The law will never disappear ableism, because the law is itself an ableist and white supremacist tool. You could even enforce them, which is funny, 'cause we don't. We actually need to radically transform our society and culture, because you can't legislate morality, you can only pass the best laws possible.

Disability justice understands that law and policy are necessary but not sufficient. LB: Disability rights is deeply concerned with using the law and policy as means of effecting change for disabled people in society. MC: Could you say more about the difference between disability rights and disability justice?

Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. Marie Claire email subscribers get intel on fashion and beauty trends, hot-off-the-press celebrity news, and more. And I use both of those terms deliberately because a lot of people don't understand that they're not the same thing. I've been doing disability rights and disability justice advocacy now for more than a decade. For me, I move very much in in-between spaces. Not everybody has this specific experience, as there are people who really don’t experience any marginalization at all.And there are also people who really have almost no access to privileges or very few. And so I move through the world, like many of us do, experiencing multiple forms of marginalization and also experiencing privilege. And while I am disabled, I’m also a hearing and an ambulatory person. I’m a light-skinned person of color and a citizen. As I move through the world as an openly queer and non-binary and disabled East Asian person of color, I also move through the world with access to a number of privileges. I experience multiple forms of marginalization. LB: I move through the world in a very particular way.

Could you tell me a bit about you and how you came to advocacy work? Often, their most important work has no title, job description, or funding, and probably never will.MC: It’s been especially hard with these twin crises of racial unrest and the public health crisis. Lydia is currently creating their own tarot deck, Disability Justice Wisdom Tarot. Lydia is adjunct lecturer/core faculty in Georgetown University’s Disability Studies Program, and adjunct professorial lecturer in American Studies at American University’s Department of Critical Race, Gender, & Culture Studies. They are founding director of the Fund for Community Reparations for Autistic People of Color’s Interdependence, Survival, & Empowerment. Lydia is Policy Counsel for Privacy & Data at the Center for Democracy & Technology, focused on algorithmic discrimination and disability, as well as Director of Policy, Advocacy, & External Affairs at the Autistic Women & Nonbinary Network. Brown is an advocate, educator, and attorney addressing state and interpersonal violence targeting disabled people living at the intersections of race, class, gender, sexuality, faith, language, and nation.

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