Cassidy Huff - Disability Rights Activist

Hello everyone! I’m honored to be writing this blog for Be Kind 5 this month! My name

is Cassidy Huff and I am a disabled disability rights activist! I have been asked to write a blog

surrounding the topic of Disability Pride Month!

For those of you who don’t know, July is Disability Pride Month! The most common

question I get on social media during the month of July is: “Why do disabled people need a pride

month?!” This is a great question! To explain this, let me give you a brief history lesson of the

disabled population in the United States.

Disabled people have been around since the beginning of time. I won’t waste your time

by going through centuries of history about disabled people, so instead, I’ll start in the late

1800s. In 1867, the first “Ugly Laws” were enacted in San Francisco, California.

The “Ugly Laws” prohibited anyone who was deemed “unsightly, deformed, mutilated,

or a disgusting object” could not be seen out in public. Many people migrated to California to

find gold, but when they came out empty handed, they just stayed there and became homeless

and/or uncared for. Later on, other states passed their own “ugly laws” to combat the “unsightly

beggars” on the streets. The last of the “Ugly Laws” weren’t repealed until 1974.

Americans with disabilities did not have rights until 1990 when the Americans with

Disabilities Act (the ADA) was signed into law by President George Bush. It has only been 50

years since disabled people have been allowed to leave their homes and just exist in public.

Additionally, it has only been 34 years since disabled people have had human rights in this

country.

Disability Pride is important because historically we have been hidden away, pushed to

the side, killed, institutionalized, and not represented by non-disabled people for hundreds of

years. It is time to celebrate our disabilities. Our disabled bodies deserve to be seen. We deserve

to have our voices heard!

Happy Disability Pride Month!

Cassidy Huff - you can find me on Instagram @cass_huff