Disability Pride Month

People celebrate disability pride in July because it was the month when the United States passed the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to protect the civil rights of disabled people. Northern Ireland released similar legislation in 1995. England, Wales and Scotland passed disability legislation in 2002. In Canada, each province has disability legislation, introduced from 2005 onwards.

The 2026 theme in the UK is:

visibility, intersectionality, and disabled leadership. Rooted in disability rights movements, it reframes disability as a valued part of human diversity rather than a limitation. In the UK, the month has become an important platform for addressing inequality, particularly the persistent disability employment gap and wider social exclusion. Disability Pride Month also highlights intersectionality, recognising how disability intersects with race, gender, sexuality and class. For organisations, it offers a structured moment to listen to disabled voices and take visible, informed action.

— Diversity and Inclusion Speakers Agency

Intersectionality is a term coined by Kimberlé Crenshaw to describe the way that, for Black women, the ways they are oppressed as women intersects with the way they are oppressed as Black people. The term has since been extended to apply to other groups.

Visibility is important because of hidden disabilities. These are disabilities that are not obvious to outside observers. Visibility is also important because abled people tend to stigmatize disabled people.

Disabled leadership is important because all too often, abled people speak over disabled people or think they know better than disabled people.