June is Pride Month, a month of profound and unending gratitude for me. I am an openly queer and disabled clergy person. Without the radical dreaming and action from our queer and disabled ancestors, my path would not be possible. Disability and Queerness have always been intertwined, from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) classifying [click to continue...]
Queer and trans disabled folks are at the center of queer trans history and disability history, because the movements incubate and cross pollinate each other. For instance, during the 504 occupation, the owners of the lesbian bar in the East Bay brought shampoo and conditioner and washed people’s hair in an act of tangible solidarity [click to continue...]
I sometimes tell people that I am living like a ghost. Since I was a child I have felt detached from my body due to dissociation. Dissociation can be all-consuming, and a highly subjective experience. Sometimes, it feels as if I float above my physical body slowly, or incredibly quickly, and I lose any conception [click to continue...]
I remember many beautiful things about Philadelphia Pride 2018. Mamma Mia had come to town, and the performers were marching in the parade. Their routines were vibrant, as though the streets were a makeshift stage, and all the world was invited. In my red skinny jeans and my rainbow wing scarf, I stood on the [click to continue...]
When I was in high school, I didn’t know anything about pride. All I knew were the names the bullies gave me. They kicked me, shoved me, because I wasn’t a “real man.” When I was in the military, there was still no pride. Nobody ever said anything, not even those of us who were [click to continue...]
A few days before Pride Month begins this year, the third time without my step-dad, I find myself reaching for the bag of his old shirts without thinking twice, slipping one over my head and inhaling the remnants of his scent, of that pine-scented deodorant he always wore, letting the faded cotton wrap me up [click to continue...]
Hi everyone, I’m Wally Tablit and I’m the Director of State Policy with RespectAbility and I’m a gay Asian man with a disability. Today, I want to share with you some reflections on power, practice, and pride. Now, when I think of myself and all of those intersecting identities, we have to remember that [click to continue...]
Los Angeles, CA, June 3 – Victoria’s Secret was my childhood nightmare. I closed my eyes, held my mom’s hand, and tried not to peek, as my 5-year-old self bumped into mannequins in lace around every corner. Growing up in a conservative Catholic home, I spent over a decade believing that this playground-aged instinct to [click to continue...]
Washington, D.C., June 2 – Billy Porter has had a long history of breaking boundaries. He came out at 16 years old in the middle of the AIDS crisis. His Tony-winning stint as Lola in Kinky Boots confronted stigmas around femininity. And his role as Pray Tell on Pose made him the first openly gay [click to continue...]
Washington, D.C., June 21 – Throughout National LGBTQ+ Pride Month (June), the LGBTQ+ community has been reflecting on the ongoing struggle to secure, protect and expand their rights. The LGBTQ+ community and the disability community intersect in significant ways. According to a study published in 2012, fully 36 percent of women in the LGBTQ+ community [click to continue...]
