The West Hollywood Disability Advisory Committee will soon approve a new disability flag, which will recognize people living with disabilities. The original Disability Pride flag was first designed by Ann McGill in 2019 and was created to be inclusive of all disabilities. It was revised in 2021 with community input and is now in the public domain.
At this month’s DAB meeting, staff and board members discussed using the Disability Pride flag as the background for flyers planned for Disability Awareness Month this October.
Each colour of the Disability Pride flag has a meaning related to people living with a disability: red for physical disabilities, gold for emergencies, white for invisible or undiagnosed disabilities, blue for emotional disorders such as mental illness and depression, green for sensory impairments, black for people who have died through violence or suicide, and grey for anger and protest against the injustice faced by members of the disability community.
There are four new members to the Disability Advisory Committee: Joseph Green, who was directly appointed by City Councilman John Heilman; Margaret Mann and Logan Leatham, who were appointed by Deputy Mayor Chelsea Lee Byers; and Wesley Schwartz, who joined the DAB all by appointment.
Board member Rick Watts welcomed the new members with two homemade pancakes.
