Disability Pride Month
Rev. Nicole Herda, Pastor, St. Peter’s UCC, Kiel, WI
July is Disability Pride Month. I know some of you are tired of hearing the word pride but it’s vital to our faith communities.
Disability pride celebrates the full humanity of people with disabilities. It’s not a holiday officially recognized in the United States, but has been celebrated since 2004 in Madison, Chicago, New York, and Los Angeles. July was chosen because the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was passed on July 26, 1990, prohibiting discrimination against people with disabilities including in employment, transportation, public accommodations, andcommunications. It meant that people with disabilities must have access to state and government services.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 16% of people, 1 in 6, have a significant disability. It is the largest marginalized community in the world, one that any one of us could become a part of at any moment due to illness, accident, or aging. The percentage of people with disabilities only increases as we age.
I’m mom to a 23-year-old son with multiple disabilities and the pastor of a congregation here in Wisconsin. For most of my son’s life, his care was my primary focus. We learned whole languages that I didn’t want to learn beginning with medical diagnosis, therapies, medications, Birth to three, Individual Education Plans (IEP), accessibility and inclusion. The biggest surprise to me however was the lack of access and inclusion that I was suddenly aware of.
The separation of church and state means that many of our churches are not accessible and don’t have to be. It’s detrimental not only to people with disabilities but our aging population as well. While some churches have added a ramp or elevator in their buildings, the reality is that most also have steps leading to the chancel or stairs that lead to parts of the building leaving them inaccessible to people who struggle with mobility. Some congregations no longer print bulletins insisting that everyone use a screen that is too far away for some of our visually impaired aging population.
Even more uncomfortable: lack of accessible bathrooms which are a physical need every human being has. Let me clarify this a little bit. Many of our churches have added ‘accessible bathrooms’ which aren’t wide enough to get a wheelchair into the stall independently much less close the door or get back out. Some churches have made longer stalls or a wider door, but the room isn’t wide enough for a wheelchair to fit through so it doesn’t work. Ready to go one step further? I am a Mom, Pastor, and a guardian of my 23-year-old son who needs help to use a bathroom. Often, I call ahead and ask questions so I know if there is a bathroom that we can use, then do a search of the area to find the closest family/universal restroom. When there are universal or family bathrooms, I breathe a sigh of relief. These are large bathrooms that allow me to help my son but they also have a much wider effect. Universal/family bathrooms allow spouses and caregivers to assist someone who just had surgery, is experiencing dementia, and parents with children who also need assistance to use a bathroom safely.
This month we celebrate Disability Pride, acknowledging whole human beings as worthy. All people are created in God’s image, therefore worthy of being listened to, being included at the table, in our classrooms and our sanctuaries, and welcomed just as they are wherever we are. Look at your congregation. If you can’t see 1/6 people with a disability, then people are missing. I invite you to have some conversations this month with people who have disabilities to see what accessibility and inclusion needs they are experiencing in our communities so that we might be the Church more fully.
Books I recommend:
My Body is Not A Prayer Request: Disability Justice in the Church by Amy Kenny and Nan McNamara (narrator of audiobook)
Disability and the Way of Jesus: Holistic Healing in the Gospels and the Church by Bethany McKinney Fox with forward by John Swinton
Disability and the Church: A Vision for Diversity and Inclusion by Lamar Hardwick with forward by Bill Gaventa
Being Heumann: An Unrepentant Memoir of a Disability Rights Activist by Judith Heumann with Kristen Joiner
Children’s Books:
Like Me: A Story About Disability and Discovering God’s Image in Every Person by Laura Wifler, Art by Skylar White
A Church for All by Gayle Pitman, Art by Laure Fournier
We’re All Wonders by R.J. Palacio
All the Way to the Top: How One Girl’s Fight for Americans with Disabilities Changed Everything by Annette Bay Pimental, Art by Nabi H. Ali, Foreward by Jennifer Keelan-Chaffins
Just Ask: Be Different, Be Brave, Be You by Sonia Sotomayor, Art by Rafael López
Find an ADA Anniversary/Disability Pride event near you: ADA Anniversary Events in the Great Lakes Region
