Very warm greetings across the distance, and welcome to our July issue of UPLIFT Access. Royal, my Guide Dog, and I are not very fond of the high heat and humidity Missouri and many other states have been facing. I become overheated very easily, and we’re feeling grateful for a great air conditioner, as well as for Zoom-only and hybrid events which allow us to engage without risking hot paws, heatstroke, or the sensory overwhelm brought on by temperature dysregulation.

Image Description: A disability pride flag blowing in the wind. The meaning of the colors is as follows in order of appearance from top to bottom: Green is for sensory disabilities. Blue represents emotional and psychiatric disabilities. White stands for non-visible and undiagnosed disabilities. Gold is for neurodiversity. Red represents physical disabilities. Read more about the flag’s inclusive design here.

Despite the oppression of the world in which we find ourselves, and the grief it fosters, I want to wish a happy Disability Pride Month to all my fellow Disabled and Chronically Ill folks out there. To some of us, it may not seem like we have much to celebrate in a month that began with vicious cuts to Medicaid, in a year filled with threats to our jobs, our privacy, and our access needs. However, the joy of being in community and in our unique bodies is real and totally worth celebrating!

Image Description: Logo of the San Fransisco Disability Cultural Center with stylized text and colorful botanical abstract designs above the words.

I met community joy last week, when I got to join the brand-new San Francisco Disability Cultural Center on Zoom for a tour of their beautiful, accessible space. Thefirst public disability cultural center in the country is a big deal, and shows other municipalities how to both hear, and to make space for their disabled communities.

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Image Description: Disability Culture Lab Presents… Disability Culture Cabaret: Pride Edition. Co-hosted by New Disabled South and Crushing Colonialism. July 30, 2025, 6 to 9 p.m ET. Hook Hall D.C. + Livestreamed on YouTube. Featuring: Lilith Le’Queer + Ricky Rosé. 18+ Event. Sponsored by Autistic Self Advocacy Network, Ignite by Keri Grey, J. Bob Alotta + Toshi Reagon, Woolly Mammoth Theatre, Mozilla’s Disability@Mozilla + Pridezilla, National Disabled Legal Professionals Association, and The Autistic People of Color Fund. Produced by estrellita beatriz, BOINEXTDOOR Drag, and Bmore Dyke Drag.

Besides creating community spaces, celebrating disabled bodies and artistry is another way to resist oppression and fear, and Disability Culture Lab is doing just that on July 30 when they’re presentingDisability Culture Cabaret: Pride Edition. It’s an incredibly accessible, hybrid event co-hosted by New Disabled South and Crushing Colonialism. I can’t wait to take a break from reading the latest tyrannical happenings and sink into beautiful music while the audio describers paint images of the performers in my mind.

Image Description: A colorful drawing of Patty Berne, a Japanese-Haitian person with light brown skin, looking youthful and happy, their face shining with light. Patty’s hair is long, dark and curly, and she looks to the side with a dimpled grin. They wear an off-the -shoulder blouse and are surrounded by flowers from their garden including pink and orange toned roses. Text across the top reads Celebration of Life in pink and orange, with Patty’s signature in white. The bottom of the image reads: August 9, 2025, East Bay Church of Religious Science,tinyurl.com/PBcelebrationoflife. There is a qr code in the lower right corner, that leads to a page with more info.

This Disability Pride Month, we also mourn the passing of Patty Berne, Sins Invalid’s Co-Founder, Executive and Artistic Director, and one of the founders of the disability justice movement. I encourage you to visitSins Invalid’s website to not only hear or view their statement on Patty’s legacy, but to take in some of her groundbreaking work as well.

Besides Disability Pride, this is also the month we recognize the 35th anniversary of the signing of the ADA. This civil rights act for disabled people was signed into law by President Bush on July 26, 1990.

“The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is a law that protects people with disabilities from discrimination. This means the ADA protects people with disabilities from being treated unfairly just because they have a disability. Under the ADA, people with disabilities have the same rights and chances as everyone else at work, when using state and local government services, and when buying items and services from businesses open to everyone.”

Learn more about how and who the five titles of the ADA protect from theADA National Network.

While churches are one of the only entities not covered by the ADA, I still believe we must do the work to meet and, hopefully, exceed these standards. Our faith puts love at the center of everything we do, and that means practicing inclusion and accessibility to love our congregants and community guests into our spaces. Let us meet the disabled friends who enter our congregations with a welcome that’s radical and a love that’s courageous, not just this month, but all the ones after, too.

With Pride,

Gretchen