< Return to Video

Victoria Rodríguez-Roldán

  • 0:01 - 0:02
    I'm Victoria Rodríguez-Roldán.
  • 0:02 - 0:07
    I am, my day job is the
    Senior Policy Manager at AIDS United.
  • 0:07 - 0:11
    We work to end the HIV epidemic.
  • 0:11 - 0:14
    And I would say I am
    a disability advocate at heart
  • 0:14 - 0:18
    because of my own
    mental health disabilities,
  • 0:18 - 0:22
    and I bring that throughout my entire life
  • 0:22 - 0:28
    to try to push disability world
    into one that is inclusive
  • 0:28 - 0:32
    of all mental health
    and developmental disabilities,
  • 0:32 - 0:36
    not just the photogenic disabilities.
  • 0:36 - 0:40
    I was a year old when the ADA passed.
  • 0:40 - 0:44
    I am 31 years old, and we're celebrating
    the 30th anniversary.
  • 0:44 - 0:48
    So I have no memory, I grew up with it.
  • 0:48 - 0:51
    My first memory of the ADA was my mother,
    who was diabetic,
  • 0:51 - 0:56
    getting, talking about accommodations
    at her work to store insulin
  • 0:56 - 1:00
    in the work fridge, along those lines.
  • 1:00 - 1:04
    And I remember her talking about
    this new thing called the ADA.
  • 1:04 - 1:08
    You know how people talk
    about work at home.
  • 1:08 - 1:13
    But the ADA, I would say,
    I had my own mental conception
  • 1:13 - 1:19
    of what is a disabled person
  • 1:19 - 1:24
    until I myself was dealing with the,
    "I feel different,"
  • 1:24 - 1:29
    both because of my being trans,
    because of my mental health,
  • 1:29 - 1:34
    and eventually dealing with it and getting
    treatment when I was in law school,
  • 1:34 - 1:38
    which I don't- Law school is always an
    interesting experience in and of itself.
  • 1:38 - 1:41
    It's a three-year hazing ritual.
  • 1:41 - 1:45
    But I would say one of the things
    that motivate me in disability
  • 1:45 - 1:50
    is seeing just how much-
  • 1:50 - 1:57
    In disability, we often treat people
    as either poor things of pity
  • 1:57 - 2:01
    or as scary and need
    to be locked away, basically.
  • 2:01 - 2:04
    Often, with physical disabilities,
    it's the object of pity.
  • 2:04 - 2:08
    With mental health disabilities,
    it's the scary, let's lock them away,
  • 2:08 - 2:11
    why are they allowing those people
    out in the community?
  • 2:11 - 2:15
    And, having seen that,
    having been scared of it,
  • 2:15 - 2:21
    having been worried about my career
    if I were out,
  • 2:21 - 2:24
    which says a lot as a trans person
    being worried about being out
  • 2:24 - 2:29
    as someone with
    a mental health disability,
  • 2:29 - 2:33
    I don't think, I mean,
    I think we need to fundamentally alter
  • 2:33 - 2:39
    how society sees what is normal
    and not normal,
  • 2:39 - 2:46
    and how that works as far as
    being inclusive of all disabilities.
  • 2:46 - 2:51
    I would say that one of the things
    that impact me the most
  • 2:51 - 2:55
    was, for example, when I got out
    of law school.
  • 2:55 - 3:00
    In law school, I received accommodations
    right as I was about to graduate
  • 3:00 - 3:07
    and help from the Assistant Dean
    of Students, Sherry Abbott, at the time,
  • 3:07 - 3:11
    because I was pretty much experiencing
    a lot of problems
  • 3:11 - 3:13
    that were related to my disability.
  • 3:13 - 3:16
    And that probably wouldn't have
    been possible without the ADA,
  • 3:16 - 3:18
    without the spirit of it.
  • 3:18 - 3:23
    And later, when I started my career,
    a few months later, actually,
  • 3:23 - 3:28
    I joined as a Schedule A hire
    in the US Department of Labor.
  • 3:28 - 3:31
    If it weren't for the initiative
    at the federal government
  • 3:31 - 3:33
    that was partially inspired by the ADA
  • 3:33 - 3:37
    to make sure that people with disabilities
  • 3:37 - 3:40
    are hired by the federal government,
  • 3:40 - 3:47
    then maybe I wouldn't have started
    in civil rights in DC when I did.
  • 3:47 - 3:50
    So it has made a difference for me
  • 3:50 - 3:54
    in receiving accommodations
    at the jobs I've had and so forth.
  • 3:54 - 3:59
    So it is a question of how do we-
  • 3:59 - 4:02
    We already have a whole generation
    like myself,
  • 4:02 - 4:05
    who are in our early 30s and our 20s,
  • 4:05 - 4:08
    all the millennials and zoomers,
  • 4:08 - 4:13
    that don't remember the dark days
    before the ADA.
  • 4:13 - 4:15
    But we can't just coast on the,
  • 4:15 - 4:19
    "Yay, we did the ADA,
    now let's all go home and party,"
  • 4:19 - 4:24
    because there is so much more
    work to be done, basically.
  • 4:24 - 4:29
    People with disabilities are still
    routinely having to fight for their rights
  • 4:29 - 4:31
    under the ADA to be solved.
  • 4:31 - 4:36
    If we went around DC spotting
    architectural barriers,
  • 4:36 - 4:41
    we could spot a dozen
    in a single mile radius.
  • 4:41 - 4:44
    And that is a problem,
  • 4:44 - 4:46
    and this is especially true,
  • 4:46 - 4:51
    I like to talk about the sexy
    versus the non-sexy disabilities,
  • 4:51 - 4:54
    when we talk about disability,
    people often get this
  • 4:54 - 5:00
    inspiration porn mental image
    of the photogenic person in a wheelchair,
  • 5:00 - 5:05
    extra bonus points
    if they're straight and white,
  • 5:05 - 5:08
    but don't want to talk,
    and exclude from the picture,
  • 5:08 - 5:11
    from that pretty group picture,
  • 5:11 - 5:17
    the person who stutters,
    the person who has chronic pain
  • 5:17 - 5:21
    and can't work because of it,
    the person with mental health disabilities
  • 5:21 - 5:26
    who has had psychosis
    or other experiences like that.
  • 5:26 - 5:28
    I mean, when we talk about mental health,
  • 5:28 - 5:33
    we try and end the stigma
    and other such calls for action,
  • 5:33 - 5:38
    we often focus on the idea of,
  • 5:38 - 5:42
    let's talk about the people
    who were depressed
  • 5:42 - 5:45
    and took some Prozac and got better,
  • 5:45 - 5:49
    but don't want to talk about people
    who are in long-term institutions,
  • 5:49 - 5:51
    about people who experience psychosis,
  • 5:51 - 5:55
    about people who experience
    bipolar disorder, and so forth.
  • 5:55 - 6:01
    And we need to be clear that it's all
    disabled people that matter, basically,
  • 6:01 - 6:04
    at the risk of sounding
    All Lives Matter-ish,
  • 6:04 - 6:07
    not just those we like the most.
  • 6:07 - 6:11
    I would say, fundamentally,
    there needs to be a change
  • 6:11 - 6:16
    in how federal law treats people
    with mental health disabilities.
  • 6:16 - 6:20
    We need to fundamentally
    end institutionalization.
  • 6:20 - 6:25
    We need to include
    universal health coverage,
  • 6:25 - 6:28
    because people shouldn't be relying
    on having a job
  • 6:28 - 6:32
    to have access to affordable healthcare.
  • 6:32 - 6:37
    And I am also thinking, as a major change,
  • 6:37 - 6:39
    the fundamental idea that people
  • 6:39 - 6:42
    with mental health
    and developmental disabilities
  • 6:42 - 6:45
    have rights in general.
  • 6:45 - 6:49
    Fundamentally change the culture
    and also call in people.
  • 6:49 - 6:51
    I like to tell people,
    "Use your privilege."
  • 6:51 - 6:57
    Kind of like how they put the signs
    on the metro and the New York subway
  • 6:57 - 7:00
    that say, "If you see something,
    say something."
  • 7:00 - 7:01
    It applies here.
  • 7:01 - 7:04
    If you see something ableist, say it.
  • 7:04 - 7:07
    Don't wait till someone with a disability,
  • 7:07 - 7:11
    who's exhausted of having to fight
    for themselves, has to say it.
  • 7:11 - 7:16
    When people bring it up,
    evaluate and help them. Be an ally.
Title:
Victoria Rodríguez-Roldán
Video Language:
English
Team:
ABILITY Magazine
Duration:
07:16

English subtitles

Revisions