Disability Pride Flag-Speech

Here is the speech I gave at the disability pride flag raising event organised by Surrey County UNISON branch, held at Surrey County Council. A potted history and reason why this was important. A video is available below.

DDA flag raising

Welcome everyone to this exciting event. We are looking to be the first council to raise the disability pride flag and I’d like to thank Surrey County Council for giving our UNISON branch the opportunity to raise the disability pride flag today. The disability pride flag is not connected to the LGBTQ+ community or pride month, although there are many of us who identify as both, the disability pride flag is a call to accept ourselves as disabled people, take pride in who we are and look to make a better future that is accessible to all.

July has been adopted as Disability Pride month where we seek to raise awareness and celebrate the diversity of people who make up the disabled community.

Being proud of being disabled and accepting bodies and minds that diverge from the majority is a radical act. Disability pride is not always an easy journey that everyone takes, but having a supportive community and colleagues makes a huge difference.

The disability pride flag, created in 2019 by Ann Magill and updated in 2021, is made up of 5 diagonal stripes on a black background. The red stripe is for physical disabilities, gold stripe for neurodiversity, white stripe for undiagnosed and non visible disabilities, the blue stripe for emotional and psychiatric disabilities and the green stripe for sensory disabilities. The stripes are displayed on a faded charcoal black background which commemorates and mourns disabled people who’ve died due to ableism, violence, negligence, suicide, rebellion, illness and eugenics. The dark background also represents rage and protest against the mistreatment of the disabled community.

Living as a disabled person is often an act of rebellion in the face of a society that excludes, sidelines and disables me more than my body ever will. Accepting and taking pride in my disability is an act of rebellion against those who would other and shame me for doing so.

2025 marks 30 years since the Disability Discrimination Act. An act that for the first time put disabled people’s rights to education, employment and public transport into UK law. Prior to this date, disabled people in the UK did not have these basic civil rights that nondisabled people enjoyed. A slogan used at the time ‘to boldly go where all others have been before’. A demand to have what others take for granted as a right, as a possibility.

30 years later and our fight for inclusion continues. Public transport is still not fully accessible, our education system is struggling to meet the needs of all learners and making concerning steps towards more segregation and employment is still low for disabled people. Contrary to popular belief this is not because disabled people are work-shy or avoiding work, but because employers are still not making themselves accessible to us to be employees. Many of our disabled UNISON members have had to fight for reasonable adjustments at work. Access to Work is running such a long waiting list that some people will be unemployed before even getting to the top of the list.

When the council, the unions and the staff have worked together we have seen improvements in staff and resident experience and as a branch we hope to continue to see this improvement. There is improvement, but there is still work to do for equitable experiences of all our staff and residents across Surrey. A value deeply held by many disabled people is ‘nothing about us without us’ and we urge the council and others to really embody that principle when making decisions that impact our lives, our work, and our future.

With laws being passed like the assisted dying bill, which many are concerned could expand to enable disabled people to opt for assisted suicide for feeling like a burden. To the catastrophic passing of the pathways to work bill last week, disabled people are under attack from government, from media and from public prejudices.

Now more than ever, allies are important and I urge people to learn about the barriers disabled people face and what we are doing to dismantle them. As I discovered 7 years ago, any of us can become disabled at any point. Learn, because it will be friends and family who will need your understanding, your support and your allyship.

So for 2025, I am beyond proud to mark Disability Pride Month and 30 years of the Disability Discrimination Act by raising this flag at Surrey County Council today.

Thank you.