Jesus am I tired of Tumblr's gatekeeping of solidarity movements. If you asked someone at an in-person cripplepunk meet-up to provide a list of their disabilities to you so you could validate if they're the right kind of cripple for you, you're the one who gets kicked out, not them. Hell, if you asked for a list at an online meet, I'd boot you, too.
The idea that there's some hard bright line which exists between all disabilities of all other organs and disabilities of this one organ is bizarre and unhelpful. It also perpetuates the "but mental disabilities are different" mindset which leads to "oh but mental health coverage is optional, different, and can be shunted off into its own little box."
I have a disability where one of my organs doesn't function properly bc it doesn't make enough of a certain kind of juice, which makes it difficult for me to do certain things which I need to do to function. I have to adapt my life, change what I eat and how I move my body, take medications and rely on others for assistance with my condition. If I don't do that, this condition has been known to kill people. Is that diabetes or post-traumatic stress disorder?
I have another disability in which my nervous system doesn't behave properly, and that causes me great difficulty in my life. I have had to change what I eat, the medications I take, how much coffee I drink, how I rest, and how I deal with the medical establishment. This disability and its diagnosis has profoundly affected how I live my life, and I require assists and accommodations to live my life as I choose. Is that disability ADHD or physical damage to my spine from the tumor which compressed my spinal cord & left scars behind when it was removed?
Do anxiety and paranoia and insomnia and depression count if they're symptoms of celiac disease? If not, why not? They're disabling effects of an autoimmune disorder. And regardless, it's because body not act right so... wtf? How about my memory issues that come from damage from a medication used to treat the pain in my legs?
Solidarity movements are reciprocal, y'all, and I'm exhausted of "you must be this queer/this trans/this disabled to come in." Maybe I'm just too fucking old and too fucking tired to listen to this week's Discourse ™️ about who trademarked what term when while actual problems exist.
I know it probably seems like you're doing something productive to you, but I assure you, you're not. If your issue is "these specific people are being dicks," deal with those people being dicks, and don't ascribe their dickishness to their disability. The problem is they're being a dick.
If your issue is instead "but this isn't as disabling as what I deal with" or "I have that disability and it's not as bad for me as my other disability" or "but it feels good for me to draw a line between disabilities of this one organ and every other organ," then it is you. You are being the dick.
Perpetuating the non-existent line between "physical" and "mental" disabilities helps absolutely no one. It places mental disabilities by default in a "not as bad" category and an "all in your head" one, which ... like, do I need to explain to y'all why functioning labels and categories aren't helpful in disability movements? Why are we resurrecting this shit and giving it new polish?
To be clear, I am not interested in debating this, so trying to tell me how your no-brain-problems-allowed approach is right and good, actually, is a waste of your time, because there is absolutely no way to convince me that trying to keep certain kinds of disabilities out of a general disability solidarity movement based on the organ that disability centers in has any use whatsoever. The line between "mental" and "physical" disabilities is blurry as fuck and trying to fence off all brain problems is not okay, especially since y'all don't mean that because a lot of things which are caused by the brain acting in a non-standard matter are considered "physical" disabilities.
Jesus, y'all make me tired. This bullshit is the least punk thing ever.
I'm not disagreeing but Tai, the creator of crippled punk, specifies its for it is for physically disabled people specifically here
Obviously mental illness is an issue in the brain which is a part of the body. I'm just stating what the founder of the movement intended. And they felt very strongly about following those tenants of it.
Tai sadly isn't here to tell us how they wanted this to play out though but I do know I want to honor their legacy the way they wanted it to be.
