"redéfinir le couple en droit, en explicitant qu’il peut être « de sexe différent ou de même sexe »
[A l'éqoque] "tout le monde – y compris parmi les défenseurs des droits des #homosexuels… – ne comprend pas la portée juridique et symbolique majeure de cet amendement, qui met fin à plus de 20 siècles de définition du couple comme formé nécessairement d’un #homme et d’une #femme."
As the #AmericaFirst movement of #WWII once again rears its head and gears up for the next elections, it is much better prepared than in 2016 and the #Midterms of 2022.
A racist utterance of a #US military 🪖 leader made me remember a thread I had published on the Birdsite in Sept. 2022.
It focused on the strategic use of #veterans by the #MAGA movement.
As it will happen again, I am republishing...
"...they are backed by #DonaldTrump, a new cluster of military-oriented political action committees (#PACs), and leading members of the secretive #CouncilForNationalPolicy.👈 If elected, they would pose an alarming threat to #American " democracy.
"Can a Symbol Help Stop the Harm – Disability Designator ID and Disability Deaths" –Part one:
(Approx 7 Min. read)
In May, New Jersey passed bill S761, joining 12 other states in creating a "disability identifier" state ID program. With much of the media focus on autism, the law allows some with other disability related communication issues, to have an "official indication of their diagnosis", "notated" on their state issued ID. As a part, NJ will create "guidelines" for law enforcement to better accommodate people with invisible disabilities, through understanding and proper communication; rather than aggression, force, and unfounded assumptions of perpetration. Unlike other states, the NJ legislation appears to exclude many with disabilities and lack forethought regarding the medical privacies of participants.
Even with the positives of various state actions, some feel these efforts may be futile, or accompanied by inherent negatives. Here, I'll be providing details on some of these programs, their potential negatives and, in part two, the reasons for creating them. The focus will be on the tragic stories of some victims that ultimately inspired Invisible Disability ID programs. People, like Elijah McClain and others, whose wrongful deaths resulting from interactions with police and first responders, brought national attention to this epidemic. The harm and loss of life at the hands of those there to serve and protect, is a horrifying thought to many with invisible disabilities, their loved ones; and should be, to anyone of decency.
Alaska, was the first to pass disability ID "designator" legislation with two laws that seem to respect the medical privacies of' disabled citizens. Their "Disability Designator", is a "discrete symbol" on licenses, indicating a "medically verified cognitive, mental, neurological, or physical disability; or a combination thereof". Alaska and other states, use the Invisible Disabilities Association's (IDA) "i" symbol as the "designator". The reasoning behind this optional indicator is the same; to enlighten police and first responders, when they may view a person's communication or behavior as "different" or "unusual". Again, the goal is to prevent escalation and, as in many cases, harm to the individual with disabilities.
Utah's disability designator, is a symbol on a sticker affixed to the ID. As in other states that use a symbol, Utah's program offers more medical confidentiality. It indicates only, that the person has a disability, without revealing diagnosis or specifics. In comparison with NJ's "notation of diagnosis", this seems much less intrusive. Utah's list of "examples of disabilities" covers any physical or mental health issue "that may interfere with the ability to communicate with a law enforcement officer". The list is much more inclusive of all disabilities than the narrow scope of the NJ law, even including diabetes, heart conditions and drug allergies.
The Invisible Disabilities Association (IDA) in Colorado, is a nonprofit organization that spearheads the effort to create the "National Disability ID" (NDID) symbol program. They advocate nationwide with state and federal government, and were part of the 2022 federal identifier bill, HB–7217. Unfortunately, that bill died in committee. The IDA logo, a blue lowercase "i" shaped like a vertical Nike-style "swoosh", is used as Colorado's DL disability identifier as well. They began issuing their NDID–National Invisible Disability ID cards, prior to the passing of any legislation. Below, is an IDA link where people with invisible disabilities can obtain their own NDID, or "International Invisible Disability ID" card with little effort or personal information.
Following Alaska, Colorado passed House Bill HB21–1014, making them the second state to pass "Symbolic" legislation which, also uses the wording "discrete" indicator. The law requires that the symbol on state identifications, must represent all types of disabilities under their program, in a state where history vividly illustrates the need for some type of solution. Colorado police and first responders have been responsible for causing the wrongful deaths of numerous people with invisible disabilities, attracting national attention more than once. The stories covered in part two, include several involving the same police force.
Potential Concerns:
In regard to the NJ action, the following phrase appears in the legislation:
"the chief administrator shall indicate the autism spectrum disorder or communication disorder diagnosis by notating such information on the person's driver's license ...under the column designated for restrictions".
There are many disabilities accompanied by communication limitations, that are not associated with autism, or (as NJ puts it) a "communication disorder". There are also aspects of disabilities, unrelated to communication, that can influence interactions with law-enforcement. Anyone of these may have been a factor in the known examples of police escalation causing harm or death to innocent people. NJ should consider this, designing their law to be more inclusive and respectful of the rights, privacies and protections of its disabled population.
Broadcasting diagnosis on one's license is another concern to some, and raises some questions. How much protected medical information will appear in the NJ "notation"? Will the DMV gather medical history and driver's diagnosis' for its citizens with disabilities, then add unnecessary or unfounded "restrictions" to their licenses? With varying degrees of any disability, a generalized "notation of diagnosis" could present a lot of obvious undue challenges or barriers for many drivers with disabilities.
Aside from police and first responders, there are others that may see the "notation of diagnosis" or identifier symbol on an individual's ID. Identification is shown to many people, including those at stores, restaurants, nightclubs, and hotels. Some stores even scan IDs when "proofing", essentially compiling a database of the information contained in license barcodes. Some feel that individuals could be targeted for discrimination, harassment, exploitation or abuse by corporations, employers, ablests or other unsavory individuals.
For those who do not want the identifier on their license, these reforms may do little. If an individual without the voluntary "identifier" advises police they are disabled, will they be accommodated according to said guidelines? For those with the identifier, these changes are only as good as those who implement them. Will the guidelines and training be designed to actually accommodate or, be just another hollow disability regulation, created by oblivious abled politicians.
Will police abide by the guidelines? Body cams were implemented to prevent misconduct and create accountability. However, frequent claims by police that cameras "fell off", leave many feeling they were intentionally removed to obviate the recording of their transgressions. Will a symbol on a driver's license prevent such unnecessary harm to the disabled? Colorado's designator law passed two years ago but, another murder of someone with invisible disabilities occurred last fall. The individual, experiencing an obvious mental health crisis, called for police assistance after becoming stranded and, was ultimately shot. The many recurring incidences may cause anyone to ask; is the motto to "serve and protect", or to harm and kill?
In part two, I will focus on the people with invisible disabilities, autism, mental health challenges and hearing impairment, that were harmed or murdered by police and first responders. Unfortunately, we cannot ask many of those individuals if they feel a symbol on their license would've changed anything. With all the people that have been lost unnecessarily, this is no longer a #DisabilityCommunity issue – It's something everyone should be standing against.
Also, I'll say the part nobody is saying out loud. This problem is only going to get worse as the number of people who get #Covid increases (and multiple times = worse results), which increases the number of people with brain damage (call it #BrainFog if you must) whether diagnosed or not.
Deadline for comments is June 26th. If you know of anyone who has Long COVID please pass this along to them or to someone who cares for them. We need to make our government organizations see how urgent it is to start developing treatments for this.