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Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Accessibility (DEIA) Resources: Disability Pride Month

July marks Disability Pride Month!

Disability Pride Month celebrates disabled people embracing their disabilities as integral parts of who they are, reclaiming visibility in public and interacting fully with their disabilities out in the open, and rejecting shame and internalized ableism. It is a time for the disability community to come together, uplift, and amplify one another’s voices and be heard.

Disability Pride initially started as a day of celebration in 1990—the same year that the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was signed into law. The first official celebration of Disability Pride Month occurred in July 2015, which also marked the 25th anniversary of the ADA. Since then, cities across the country have celebrated disability pride month with parades and other festivities.

Disability Pride Flag

The original disability pride flag, created by Ann Magill in 2019, underwent a makeover for accessibility purposes in 2021. While the original flag featured a zigzag design with brighter colors, it worsened symptoms for individuals with visually triggered disabilities, including seizure and migraine disorders. Magill’s updated design features muted colors and a straight diagonal band from the top left to the bottom right corner.

The original flag’s zigzags represented how disabled people creatively navigate barriers. On the improved flag, the parallel stripes stand for intracommunal solidarity. The colors on the flag symbolize various disability experiences. The black background mourns disabled people who have died due to negligence, suicide, rebellion, illness, and eugenics.

Each stripe’s color represents disability types:

  • Red: physical disabilities
  • Gold: Intellectual + cognitive disabilities
  • White: Invisible + undiagnosed disabilities
  • Blue: psychiatric disabilities
  • Green: sensory disabilities

Timeline of Important Events in Disability History

Resources

Books