‘Strength in disability’ is core to Disability Pride March  

Battling against the stigmas attached to those with disabilities, the third annual Disability Pride March and Rally came to the Oak Park Public Library on July 12 with 100 people proclaiming the strength they find in a disability and rejecting coming cuts to federal health care that many rely on. 

“Be proud of yourself no matter what you have,” said Jillian Hummel from Oak Leyden. Staff and clients of Oak Leyden, which serves local children and adults with developmental disabilities, gathered at the tables to work on posters. As she worked on hers, Hummel said disability pride means finding strength in yourself. 

The event occurs every year during Disability Pride Month and celebrates those living with disabilities. It is also an opportunity for disabled people in this area and allies to build community. This year’s event was bigger than in the past, with roughly 100 people attending.  

The event started at 9 a.m. on a busy Saturday morning at the Main Library on Lake Street. Organizers set up tables with craft supplies outside of the Idea Box, decorated in honor of Disability Pride Month. Participants created posters for the march and made ribbon wands using the colors of the disability pride flag (red, gold, white, blue, and green).  

Several local organizations set up information tables outside of the library in the morning, including Disability Lead, Disability Access Commission, Alliance for Community Services, Progress Center for Independent Living, Chicago Disability Pride Parade, Community Mental Health Board, and Rush University and Medical Center.  

At 11 a.m., organizers led demonstrators of all ages through every floor of the library. Library employees and patrons cheered for the group and waved ribbon wands. “We can yell in the library?” said one demonstrator. 

A rally outside the library followed the march. Shelley Harris, children’s librarian who organized the event, was first to speak: “I am so proud of my neurodivergence,” she said. Later she promised the crowd to be her “full, proud neurodivergent self.” She opened the microphone for other attendees and organizers to speak about disability pride.  

Finally, Alyssa Stone and Jessica Benjamin from Dynamic Lynks, a music therapy center in Oak Park, performed a disability pride version of Chappell Roan’s “Pink Pony Club.” The crowd passed around lyric sheets and joined in for the chorus: “Disabled and proud,” they sang. “I’m gonna keep on jammin’ I’m disabled and proud!” 

Kruti Parikh Shah first had the idea for the Disability Pride Parade in 2022 while collaborating with Harris. “I think (the parade) is a very meaningful way of bringing people together,” she said. Parikh Shah, who has hearing loss, said she grew up feeling that disability was very stigmatized. At the first annual pride parade, held in 2023, she said she “felt seen” and that she “belonged.” 

“There’s so many signals out there that send a negative message about disability, and we’re taught that … disability is something to overcome,” said Gary Arnold, chairperson of Oak Park’s Disability Access Commission. “But for so many people, disability is permanent and it’s part of our lives. In many ways, the disability enhances our lives, adds more texture and color to our lives, and exposes us to things that we would not have had the chance to experience otherwise. … This is a chance for people who feel that way to come together and express that.” 

Celebrations during Disability Pride Month this year are clouded by the passing of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which was signed by President Donald Trump on July 4. The act includes deep cuts to Medicaid and Medicare, which will lead to benefit losses for many disabled Americans.  

The Alliance for Community Services, a coalition uniting poor people, people with disabilities, and front-line workers, posted a banner displaying “Faces of Medicaid and Medicare” across the windows on the library’s first floor. The Alliance has used similar banners to protest cuts to Medicaid across the state, in an effort to highlight the real human lives impacted by these policies. 

“Having access to basic healthcare, rather than being at the whim of what disease or what accident or what disability somebody’s born with, puts people in a state where human beings have the opportunity, we can have the ability to achieve our goals as humans. … In my own case, I had to have emergency surgery that was paid for because I had Medicaid insurance,” said Fran Tobin, coordinator for the Alliance. “Without insurance, it wouldn’t have happened. I might have died.”  

While challenges continue to emerge for disabled Americans, Disability Pride Month gives a reason to celebrate the disability community and honor its history.   

“I’ve always loved the Disability Pride Parade,” said Guadalupe Pizon, a 2025 Disability Lead Fellow. “I love that we get the opportunity to come together and celebrate something that society has done a great job of trying to shut down and make it not a part of the world. So I think there’s a lot of strength in disability and I just feel proud.” 

The Oak Park Public Library is hosting events throughout July to celebrate Disability Pride Month. Remaining events include a showing of “Out of My Mind” on July 16 at 1 p.m.; Neurodivergent Nerdout! and Disability Pride Ice Cream Social on July 27 at 1 p.m. and 2:15 p.m.; and a Hidden Disability Peace Circle on July 23 at 7:30 p.m. The Idea Box inside the lobby is also decorated with resources on disability, including a wall of disabled celebrities, a “Let’s Chat” section to help with non-verbal communication, and information about autism.