Obtaining equality while being perceived as “different”
As declared by the Equality Act of 2010, every citizen of the United States is treated equally, but this act does not guarantee that the entire population will support this concept. One in four adults in the U.S. have a type of disability, and, according to adata.org, nearly one in ten working adults with disabilities felt they had experienced discrimination in the work force after the creation of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.
March is National Disability Awareness Month, and the legal rights and treatment of the disabled community in the United States must be discussed. Technology allows for easy donations and the spread of awareness, especially with the ability to publicly share personal inquires, but has also created unjust and biased opinions towards the disabled community. The ADA has drastically improved discrimination in court cases regarding the disabled, but disappointingly, many U.S. citizens have not caught onto this movement. The ADA website presents that the majority of recent court cases have revolved less around discrimination of the disabled, and instead around a lack of public accessibilities. A critical case to show support for discrimination against the disabled occurred in 1972 and became known as P.A.R.C. v. Pennsylvania. Thomas Gilhool, the attorney representing the Pennsylvania Association for Retarded Children in this case, filed a law suit to defend 14 children who had been discriminated from attending public school due to their “mental age of five years”. The court stated that denying a child of education due to their mental capacities or disabilities was unjust, and the creation of IDEA, Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, has greatly improved this aspect of educational discrimination. With the presence of new organizations, such as ADA or IDEA, the work place has also seen advances in providing equality for all. In 2014, the Nadya Buttigieg v. The City of New York case arose when a woman, Nadya, with monocular vision applied to work as a paramedic in New York. Nadya had completed the necessary training, and was previously a paramedic before applying to the New York Fire Department. Monocular vision restricts Nadya’s vision to one eye and does effect depth perception, but there are six basic Monocular depth cues that often enable reliable vision for people with this eyesight disability. Nadya asserted that she was declined a job due to her disability and questioned about her Monocular vision previous to an employment offer, leading the court to rule this case as unjust and in violation of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. The United States Judicial System has drastically improved the equal treatment of the disabled community. The initial implications of foundations and acts on this cause were only slightly effective, however, throughout the past 30 years many Americans have become more knowledgable and accepting of the disabled community. To continue helping the disabled community maintain justice, many foundations provide information, raise fundraisers, and accept donations that greatly support and influence the legal and general treatment of the disabled.

DREDF, Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund, desires to help the disabled population receive equal civil and human rights by providing legal advocacy and education to the disabled and their families.

The DreamScape Foundation works to ensure all members of the disabled community are provided with basic resources and education. This non-profit organization emphasizes the importance of the disabled by providing better opportunities and financial support to the community.

The DRLC, Disability Rights Legal Center, helps the disabled with fair legal treatment and advocacy in court. This organization has successfully worked many court cases involving the disabled, leading to the members of the judicial system expanding their knowledge about the disabled. The DRLC helps rid legal barriers, and donating to their foundation is a great way to support the legal treatment of the disabled
Want to understand the legal rights of the disabled?
Making a difference through communication
Informing the youth is an important way of continuing to ensure all types of people will continue to obtain justice. Talking to family members and peers about the rights and fair treatment that all people deserve, will broaden knowledge to the cause, hopefully leading to the complete elimination of unjust treatment for the disabled population.
Katri’s Intrasectional Approach to Transgender Law and Litigation
“The framing of anti-discrimination law through protected classes and the law’s use of the outside gaze to conclude whether or not an act is discriminatory, show that the law utilizes performance in deciding cases and allocating rights.” As a result, Katri argues that if we apply an intrasectional legal analysis of the protected classes relating…
Trans-misogyny and EO 14168
In this essay, I will explain Executive Order 14168 (EO) and apply a “problem body” framework to the states’ characterization of trans women. Through the “’gender troubled’ problem body” framework, I will compare the British Colonial (BC) characterization of hijras and EO characterization of trans women. Broadly, the relationship suggests that problem bodies are dangerous…
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