1
00:00:00,519 --> 00:00:02,412
I'm Victoria Rodríguez-Roldán.

2
00:00:02,412 --> 00:00:07,348
I am, my day job is the
Senior Policy Manager at AIDS United.

3
00:00:07,348 --> 00:00:10,713
We work to end the HIV epidemic.

4
00:00:10,713 --> 00:00:14,391
And I would say I am
a disability advocate at heart

5
00:00:14,391 --> 00:00:17,516
because of my own
mental health disabilities,

6
00:00:17,516 --> 00:00:22,363
and I bring that throughout my entire life

7
00:00:22,363 --> 00:00:28,484
to try to push disability world
into one that is inclusive

8
00:00:28,484 --> 00:00:31,506
of all mental health
and developmental disabilities,

9
00:00:31,506 --> 00:00:36,261
not just the photogenic disabilities.

10
00:00:36,261 --> 00:00:39,521
I was a year old when the ADA passed.

11
00:00:39,521 --> 00:00:44,446
I am 31 years old, and we're celebrating
the 30th anniversary.

12
00:00:44,446 --> 00:00:47,838
So I have no memory, I grew up with it.

13
00:00:47,838 --> 00:00:51,099
My first memory of the ADA was my mother,
who was diabetic,

14
00:00:51,099 --> 00:00:55,973
getting, talking about accommodations
at her work to store insulin

15
00:00:55,973 --> 00:00:59,685
in the work fridge, along those lines.

16
00:00:59,685 --> 00:01:04,059
And I remember her talking about
this new thing called the ADA.

17
00:01:04,059 --> 00:01:07,947
You know how people talk
about work at home.

18
00:01:07,947 --> 00:01:13,302
But the ADA, I would say,
I had my own mental conception

19
00:01:13,302 --> 00:01:19,312
of what is a disabled person

20
00:01:19,312 --> 00:01:24,085
until I myself was dealing with the,
"I feel different,"

21
00:01:24,085 --> 00:01:28,507
both because of my being trans,
because of my mental health,

22
00:01:28,507 --> 00:01:34,031
and eventually dealing with it and getting
treatment when I was in law school,

23
00:01:34,031 --> 00:01:38,442
which I don't- Law school is always an
interesting experience in and of itself.

24
00:01:38,442 --> 00:01:41,059
It's a three-year hazing ritual.

25
00:01:41,059 --> 00:01:44,761
But I would say one of the things
that motivate me in disability

26
00:01:44,761 --> 00:01:50,293
is seeing just how much-

27
00:01:50,293 --> 00:01:56,844
In disability, we often treat people
as either poor things of pity

28
00:01:56,844 --> 00:02:00,721
or as scary and need
to be locked away, basically.

29
00:02:00,721 --> 00:02:03,659
Often, with physical disabilities,
it's the object of pity.

30
00:02:03,659 --> 00:02:08,166
With mental health disabilities,
it's the scary, let's lock them away,

31
00:02:08,166 --> 00:02:11,360
why are they allowing those people
out in the community?

32
00:02:11,360 --> 00:02:14,796
And, having seen that,
having been scared of it,

33
00:02:14,796 --> 00:02:21,140
having been worried about my career
if I were out,

34
00:02:21,140 --> 00:02:24,483
which says a lot as a trans person
being worried about being out

35
00:02:24,483 --> 00:02:29,017
as someone with
a mental health disability,

36
00:02:29,017 --> 00:02:33,131
I don't think, I mean,
I think we need to fundamentally alter

37
00:02:33,131 --> 00:02:38,697
how society sees what is normal
and not normal,

38
00:02:38,697 --> 00:02:45,747
and how that works as far as
being inclusive of all disabilities.

39
00:02:45,747 --> 00:02:51,471
I would say that one of the things
that impact me the most

40
00:02:51,471 --> 00:02:54,985
was, for example, when I got out
of law school.

41
00:02:54,985 --> 00:03:00,210
In law school, I received accommodations
right as I was about to graduate

42
00:03:00,210 --> 00:03:06,679
and help from the Assistant Dean
of Students, Sherry Abbott, at the time,

43
00:03:06,679 --> 00:03:10,947
because I was pretty much experiencing
a lot of problems

44
00:03:10,947 --> 00:03:13,467
that were related to my disability.

45
00:03:13,467 --> 00:03:16,490
And that probably wouldn't have
been possible without the ADA,

46
00:03:16,490 --> 00:03:18,320
without the spirit of it.

47
00:03:18,320 --> 00:03:23,467
And later, when I started my career,
a few months later, actually,

48
00:03:23,467 --> 00:03:27,957
I joined as a Schedule A hire
in the US Department of Labor.

49
00:03:27,957 --> 00:03:30,932
If it weren't for the initiative
at the federal government

50
00:03:30,932 --> 00:03:33,317
that was partially inspired by the ADA

51
00:03:33,317 --> 00:03:37,249
to make sure that people with disabilities

52
00:03:37,249 --> 00:03:40,221
are hired by the federal government,

53
00:03:40,221 --> 00:03:46,898
then maybe I wouldn't have started
in civil rights in DC when I did.

54
00:03:46,898 --> 00:03:49,614
So it has made a difference for me

55
00:03:49,614 --> 00:03:54,318
in receiving accommodations
at the jobs I've had and so forth.

56
00:03:54,318 --> 00:03:59,269
So it is a question of how do we-

57
00:03:59,269 --> 00:04:01,982
We already have a whole generation
like myself,

58
00:04:01,982 --> 00:04:04,995
who are in our early 30s and our 20s,

59
00:04:04,995 --> 00:04:08,129
all the millennials and zoomers,

60
00:04:08,129 --> 00:04:13,191
that don't remember the dark days
before the ADA.

61
00:04:13,191 --> 00:04:15,480
But we can't just coast on the,

62
00:04:15,480 --> 00:04:19,091
"Yay, we did the ADA,
now let's all go home and party,"

63
00:04:19,091 --> 00:04:24,401
because there is so much more
work to be done, basically.

64
00:04:24,401 --> 00:04:28,974
People with disabilities are still
routinely having to fight for their rights

65
00:04:28,974 --> 00:04:31,241
under the ADA to be solved.

66
00:04:31,241 --> 00:04:35,968
If we went around DC spotting
architectural barriers,

67
00:04:35,968 --> 00:04:40,555
we could spot a dozen 
in a single mile radius.

68
00:04:40,555 --> 00:04:44,258
And that is a problem,

69
00:04:44,258 --> 00:04:46,378
and this is especially true,

70
00:04:46,378 --> 00:04:50,788
I like to talk about the sexy
versus the non-sexy disabilities,

71
00:04:50,788 --> 00:04:54,431
when we talk about disability,
people often get this

72
00:04:54,431 --> 00:05:00,331
inspiration porn mental image
of the photogenic person in a wheelchair,

73
00:05:00,331 --> 00:05:05,220
extra bonus points
if they're straight and white,

74
00:05:05,220 --> 00:05:08,412
but don't want to talk,
and exclude from the picture,

75
00:05:08,412 --> 00:05:10,828
from that pretty group picture,

76
00:05:10,828 --> 00:05:16,609
the person who stutters,
the person who has chronic pain

77
00:05:16,609 --> 00:05:21,389
and can't work because of it,
the person with mental health disabilities

78
00:05:21,389 --> 00:05:25,767
who has had psychosis
or other experiences like that.

79
00:05:25,767 --> 00:05:28,487
I mean, when we talk about mental health,

80
00:05:28,487 --> 00:05:32,648
we try and end the stigma
and other such calls for action,

81
00:05:32,648 --> 00:05:38,278
we often focus on the idea of,

82
00:05:38,278 --> 00:05:42,321
let's talk about the people
who were depressed

83
00:05:42,321 --> 00:05:44,994
and took some Prozac and got better,

84
00:05:44,994 --> 00:05:49,063
but don't want to talk about people
who are in long-term institutions,

85
00:05:49,063 --> 00:05:51,313
about people who experience psychosis,

86
00:05:51,313 --> 00:05:54,953
about people who experience
bipolar disorder, and so forth.

87
00:05:54,953 --> 00:06:00,878
And we need to be clear that it's all
disabled people that matter, basically,

88
00:06:00,878 --> 00:06:03,809
at the risk of sounding
All Lives Matter-ish,

89
00:06:03,809 --> 00:06:06,648
not just those we like the most.

90
00:06:06,648 --> 00:06:10,699
I would say, fundamentally,
there needs to be a change

91
00:06:10,699 --> 00:06:15,708
in how federal law treats people
with mental health disabilities.

92
00:06:15,708 --> 00:06:20,007
We need to fundamentally
end institutionalization.

93
00:06:20,007 --> 00:06:24,982
We need to include
universal health coverage,

94
00:06:24,982 --> 00:06:28,209
because people shouldn't be relying
on having a job

95
00:06:28,209 --> 00:06:31,861
to have access to affordable healthcare.

96
00:06:31,861 --> 00:06:36,588
And I am also thinking, as a major change,

97
00:06:36,588 --> 00:06:39,267
the fundamental idea that people

98
00:06:39,267 --> 00:06:41,686
with mental health
and developmental disabilities

99
00:06:41,686 --> 00:06:44,824
have rights in general.

100
00:06:44,824 --> 00:06:48,874
Fundamentally change the culture
and also call in people.

101
00:06:48,874 --> 00:06:51,391
I like to tell people,
"Use your privilege."

102
00:06:51,391 --> 00:06:56,816
Kind of like how they put the signs
on the metro and the New York subway

103
00:06:56,816 --> 00:07:00,196
that say, "If you see something,
say something."

104
00:07:00,196 --> 00:07:01,341
It applies here.

105
00:07:01,341 --> 00:07:03,559
If you see something ableist, say it.

106
00:07:03,559 --> 00:07:06,650
Don't wait till someone with a disability,

107
00:07:06,650 --> 00:07:11,057
who's exhausted of having to fight
for themselves, has to say it.

108
00:07:11,057 --> 00:07:15,819
When people bring it up,
evaluate and help them. Be an ally.