Category: Activism
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Disability History: SAAM Edition
This piece on disability and sexual assault was published in 2010, long before hashtag movements and mainstream coverage. It’s 2018, and, honestly, I don’t feel as if we’ve made any sort of significant cultural shift. Each April, we observe Sexual Assault Awareness Month. Every year we learn about at least one more documentary, local or…
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Amplifying Disabled Parents’ Voices: The White House Forum and Beyond
In thirty-five states (and the District of Columbia), children can’t trust that their healthy, happy family will be able to stay together if one or both of their parents is disabled. That means that in almost three quarters of the U.S. the law allows for children to be removed from their parents based on parental…
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Ready, Sexy, Able Voices: Interview With Poet and Activist Maria Palacios
Maria R. Palacios is a poet, author, spoken word performer, motivational speaker, social change advocate, disability rights activist, and workshop facilitator. I met Maria and saw her perform at the Breaking silences Sex and Disability Conference. IN person, Maria is very much like her poetry – warm, funny, honest, and sassy. Maria graciously agreed to…
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Happy Ableist Anniversary, Ken, or, Facts About Sexuality and Disabled People
An Open Letter to Ken Jennings: A year ago, you tweeted “Nothing sadder than a hot person in a wheelchair.” Yes, that was a year ago, about a million years in cyber time. Let’s revisit this anyway. There’s some important stuff here. We still have ableism, and we still have loads of wrong-headed beliefs about…