The Crips and Queers Will Save Us All

I've spent a lot of my life in the queer community. Of course, personally. But also, professionally. A professional queer- we'd joke. How funny it is to be paid to be queer. But, that I was. Then, I was paid to be Asian American. That was a a good, but short gig - an interim position.

Now, I've been in the disability studies world for the past two years. I've gotten through a number of classes and attended as many disability cultural events I could. This past Friday, I co-organized a student disability studies conference. The new layer for me as a programmer was the accessibility. I knew it would be different, but I didn't know how different until the day came.

In the end, the conference was fine. The challenges we had weren't due to any accessible issues, but general technology crap. As I thought more about the day, I came to even better believe and understand, that the crips and queers will save us all. Without the academic theory- this is just a personal essay. Maybe in the future, this piece and my thoughts will be something more.

What Queerness Does

• Explodes gender, gender identity, and gender expression
• Redefines the idea of sexuality; that, sex is also not just for reproduction, but for pleasure; and, that pleasure is more than a vagina and penis
• Reminds the community that we are "illegal" beings, until the law changes; that we are not full citizens, until we have a federal, non-discrimination act for housing, healthcare, and employment. Things are changing for sure. But, don't take for granted what marriage equality is; while others are still unemployed and homeless.

What Crip Does

• Brings accessibility in all different ways - physically and cognitively. When doing the conference, we were mindful not only of the large print access copies, ASL interpreters, audio description, but also how others not familiar to the disability studies world could enter in a safe way.
• It's about being inclusive. Otherwise, it sends the message that You, person X, aren't welcome. That you must change yourself to enter our world. It's on you, not us. This is not the way I want to operate.

There's so much more to say. If the "mainstream" society would behave the ways the crip and queer folks do... I know we'd have a much better world. It's my current world. If you want to be in it, I'll let you in.