July is Disability Pride Month, a time to celebrate the strength, identity, and visibility of people with disabilities. It honors the choice to embrace disability as a vital part of who someone is—rejecting shame, stigma, and internalized ableism. This month invites the disability community to come together, uplift one another, and amplify voices that deserve to be seen and heard. Disability pride means recognizing and honoring each person’s uniqueness as a natural and beautiful expression of human diversity.
Disability is often portrayed in society as shameful or inspirational. Many disabled people with non-apparent disabilities have a hard time coming out as disabled due to the potential negative response by family, friends, and work colleagues. Similar to LGBTQIA+ Pride and Black History, Disability Pride emerged as a way for the disability community to demonstrate pride in their identity and to break down stigmas about disability.
The Disability Pride Flag features diagonal stripes of green, blue, white, yellow, and red set against a charcoal background.
- Red – physical disabilities
- Gold – neurodiversity
- White – invisible and/or undiagnosed disabilities
- Blue – mental, emotional, and psychiatric disabilities, including mental illness
- Green – sensory disabilities, including blindness and deafness
- Faded black background – “suffering of the disability community from violence and also serves as a color of rebellion and protest”
Disability Pride Month is observed every July. It began in 1990 as a single day of recognition—the same year the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was signed into law. That year, Boston hosted the first Disability Pride Day. The ADA made it illegal to discriminate against people with disabilities, forced public buildings to be accessible for all and required employers to provide reasonable accommodations. The first official Disability Pride Month celebration took place in July 2015, commemorating the 25th anniversary of the ADA. Since then, communities across the nation have embraced the month with parades, events, and celebrations honoring disability, identity and pride.
Each July, Disability Pride Month commemorates the strength, resilience, and diverse experiences of individuals with disabilities. It serves as a platform to advocate for disability rights, challenge stereotypes, and celebrate the achievements of the disability community. This Disability Pride Month, WDVA is honored to celebrate and amplify individuals, organizations, and initiatives that are building equity, uplifting disabled people, and creating inclusive cultures in society.