Disability essay I wrote for AARP

Note: I wrote this essay for AARP hoping to win $25,000 for ADAPT. Today, I found out I didn't win! Thought I'd share it anyway!

Being a woman in a wheelchair, I was always expected to be the helped rather than the helper. My cerebral palsy makes it impossible for me to use the bathroom on my own or get dressed or undressed myself, as well as about 1,000 other tasks most people do independently. However, I was born with a servant’s heart.

I am happiest when I am being of service to a fellow human being, especially if that person also has a disability. In pursuit of my ultimate goal of the complete and total liberation and acceptance of people with disabilities (PWD), I have spoken to numerous media outlets, lobbied politicians, and used my literary talents to inform individuals about the situations PWD confront. This past week, I marched on Washington with hundreds of other activists in defense of Medicaid and the right to receive long-term supportive services in the community setting of your choice.
I believe people of all ages have the right to determine their own lives and receive services where they choose; not just be forced into an institution when they require assistance, the more costly and less life-affirming alternative.

When I say, "I'd rather go to jail than die in a nursing home." I mean it. I've gone to jail for what I believe in. I will not hesitate to go back until the powers that be realize that PWD and elders have something valuable to offer and don't need to be locked away and forgotten about in institutions.

The Housing Blues

I live in a crummy apartment complex. It's subsidized, allows me to have separate sleeping quarters from my assistant (always important when one might recreate- blush, blush, wink, wink), and has all my stuff on the wall.

Bur I live on a bad bus route and must be home by 10:30 weeknights and 10pm on Saturday, the only day I can stay out late is Sunday,when the buses run until 11:30pm.

I keep trying to move, but nowhere is available and wheelchair accessible. This very morning, someone called and said an apartment was available. But then thety called back and said I didn't have the needed voucher. So the apartment vanished in a poof!

I realize I'm lucky to have house and be living free and not in some Godforsaken nursing home! I'm lucky to live in state with good personal assistance services, but is it too much to ask that I be allowed to go out until midnight maybe? Is it too ask that I not have spend all my hard earned writing money on van service, because getting around on the bus is impossible. If I lived on a good bus route I'd pay $18 to travel the whole month.

This day of dashed hopes that I didn't know I had has put me a bad mood!

Either/Or: an activist ponders

Today, I'm a crossroads. I'm stuck in the middle between saying "Yay!" to Google for paying the unfair tax to LGBT employees who must pay a tax on domestic partner benefits. Here is the link.

At the same time I'm upset that Google has not opted to create a special doodle, drawing of it's logo, in honor of the Americans with Disabilities Act anniversary on July 26th. If you want to object read my Examiner article or join this Facebook group.

So this activist, who both bisexual and disabled proudly is caught between saying "Yay!" and "Boo!" I have decided that this is okay. I'm still hoping that Google does the right thing and honor the Americans with Disabilities Act. Come on Google! Honor your progressive values.

Prelude

The reason this blog came into existance today is that my other, long standing disability rights blog went bye-bye with no warning and I really went to be a part of ADAPT's blog swarm this time. My goal will be to write about disability rights, the life of people with disabilities (I tend to say disabled people or use reclaimed, insider words like gimp or crip; disabled folks I know have reclaimed it the way some LGBT folks have reclaimed queer). Note to members of dominant communities: don't use insider language without asking first. It's presumptuous and overly familiar.

My goal here will be to talk about disability rights in general, as well as how disability rights impacts other social justice struggles. I hope that this blog will get people from various stuggles networking and talking. As Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King said, "the moral arc of the universe may be wide, but it bends towards justice." May this blog and my work over all, help it bend quicker!