Getting Down to Pride
Qudsiya's thoughts during "double Pride" summer
Welcome back, DTTS community,
Happy Pride! Or as June and July are sometimes collectively called, “the Prides.” In June, we celebrate the LGBTQIA+ community, and in July, we continue the love and extend it to the disability community, and everyone who lives at those intersections.
We took a little pause last month and rolled in crip time as I juggled all the things that life throws at all of us sometimes. I’m so glad to pop in this month to celebrate and express my gratitude for the community that has called me home to a place of support and belonging that I never would have dreamed possible, even just a few years ago.
A reminder that all episodes of season 8 of Down to the Struts are available on our website and wherever you get our podcasts. As we prepare for season 9 (coming this autumn), don’t forget to catch up, leave a review and let us know what you think!
We’re so excited for what’s in store next season—we’ll be experimenting with some new formats and bringing in some fascinating guests to talk about everything from recreation, to transportation, to voting, and more.
In the meantime, as a celebration of disability pride this month, here are a few recommendations and shout-outs to my beloved disability community. I hope you enjoy and find some moments of pause to celebrate disability culture this month (and always).
For some fantastic reflections on pride, check out last month’s issue of Kevin Gotkin’s Crip News. I’m also looking forward to Kevin’s collection of crip critiques of pride, coming this month.
I’m adoring Alice Wong’s latest anthology, Disability Intimacy, and the multitudes of crip love, sexuality, and care in all its forms that the book embodies. As someone who struggled to find intimacy and acceptance for much of their life, I resonated deeply with so many of the stories, and found joy and possibility in many others. Bravo, Alice, and I can’t wait for your third installment, Disability Vulnerability, coming in 2026!
Hats-off to Pedro of the award-winning film Unseen for receiving the prestigious International Rhoda G. Sarnat Award from the National Association of Social Workers, awarded to those who have “made significant contributions towards conveying a positive image of social work.” Check out Pedro’s powerful acceptance speech here. Thank you, Pedro, for all that you have done, and continue to do, to uplift and support the undocumented and disability communities.
This is also a very special year for disability pride, as it also marks the 25th anniversary of the Supreme Court’s decision in Olmstead v. L.C., which held that the ADA requires individuals with disabilities to live in their communities, a concept known as the integration mandate. In a 2014 interview, the plaintiff in the case, Lois Curtis, now an artist living in Georgia, expressed her wishes for all the disabled people that were freed from institutions because of her bravery:
I hope they live long lives and have their own place. I hope they make money. I hope they learn every day. I hope they meet new people, celebrate their birthdays, write letters, clean up, go to friends’ houses and drink coffee. I hope they have a good breakfast every day, call people on the phone, feel safe.
Twenty-five years later, disabled people, their allies, advocates, and policymakers across the country continue to fight every day to realize the promise of Olmstead. Even as the Supreme Court has held it constitutional for state and local governments to criminalize unhoused people, including disabled people, for sleeping outside because they have nowhere else to go. Even as funding has been eviscerated for home and community-based services, and care workers fight to earn a living wage. But each anniversary offers the opportunity to renew the battle for disabled people to live their best, fullest, and most joyful lives.
My dear disability community, I hope you stretch yourselves out throughout this month of disability pride—spread your wings, and take up space—because you deserve to live and thrive in this world.
We’ll be taking a summer pause in August, but Getting Down to It will be back in your inboxes come September. Until then, sending you all the love!
In solidarity,
Qudsiya