some people — especially non-disabled people — but it’s actually a big deal.

To call it Disability Awareness Month is to center non-disabled people. After all, why do we need to raise awareness of disability if not for the edification of the non-disabled? Personally, I’m VERY aware of disability. Disability PRIDE centers the disabled community, celebrating our strength, acknowledging the battles we have fought and are still fighting, and putting the disabled community at the forefront of our stories.

Awareness is about education; Pride is about celebration.

Many individual disabilities already have “awareness” months or weeks or days. April is Autism Awareness Month. May is Cystic Fibrosis and Lupus Awareness Month. September is Deaf Awareness Month. Those are only a few examples of all the awareness surrounding disability. 

We spend most of our lives trying to raise awareness of disability, trying to educate the general public on our specific disabilities and on what it means to live as a disabled person in a world that does not accommodate us. It’s a lot of work. It takes a mental and emotional toll. It also puts the burden on disabled people to make non-disabled people aware of our existence, rather than expecting non-disabled people to shoulder that burden themselves, at least in part.

Imagine if June was LGBTQ+ Awareness Month, instead of Pride. It’s practically laughable. The LGBTQ+ community celebrates their lives during Pride. They celebrate their existence, overcoming their struggles, and getting to live their lives fully, as themselves.

That is what Disability Pride Month SHOULD be. I hope that soon we’ll start seeing parades and boisterous parties where people with all kinds of disabilities, along with their family, friends, and allies, can come together and celebrate that they are HERE.

Calling Disability Pride Month Disability Awareness Month kind of takes the zing out of it. I feel like calling something Awareness Month almost gives people permission to tune out. There’s nothing loud or in-your-face about Awareness. It’s important, but it’s quiet. It doesn’t draw too much attention.

Disability PRIDE on the other hand. That’s big and loud and in your face. That calls attention to itself. It says, “Look at me! I’m here! I’m important! I’m valuable!”

Some people who called July Disability Awareness Month might be making an honest mistake. But I have a feeling that’s not true for all people.

In a previous episode during another Disability Pride Month, I told you about the trans woman who accused the disability community of stealing the concept of pride from the LGBTQ+ community, and “confusing” people. I’ll say it again, If you are confused about Pride Month in June, and Disability Pride Month in July, and you think July is LGBTQ+ Pride for disabled people, ask yourself why the disabled members of the LGBTQ+ community would need a SEPARATE pride month to celebrate their sexual or gender identities.

Hint, it’s ableism. Yes, ableism exists in the LGBTQ+ community and all other marginalized groups. Bigotry is not limited to the majority.

It still makes me livid when I think about this woman minimalizing the struggles faced by the disabled community. Assuming that disabled people didn’t have a history full of violence or worthy of remembering. In some ways, there are many parallels between the history of the disabled and the LGBTQ+ communities. For example, just like it was illegal to be gay in the US, it was once illegal to be disabled in the US. Those were the days of the so-called “Ugly Laws,” the last of which wasn’t abolished until 1974. Disabled people are still regularly abused and even killed. It isn’t just history, it is our current existence.

I know we’re reaching the end of July, but if you come across anyone calling this month Disability Awareness Month, I definitely encourage you to correct them. It is a small but hugely important difference. Every other day of the year we make others aware of the disabled existence; in July, it’s time to celebrate it! It’s time to stand up against the injustices faced by the disabled community. That’s the awareness we SHOULD be raising.

Thanks for listening and I’ll talk to you in the next one.

[07:26]
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