The Disability Advisory Board of West Hollywood will soon approve a new Disability Flag. The flag acknowledges persons who live with disabilities. The original Disability Pride Flag was initially designed in 2019 by Ann Magill and created to encompass all disabilities. It was revised in 2021 with community input and is now in the public domain.
During this month’s DAB meeting, staff and board members discussed the use of the Disability Pride Flag on the background of the flyer being planned for this year’s Disability Awareness Month in October.
Each color of the Disability Pride Flag has a meaning related to those who live with a disability. Red represents physical disabilities, gold signifies emergency, white symbolizes invisible disabilities or those that have not yet been diagnosed, blue stands for emotional disabilities including mental illness and depression, green represents sensory disabilities, black signifies those who died due to violence or suicide, and grey represents rage and protest against the mistreatment of those in the disabled community.
Four new members joined the Disability Advisory Board: Joseph Green, who is the new direct appointee of Councilmember John Heilman; Margaret Mann, appointed by Vice Mayor Chelsea Lee Byers; Logan Leathem; and Wesley Schwartz, who also joined DAB as at-large appointees.
Board member Rick Watts welcomed the new members with two homemade loaf cakes.
When are we going to get a flag promoting the Pride flag? If I put up all these flags, I will no longer be able to see out of my front window! (*That’s sarcasm. If we get another silly flag, were going to need a pamphlet explaining what each one represents, kinda like the “hanky code.” The Pride flag was designed to be inclusive, which it is, even before they made it look awful with the recent update that no one wanted or needed.)
Yup.
The fact that a Disability Advisory Board exists, and yet scooters and bikes are constantly ridden on and litter sidewalks tells me the Board is useless.
And how about mandating LARGE PRINT and BRAILLE menus in dining establishments?
Sadly, you are correct. The city council refusing to hear our pleas about scooters is the reason I resigned from the board. I hope that this new generation can do better than I did in making them listen!
As an advocate for a high functioning autistic individual in West Hollywood for the past 11 years, I would say the City is a desert for individuals with disabilities. Lots of pamphlets, lots of “links and resources”, but I have been unable to find substantive opportunities for individuals with disabilities to expand their participation in the City. Even your LGBT Center has done away with their support group for autistic individuals. What good is a flag if individuals don’t have the support they need?
Good grief, another flag. 🙄
It was a pleasure meeting the four new members of the disabilities advisory board! I wish them luck and success in advising the city council and disseminating information to the public! More than anything, I hope the council actually listens to the advice that comes from the DAB! The West Hollywood disabled community is grateful for their advocacy and for their hard work!
I support having a disabilities Board, but not sure why there’s even discussion that some gay pride flag has to be associated with it. I didn’t know having a disability was a gay thing, but I do know that not everyone with a disability is gay. This is why much of America hates us, and why we are likely getting a Fascist president in a few months.
You had me until you called the current prez a fascist. He may be a terrible leader, but he’s not a fascist, which is why Mr. D.J. Trump likely will be our new leader soon, and the country will shine. But don’t worry, his supporters are mature enough to not bang on pots and pans on their balconies when he wins again. To be honrst, that was embarrassing to witness.