July 26, 2020 marked the 30th Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act – and to honor the landmark anniversary, our team at the Campaign for Southern Equality is reflecting on the intersections of LGBTQ identity and disability in a series of video conversations with CSE staffers and community members.
In this third video in the series, Campaign for Southern Equality’s Liz Williams interviews Priya Ray, who uses a wheelchair and is an advocate for people with disabilities. Priya and Liz are both based in Asheville, NC.
Priya Ray founded DIYabled, an initiative in Asheville, North Carolina to encourage inclusion of people with disability in the DIY community. Priya speaks with folks in the community about how their events, actions, and engagements can be more thoughtful when it comes to including people with disabilities – whether they’re related to mobility, senses, or something else. She is a staunch advocate for the community, and Liz enjoyed speaking with Priya about her work and her own life.
“Anyone can be disabled – it doesn’t matter what you are as a person,” Priya said. “So by being an ally to the disabled community, you’re essentially being an ally to yourself. Because it could happen to you – and most likely, as you age, you likely will have some sort of disability – your body just doesn’t work as well as it does when it’s young. And you will need help. And the ADA is there to make sure that you get that help.”
Listen to the Interview:
Read More About the Queering Disability Justice Series:
- BLOG POST: Ivy Hill introduces the series and shares their experience with disability justice.
- VIDEO INTERVIEW: Dede Norungolo and Al Murray speak about Dede’s traumatic brain injury and her work advocating for folks with disabilities.
- VIDEO INTERVIEW: Rhóna Ramsey and Emily Fox speak about disability justice – including Rhóna’s experiences living with Wolf-Hirschhorn and an Atrioventricular Septal Defect and Emily’s experiences with neuro Lyme disease and diet restrictions.
- VIDEO INTERVIEW: Adam Polaski and Cecil Robinson reflect on their personal experiences with stuttering, a speech disorder. They talk about the intersections of their gay male identity and their stutters.
- VIDEO INTERVIEW: Holiday Simmons interviews Mark Travis Rivera about his work at the intersection of disability and dance, his experience developing cerebral palsy at a young age, and his advocacy alongside and on behalf of people with disabilities.
