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'It's electric': Celebrating Disability Pride in Australia

Using humour to challenge perceptions of what it is like to live with a disability - it's an approach writer and performer Emily Dash uses in her storytelling, in theatre and film, to dismantle stigma and stereotypes. A full-time wheelchair user, she lives with cerebral palsy - a disability that affects movement and posture. She says her art takes inspiration from real life. "My mission when it comes to artistic works is to reveal truth about me and my life - and my lived experience - in the way that serves not only me, but also inspires other people to reveal something about theirs. That would be my mission and to break down attitudinal barriers so that disability will just be front and centre in society and not in the margins." What you're about to hear is how that came together in her short film 'Groundhog Night'. It explores the family dynamics between carer Gary, his disabled daughter Jess, played by Emily Dash, and the in-laws who visit unexpectedly. In this scene, Gary is kissing his date goodnight outside the door of his home when he is interrupted by daughter Jess. And for Emily, no topics are off the table - including relationships, as heard on-stage at this year's Adelaide Fringe Festival. Emily is among disability advocates featured at this year's Disability Pride Sydney festival. Organiser Hannah Solomons says the event is being held for the fourth year, and it centres disability inclusion and accessibility, with sign language support, audio description and mobility access. "We're making some progress, but we still need desperately need it (a Disability Pride festival). The amount of hate we're getting on our Facebook page is proof of that. The discussions around the NDIS (National Disability Insurance Scheme). There is still this idea that we're not a valuable part of society and we should just go away. So if you are shamed and rejected, the best antidote to that is to find your tribe and get together and celebrate yourself in public. We're taking up the space and demanding to be included." The festival is part of a broader global movement of Disability Pride first marked in an event 35 years ago in the United States city of Boston, to mark the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Globally, an estimated 1 billion people have a disability - or 15 per cent of the total population. In Australia that number is 5.5 million people - more than 20 per cent of the population. The census shows the number of people with a disability is growing across all age groups below the age of 70 - at that point the number stabilises. It also shows that disability discrimination affects one in 10, with that number increasing to 1 in 5 for those with a more severe disability. It affects all arenas in society: the workplace, hospitality venues and interactions with strangers in the street. Hannah Solomons says despite the size of the disability community, the diversity of it is poorly understood. "The responsibility is on all of us to not have a lazy brain. Because if there is a person that is different to us and we don't have experience of our lives, our brain will take the easy way out; and try to box them - and give them a two-dimensional picture in our heads. And that leads to horrible behaviour like you're lying if you have invisible disability; or you're worthless if you have a visible disability; or both. And none of that is okay. I don't know why our society is still so ableist (discrimination against people with a disability). But it is. I could cite statistics that could make your hair curl. The stigma is still there. We're not accepting it. We're not okay with that any more." Dancing her way on stage and suspended in the air by hanging on a pole with one arm is Deb Roach. The three-time world pole dancing champion has performed at multiple editions of the Disability Pride Sydney festival. Born without most of her left arm, Deb has always cultivated a positive mindset, but it hasn't been without it challenges - including bullying in her younger years. Dance and DJ-ing proved to be important outlets for self-expression, but it was her introduction to pole dancing that really solidified her self-confidence as an artist and advocate. It all started 18 years ago, when she watched a performance at a gothic carnival-themed event - and was absolutely mesmerised. "And these two pole dancers - they were Missy and Suzie Q - did a doubles routine where they were marionette puppets who broke free from the puppet master's strings. And they I had never seen pole in a circus context and the storytelling, the theatre, the athleticism. My mind was absolutely blown. I was backstage with those girls and I said: 'You are amazing with your two arms and your poledancing. That was mindblowing. I wish I could do what you do.' And their response to that was: 'Have you tried?' And I am a little bit like Marty McFly from (the film) 'Back to the Future' in the sense that if I am challenged I show up." Five years later she won her first pole champion title, going on to win two more. Now as a pole dance studio owner, she guides others in redefining the idea of what is possible. She has also been involved in the movement to increase the representation of Australians with disability in advertising from less than 1 per cent - and towards population parity. Led by the Dylan Alcott Foundation, the Shift 20 campaign is already having an impact, with more and more events that are access-first and access-forward. Deb Roach credits events like the Disability Pride Festival with building a strong sense of community. "It's electric - I love it! I really struggled growing up. I am a feisty individual and I didn't claim the disability - my label as a person with a disability - until I was until I was well into my late twenties. I refused to interact with it. You know, I just wanted to be a person who was a good athlete - and a good human being. But it was the disability pride movement that really helped me lean into the belonging and that sense of healing that I didn't even know that I needed in the community connection - in the space and in that room - and in that togetherness." Also featured at this year's festival is songwriter and performer Dean Nash. These days he sings and speaks frankly about living with cerebral palsy, but it wasn't always that way. "So the way that I walk is difficult. And I don't have a lot of function of my left arm and my left hand. I can't move my fingers all that independently. But I have learnt to play the piano - in my opinion, quite well - with the use of just six fingers. When I first started playing, the general feedback would be: 'oh, you don't play like everybody else does'. But once I got good at what I was doing, the narrative shifted to: 'oh, nobody plays that like you do'. And so to me that is a real highlight that a different approach to something doesn't necessarily mean a lesser one. It simply means a different one." He says he has found the arts to be a powerful medium to start conversations. "Art has a tendency to be the cornerstone of changing hearts and minds. I think cultural change really starts with the stuff that we're putting out in our media. We are the largest minority group in the world because anybody can join this group at any time. And I think that is a really confronting thought for a lot of people. I have a joke in my show where I say there are only two kinds of people in the world: there are disabled people and pre-disabled people. And the disabled audience members cackle at that; and the rest of the audience has a slow intake of breath." Emily Dash says she hopes her advocacy makes the path easier for others, moving disability from the shadows to centre stage. "I am grateful for all the people that have not only come before me but will come after me to get this mission off the ground. The latest statistics show that only four per cent of main characters onscreen have disability in drama. So there is a really long way to go yet. And even when there is representation, it is important to make sure that that representation is done authentically putting people's lived experience at the centre." The Sydney Disability Pride Festival takes place on Saturday 26 July at Sydney Town Hall from 10am until 4pm.