Posts tagged with "healthcare"

Disability Rights, Marriage, and American Ideals

July is more than just summer picnics and fireworks; it’s also a deeply significant month for over 70 million Americans: it’s Disability Pride Month. While many are familiar with the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) on July 26, 1990, the full historical context and ongoing struggles for disability rights often remain unseen. This month is a vibrant affirmation that disability is a natural and valuable part of human diversity, challenging us to look beyond surface-level understanding and engage with a movement rooted in profound American ideals of freedom and equality.

Need to Know: The Roots of Disability Pride

Disability Pride Month officially took root in July 2015, marking the 25th anniversary of the ADA. However, the spirit of Disability Pride—a celebration of identity, achievement, and community—began with Disability Pride Day in Boston in 1990 and saw its first parade in Chicago in 2004. It’s a time to acknowledge the rich history, diverse experiences, and persistent struggles of people with disabilities.

A powerful symbol of this pride is the Disability Pride Flag. Originally designed in 2019 by writer Ann Magill, who has cerebral palsy, the flag’s initial zigzagging stripes, meant to symbolize barriers, were thoughtfully refined after community input. The revised flag features muted, straightened stripes over a faded black background, a testament to the community’s collaborative spirit in addressing conflicting access needs. Each of the six colors holds specific meaning, representing various disabilities from physical and neurodiversity to invisible and sensory conditions, while the black background honors those lost to ableist violence and abuse. This flag embodies unity, light cutting through darkness, and the collective strength of a diverse community.

A Deeper Dive: Marriage Equality and the Ongoing Struggle

While the LGBTQ+ community celebrated a landmark victory with marriage equality, for many within the disability community, the fight for the right to marry without penalty is far from over. This issue, often overlooked, highlights a complex intersection of historical discrimination, economic injustice, and the very definition of individual autonomy in America.

Historically, the right to marry for people with disabilities has been deeply intertwined with the abhorrent eugenics movement of the early 20th century. Laws in states like Connecticut, Pennsylvania, and Ohio prevented individuals deemed to have “genetic defects,” including those with intellectual disabilities or epilepsy, from marrying and were even subjected to forced sterilization. Shockingly, many of these discriminatory laws, while often unenforced, have never been formally repealed. This echoes a paternalistic view that people with disabilities are “unable to make their own decisions,” undermining their fundamental human rights.

Today, the core of the marriage equality struggle for people with disabilities often lies in a system of classism and economic dependency. Many rely on vital government programs like SSI, SSDI, Medicaid, and Section 8 to cover the exorbitant costs of living with a disability—expenses for equipment, home healthcare, and medication that are often life-sustaining. However, these programs often have strict income and asset limits. When a person with a disability marries, their spouse’s income and assets are typically factored in, potentially leading to a loss of essential benefits. This forces an unbearable choice: marry the person you love, or maintain access to the services that ensure your ability to live and function.

This predicament not only creates immense personal hardship but also reinforces harmful misconceptions. It tacitly suggests that people with disabilities are not sexual beings, do not form meaningful relationships, and do not desire love or family in the same way as non-disabled individuals. It’s a cruel irony that in a nation founded on liberty, some are denied the full benefits and protections of marriage simply because of their disability and the systemic barriers designed to keep them in poverty.

Takeaways and Implications for American Culture

  • Disability is Diversity: Disability Pride Month emphasizes that disability is a natural part of human variation and a source of identity and culture, not a deficit to be pitied or fixed.
  • The ADA was a Start, Not the End: While the ADA was groundbreaking, it marked a beginning, not an end, to the fight for full inclusion and equity for people with disabilities.
  • Economic Justice is Disability Justice: The issue of marriage equality profoundly illustrates how economic policies and benefit structures can inadvertently perpetuate discrimination and limit fundamental rights for people with disabilities.
  • Challenging Ableism: Understanding these historical and ongoing struggles is crucial for recognizing and dismantling ableism—discrimination and bias against people with disabilities—in all its forms.

Moving Forward: An Evolving Society

The ongoing fight for marriage equality for people with disabilities is a powerful reminder that the American promise of liberty and justice for all remains an evolving ideal. When our systems force individuals to choose between love and basic necessities, it is a flaw that demands our attention.

This Disability Pride Month, as we celebrate the resilience and vibrancy of the disability community, let’s also commit to advocating for a society where the right to marry is truly universal, where no one is penalized for love, and where every American can fully participate in life without fear of losing essential support. The movement is swelling, and it’s a fight for a more inclusive, just, and truly American future.

This April Fool’s Day Was No Laughing Matter

 

BY JEANETTE LENOIR

 

This April Fool’s Day hundreds gathered in the streets of New York City to protest the President’s attempt to repeal the Affordable Care Act with help from Republicans now in control of the House and Senate.

The jokes and hoaxes usually designated for this day have taken a serious tone that reflects the mood of the country under this new administration. Anna Theofilopoulou immigrated to the U.S. from Greece in 1976 and is an active member of the Village Independent Democrats. Braving the cold weather to lend her voice to this cause, she said, “We’re concentrating on all kinds of issues. One of the key ones, since the healthcare one is on hold right now, is the environment, which seems to be the next danger, we decided that we are going to do a petition drive and we will deliver them to Senator Schumer.” By her side was her fellow VID member, Elizabeth Mann who says she was traumatized by the presidential election and the events that have unfolded since the inauguration of President Trump. “I feel like I can’t do nothing at this point. I feel like we are on a very bad path in this country and anything that I can do to shift politicians, to shift elections, I’m going to do,” she said. Mann says she remains active to counter the despair she feels since Trump won the election.

Theofilopoulou says simply waking up in the morning and making her way around the city and talking to people makes her feel desperate. “It’s such a prevailing feeling after the election. I mean, it was a state of disbelief in the beginning, but it did happen. And, it’s meeting our worst expectations. As far as I’m concerned, it cannot get worse than it has gone. And I sincerely believe that there is so much to come out of the Russian connection…it’s a matter of time.”

Standing at the Grove stop of the Path station in Jersey City, NJ Rob Trucker with the Northern New Jersey Democratic Socialists of America raised the issue his group came out to protest; the minimum wage hike. Speaking in front of a crowd of roughly 20 to 30 people he said, “In a time of unprecedented income inequality and unprecedented corporate profits, the bare minimum that we should be demanding is $15 an hour for our low wage everyday workers. We have to come together to fight the managerial and corporate class and fight for our union and fight on behalf of our own interests.” He urged people from different backgrounds, affiliations and orientation to form a union to combat corporate greed.

From town hall meetings, the Women’s March in DC, protests at member offices and the streets of America, people are not taking lightly the changes shaping a divided country under this new president. And the Republican agenda to overturn Obama era policies that impact healthcare, the environment and even law enforcement is not going to be taken calmly as these on-going cries seem to suggest. Mann says even Schumer, “has developed much more of a spine than he had 3 or 4 months ago,” in his role to combat Trump and the republican agenda. As we near the 100 day mark of Trump’s presidency, Americans of all walks of life remain determined and perhaps hopeful that something will give way and force arguably the most hated man in the world out of the White House. In the meantime, the people will protest and gather to voice their opinions and demand that they be heard. After all, isn’t that how Democracy works?