July is Disability Pride Month—a time to celebrate disability as a vital, powerful part of human diversity, and to honor the revolutionary impact of the disability rights movement.
The UDW fight for justice is inseparable from the fight for disability rights. People with disabilities have always been at the heart of movements for change—organizing, leading, and demanding better from systems that were never built for them. A better future must include all of us.
The Roots of Disability Pride Month
Disability Pride Month began in Boston in July 1990, the same month that the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was signed into law. This landmark legislation was the result of decades of hard-fought activism by disabled people who demanded access, inclusion, and civil rights—not charity or sympathy. Over time, this celebration has grown into a nationwide movement that centers disabled identity as a source of strength, pride, and resistance.
Pride can feel complicated in a world that still treats disability as something to pity, erase, or overcome. For many, it means pushing back against years of stigma—some of it external, some of it internalized. But that pushback is powerful. Disability pride says: we are not broken, we are not burdens, and we will not be sidelined. It honors disability as part of our culture and our strength.
To honor Disability Pride is to challenge ableism, cast off shame, and demand recognition of disabled people’s full humanity across every part of society.
Our Union is Stronger Because of Our Diversity
UDW members bring a unique and powerful perspective to this movement. As care providers, clients, and disabled individuals ourselves, we serve, advocate, and live at the intersection of care and disability. Disability is not a deficit. It’s a part of life, a cornerstone of our labor movement, and a deep source of strength.
Our union’s power comes from the diversity of our members and the communities we fight for: Black, brown, immigrant, LGBTQIA+, disabled. Alongside disabled leaders within our ranks, we organize for better wages, better care, and a future rooted in dignity. This fight is personal, it’s collective, and it’s unapologetically proud.
This month and every month, we celebrate the strength, humanity, and leadership of our disabled members and clients. You are not only a valued part of our movement, but you also help lead it. And as the Trump administration begins to gut Medicaid and strip away the care our communities rely on, we will continue to rise united. We’ll continue to organize, fight and win.
