METHUEN — A new flag joined Old Glory and others outside City Hall this week.
About noon on Thursday, officials hoisted a black, red, yellow, white, blue and green flag in celebration of Disability Pride Month. Sunday marks the 36-year anniversary of the 1990 signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act, or ADA.
“The Americans with Disabilities Act has helped open doors for millions of Americans, and Disability Pride Month gives us the opportunity to celebrate the residents with disabilities who enrich our community every day,” Mayor D.J. Beauregard said in a prepared statement.
“We’re proud to recognize their contributions and remain committed to building a Methuen where everyone feels welcomed, included, and empowered to succeed.”
Representatives of the city’s Commission on Disability and residents were in attendance.
The version of the Disability Pride Flag raised in Methuen was created in 2021 by disabled advocate Ann Magill, according to the Los Angeles Department on Disability’s website.
The red represents people with physical disabilities, the yellow for individuals with cognitive and intellectual disabilities, white for people with invisible and undiagnosed disabilities, blue for people with psychiatric disabilities and green corresponds to individuals with sensory disabilities.
The black represents the disabled lives lost due to ableism, lack of access to healthcare, marginalization violence and other causes, according to the department.
For more information on the local Commission on Disability visit: methuen.gov/408/Commission-on-Disability