First Disability Pride event held in downtown Long Beach

As Disability Pride Month comes to a close, over 45 people gathered at Harvey Milk Promenade Park in downtown Long Beach to celebrate the 32nd anniversary of the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) on Tuesday, July 26.

“What really motivated me to put on the Disability Pride rally is the lack of disability visibility,” said Jennifer Kumiyama, who organized the event and works as City’s ADA Coordinator. “I think it’s important for people with disabilities to have an opportunity to be seen and to be heard, and to advocate for the things that they need. And I think that it’s only appropriate that we celebrate our beautiful differences in disability on the day that is the anniversary of the ADA.”

Attendees at the rally held signs that read “Disability Rights Are Human Rights,” “Disabled and Proud,” “Brown, Disabled, Proud,” “Disability is Diverse,” and more.

The ADA made it illegal to discriminate against people with disabilities in employment, transportation, public accommodations, communications and access to state and local government programs and services and more, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

According to a 2018 report by the RespectAbility, there are over 46,000 working-age people and over 9,000 school-age children living with disabilities in Long Beach.

Long Beach resident Jake Jakubowski, a transgender man who uses a wheelchair, came out to the event hoping to make more connections in his community.

“I really appreciate that this is a queer and trans inclusive space because I feel like sometimes that gets left out of the conversation on disability,” Jakubowski said. “And so it’s nice to see a multiracial and gender inclusive and sexuality inclusive kind of event here.”

Both Kumiyama and Councilmember Mary Zendejas, who both use electric wheelchairs, said they’d like to see the Disability Pride Rally become a yearly event in Long Beach.

“I’m just so very proud to be here with all of my disability advocates and all of my fellow disability community,” Zendejas said. “I just think it’s so important to uplift all of us and be a good example and just work together to make sure that we’re building a world of inclusivity.”

[A previous version of this story mistakenly stated the 2018 report was by The Long Beach Community Foundation instead of RespectAbility. The Signal Tribune regrets this error.]