Disability Pride Month is celebrated every July to commemorate the strength and solidarity of the disability community. It takes place in July because this month is the anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), but disability pride is about much more than just the ADA.
Disability pride can mean being proud of your perseverance while encountering ableism and barriers to access. It can mean supporting and uplifting your disabled friends. It can mean learning about the history of the disability rights movement and educating others. Or, maybe you donât feel that proud right now. Especially during an onslaught of political actions that harm the disability community, it can be difficult to take pride in having a disability. Itâs okay if this Disability Pride Month feels more like Disability Rage Month.
Disability pride means something different to everyone, but there are some key shared events in the history of Disability Pride Month. Here are some highlights:
July 26, 1990: President George Bush signed the ADA into law. The ADA is a groundbreaking piece of disability rights legislation, but the crucial accessibility requirements in the law must be further improved.
President George H. W. Bush signing the Americans with Disabilities Act.
October 6, 1990: The first Disability Pride Day was held in Boston.
A newspaper clipping from the first disability pride day. Via Gay Community News, vol. 18, no. 14, October 14-20, 1990. Accessed through the Northeastern University Library.
July 18, 2004: The first Disability Pride Parade was held in Chicago. Sarah Triano, a 2002 Paul G. Hearne Emerging Leader Award recipient, helped plan the first parade with the funding from the award. Read more about Sarah here.
October 25, 2008: The ADA Amendments Act was signed into law, broadening the definition of disability and expanding anti-discrimination protections.
July 2015: New York City became the first city to officially observe Disability Pride Month.
2019: Ann Magill posted a disability pride flag that is now symbolic of Disability Pride Month. Each color represents a different category of disability: psychosocial (blue), cognitive and intellectual (yellow), invisible and undiagnosed (white), physical (red), and sensory (green). The black background symbolizes mourning for the disabled victims of ableism and abuse.
Ann Magill’s original disability pride flag.
A black-and-white photo of the 2002 Paul G. Hearne Award recipients: (from left to right) Albert Cheong, Sarah Louise Triano, Peter Cody Hunt, Carrie Griffin and Claudia Gordon.
2021: Ann Magill updated the disability pride flag to make it more visually accessible. Learn more about Ann and her flag in her interview on The Accessible Stall podcast, co-hosted by AAPDâs Content Producer Kyle Khachadurian and disability advocate and author Emily Ladau: https://www.theaccessiblestall.com/episode-106-accessible-stall-ann-magill-disability-pride-flag/.
Ann Magill’s updated disability pride flag.
2025: Disability Pride celebrations have spread around the country and even around the world, including in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and New Zealand.
July is a month to recognize how far the disability rights movement has come while simultaneously acknowledging how much more needs to be done to create an accessible and inclusive world for all. Â AAPD is proud to be in community with all disabled people, this month and every month.