Beasts of Burden: Animal and Disability Liberation

by Sunaura Taylor

Disabled people also don’t seem to be out and about because many of us aren’t. We are often segregated into separate classrooms, separate buses, separate waiting lines, and separate entrances. We may stay home either by choice (because it is easier than facing discrimination outside our homes) or against our will (because that is where our parents, spouses, caretakers, doctors, or benefit counselors want us to be, or because our homes are not accessible to leave). We may leave our homes only to be stopped by the end of a sidewalk with no curb cut. We may try our best to avoid inaccessible environments and to stay away from stores with physical barriers, such as stairs, or psychological barriers, such as gawking strangers. We may have such deeply internalized ableism that we don’t leave our homes out of shame. Or we may be locked away in institutions.