Marriage Equality USA

 

 

People with Disabilities Community

Welcome to the MEUSA People with Disabilities
& Chronic Illnesses Community



Raymond J. Aguilera
People with Disabilities & Chronic Illnesses Community Liaison pwd@marriageequality.org

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Hello,

As a disabled queer man, I am excited and honored to be working with Marriage Equality USA as a Community Liaison. I have a history of activism within the disabled community, and my husband and I were one of the 4,000 couples married at City Hall in San Francisco in 2004. It is my hope that in working with MEUSA, we can build a strong coalition between the disability-rights and LGBTIQ-rights activists as we work toward our common goals of respect and equal treatment for everyone.

As a community, disabled people have a long history of grassroots activism that continues today. It's in that spirit that I plan to continue the fight to ensure equal rights and protections under the law, regardless of sexual orientation or disability. Unfortunately, disabled people are often left out of discussions of marriage and relationships, and I hope that by working with MEUSA, I can make sure that our voices are heard and our concerns are addressed.

In order to further our goal of marriage equality, we need your help! A strong network of advocates and allies is one of the best tools we have in our fight for marriage equality. If you have ideas, concerns or questions, please get in touch. Over the next year, I will be compiling a list of LGBT-friendly resources for people with disabilities, and a listing of upcoming disability and sexuality related events. I'd also like to hear personal stories from the disability community about how the fight for marriage equality is affecting you. I look forward to hearing from you.

~ Ray Aguilera

(Ray is a writer living in the San Francisco Bay Area. He is also the editor of BENT , an online magazine and community for queer disabled men.)

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Some useful resources to highlight MEUSA's recent shift from the use of "Differently-Abled" to "Person with Disabilities and Chronic Illnesses": http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0825/is_n2_v60/ai_16514166 http://www.disabilityisnatural.com/peoplefirstlanguage.htm http://www.asha.org/about/publications/journal-abstracts/submissions/person_first.htm

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