Long Beach Disability Pride returns for second year

Wednesday marked the 33rd anniversary of the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and with that, also the second annual Long Beach Disability Pride celebration.

The event was hosted by Long Beach Citywide ADA Coordinator Jennifer Kuimyama, who founded the event and was attended by much of the Long Beach City Council and around 40 guests at Harvey Milk Promenade Park.

“As we reflect on the past 33 years, let us celebrate the achievements, honor those who fought tirelessly for this legislation and reaffirm our dedication to building a future where individuals with disabilities can thrive and live their best life,” said Councilmember Mary Zendejas during the event.

Long Beach Councilwoman Mary Zendejas (left) and event organizer Jennifer Kuimyama pose together for a photo during the second annual Disability Pride celebration at Harvey Milk Promenade Park on July 26, 2023. (Richard H. Grant | Signal Tribune)

During the event, organizations from around Long Beach handed out information, while Black Sheep Salon provided free haircuts and attendees munched on free hotdogs provided by the Long Beach International Association of Firefighters.

Infinite Flow, a professional nonprofit dance company based in Los Angeles that highlights dancers both with and without disabilities to foster inclusion, performed a series of dances. Performers included two Infinite Flow members, Ryann Mason and Lionel Taplin, as well as founder Marisa Hamamoto.

After a solo dance, Mason spoke to the crowd about her struggles fitting in as a dancer with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, which is a genetic condition that affects collagen and often leads to hyper-flexible joints and or skin.

Despite the diagnosis, Mason never gave up on dancing and refused to let society put her into a ‘box.’

“We don’t fit in boxes; human beings don’t. We are beautiful and amazing and we can create and succeed and do whatever we want, no matter how your body works,” Mason said.

Lionel Taplin and Ryann Mason, both with the Infinite Flow dance troupe, dance together on the stage at Harvey Milk Promenade Park in a performance for the Disability Pride celebration on July 26, 2023. (Richard H. Grant | Signal Tribune)
Lionel Taplin, a dancer and Michael Jackson impersonator with the Infinite Flow dance troupe walks to the stage to perform a solo dance routine during the Disability Pride celebration at Harvey Milk Promenade Park on July 26, 2023. (Richard H. Grant | Signal Tribune)
Ryann Mason, a dancer with the Infinite Flow dance troupe, poses for a portrait next to the stage at Harvey Milk Promenade Park during the Disability Pride celebration on July 26, 2023. (Richard H. Grant | Signal Tribune)
Ms. Wheelchair California winner Candis Welch speaks to the crowd gathered during the second annual Disability Pride celebration at Harvey Milk Promenade Park on July 26, 2023. (Richard H. Grant | Signal Tribune)

The event comes on the heels of the city unanimously approving the month of July as Disability Pride and Empowerment Month and each July 26 as ADA Day in the city.

The ADA was a landmark legislation that guaranteed rights and protections for people living with disabilities by enshrining into law protections for employment and educational opportunities as well as access to transportation and public and private spaces.

Around 46,000 people with disabilities and more than 9,000 students with disabilities called Long Beach home in 2017, according to the Long Beach Disability Community Resource Guide.

“Our community has come such a long way, but we have so much further to go,” Kuimyama said. “But today, we rest from fighting, and we celebrate us; the uniqueness of our beautiful bodies, our limitless possibilities and the strength of our entire community.”