Disability Pride Month 2023

July is Disability Pride Month, an international annual awareness month which celebrates disabled people and the diversity of our community.

Disability Pride works to shine a light on physical, learning and hidden disabilities, as well as mental health conditions. It enables people to have open conversations about disability through sharing experiences, raising awareness of the barriers and challenges the community faces, as well as celebrating diversity.

The Disability Pride Month flag was designed by Ann Magill in 2017, and it has a significant meaning. The black background refers to the colour of mourning for those who have suffered from ableist violence, and rebellion and protest. The lightning bolt outlines how disabled people must navigate barriers, and the five colours represent the variety of needs and experiences.

Originating in the USA, this celebration coincided with the Americans Disability Act (ADA), the civil rights law prohibiting discrimination against disabled people, which was signed in July 1990. It started as one day but since 2015, marking the ADA’s 25th anniversary, the entire month has become an annual event worldwide. 

Disability Pride provides a space to end stigmas and promote disability as an identity, culture and to share the positive pride many should feel. It creates awareness of and challenges the systemic ableism and discrimination disabled and deaf people face.

At Bracknell Forest Council we use AccessAble, the UK’s leading provider of disabled access information. They are committed to providing disabled people with the information required to make informed choices and to break down the barriers disabled people face accessing education, local services and employment. This was a joint commission with The Lexicon.

There are more than 200 guides which have been created for locations in the borough. They are hosted on the AccessAble website and free app to provide facts, figures and photographs. Each guide has been created following a visit by an AccessAble surveyor to the various locations, to gather specific information about a particular location. Additional guides will be added annually to cover new businesses and retailers within The Lexicon.  

The council is committed to making sure our services can be accessed by residents with disabilities and/or additional needs, and take such steps as it is reasonable to avoid putting people with a disability at ‘a substantial disadvantage’. This commitment applies to services that the council delivers directly, as well as those that the council commissions from other organisations.

Ambitious About Autism have some useful and interesting information on their website if you’d like to find out more about living with autism as a member of the LGBTQ+ community. You can read:

• how to look after and support your wellbeing when you are LGBTQ+
• blogs written by autistic young people on what it means to be LGBTQ+
• coming out as LGBTQ+
• information and support on what being trans means, and much more

We’d like to wish everyone a very happy Disability Pride Month.