What is Disability Pride Month and Why Do We Celebrate?
July 2025

The month of July marks Disability Pride Month which celebrates the experiences, identities, cultures and contributions of disabled and neurodiverse people, and gives us an opportunity to reflect on the effort still needed to create a truly inclusive and equitable society.

Disability Pride Month can mean different things to a variety of individuals and therefore there are many ways for it to be commemorated; some may wish to champion their achievements, celebrate the pride they feel about being disabled, or host/attend events that offer community members a safe and accessible space.

Others may use it as an opportunity to raise awareness of the systemic and stigmatic barriers disabled people face, share information and lived experiences, and encourage conversation on how people outside of the community can ally with and provide better support to disabled people.

Eloquently summarised by charity Humanists UK, at the heart of Disability Pride Month “is the belief that disability is not a tragedy to be pitied or a personal hurdle to be overcome, but a part of human diversity to be understood and valued. It challenges us to confront how society marginalises people – not because of any impairment itself, but because of the way environments, attitudes, and systems exclude them.”

Disability Pride originally began as a one-day celebration held in Boston, Massachusetts on 6th October 1990 – the day the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) officially became law. On the 25th anniversary of ADA’s enactment in 2015, it evolved into a month-long campaign that’s now celebrated in countries across the globe, and since 2019 has even had its own dedicated flag.

Designed by Ann McGill, the flag encompasses the diverse nature of the disabled community, with every element carefully considered to convey meaning.

The charcoal background symbolises mourning for disabled people who have been subjected to ableist violence, or have died as a result of their disability, eugenics or suicide.

The diagonal colour block represents the desire to cut across barriers, with the colours themselves each representing the different types of disability – red for physical, yellow for cognitive and intellectual, white for undiagnosed and invisible, blue for psychosocial, and green for sensory.

The flag was redesigned in 2021 with the shape of the colour block redesigned (previously a zigzag) and brightness of the colours toned down to make them more inclusive and safer for people who experience migraines or colour blindness.

As a manufacturer and supplier of accessible bathroom, kitchen and daily living products, and a proud Disability Confident Employer, AKW stand in support of everyone within the disabled community and wish everyone a happy Disability Pride Month 2025.