4/15/26 - Voting, budget, and dating

Howdy ...

I wasn't feeling well yesterday, so I took a break. These are the links I had lined up to share — a couple of policy updates, and an article I seem to have missed from almost exactly a year ago.

Just a reminder – If you have an article, blog, or other publication you think I should know about for this newsletter, please let me know. I can't share everything worth reading. But I want to throw as wide a net as possible. And it helps to have a wider range of regular disability content sites in my reading list so I'm less likely to miss good stuff. And of course, sharing Disability Thinking Weekday with your own networks, and/or upgrading to a paid subscription or making a one-time donation always helps too!

American Association of People with Disabilities Responds to Executive Order Threatening Vote by Mail

Jess Davidson, American Association of People with Disabilities - April 2, 2026

"Disabled voters already face disproportionate barriers to the ballot – this EO makes those barriers worse and increases the risk of disenfranchisement across communities, including Black, Latina/o, indigenous, people of color, and/or voters in rural communities."

The single most important thing to understand about disabled people and voting is this. Any new steps added to the voting process – from registration to the actual casting of a vote – makes it exponentially more difficult for people with disabilities to vote. New requirements don't have to legally prohibit disabled people from voting to effectively place voting out of reach. This is absolutely critical for non-disabled people to understand – and for disabled people to understand who have so far in their lives not faced significant barriers to being able to vote. It's very unlikely that this presidential executive order will take effect. But the ideas behind it are already influential in many states. Disabled people all over the US need to pay attention, plan ahead, and get ready to advocate now – even if they think their right and access to vote is safe. As most disabled people know, our carefully assembled routines and ways of doing things are always one missed connection or unexpected change from being shattered.

STATEMENT TO MEMBERSHIP AND EXPLAINER ON THE PRESIDENT’S FY 2027 BUDGET

Jessica Podesva, National Council on Independent Living - April 6, 2026

"Additionally, the justification proposes:

Level funding for State Councils on Developmental Disabilities

Level funding for Protection and Advocacy Agencies

Elimination of funding for the Paralysis Resource Center

Elimination of funding for the Limb Loss Resource Center

Elimination of funding for Voting Access for People with Disabilities

Elimination of funding for University Centers for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities

Elimination of funding for Developmental Disabilities Act Projects of National Significance

The Independent Living Program needs this crucial increase in federal funding to properly support a nationwide network of over 350 CILs and 56 SILCs, and to serve people of all disabilities across the lifespan. However, the programs proposed to be eliminated are of value to all of us."

I can't say I fully understand the intricacies and conflicting / overlapping motives that may be involved in proposing more money for Centers for Independent Living while eliminating several other disability-related programs. Does the Trump Department of Health and Human Services view CILs as a nice, decentralized way to fund disability programs more efficiently? Do they assume CILs can do what the eliminated departments do, with a modest bump in funds? Or, do they hope, on some level, to blunt more unified opposition to their policies by pitting different disability programs and departments against each other? Do they even know, to a meaningful degree, what any of these programs do or stand for? Or, are they just moving pieces around the board with little to no understanding of the game's ultimate purpose? I don't know. I'm really asking!

From Sex To Ghosting, These Are The Realities Of Dating With A Disability

Frances Ryan, Elle - April 17, 2025

"Growing up with a disability, I know this awkward silence mixed with negative stereotypes had an impact on how I imagined my future. Just like I rarely saw a disabled character on TV or film who was a lawyer or doctor, I hardly ever saw one who was a girlfriend or mum either. Even Love Island took until 2022 to have a female contestant with a disability (and that led to ableist trolling)."

I am well aware of the risk of equating my own experience as a heterosexual disabled man in the US with those of disabled women and nonbinary people in the UK. But this was certainly an interesting read, and a lot of it struck familiar chords with me. The quote above pretty much echos how I thought about dating and sex as a teenager and a young man. Today, I know lots of disabled people who have deep relationships and families, and have had interesting, varied sex lives. But I was utterly ignorant of any of that until well into my 20s. I'm sure not all of it was a sociological problem of pervasive ableism. I have to own some of it myself, maybe along with the handful of adults at the time who shaped my view of the world and my possibilities. But my views and horizons were definitely shaped and limited by the ableist assumptions around me. I often wonder how much richer my life would be if I was growing up disabled today, when attitudes are at least somewhat better. So I'm not sure whether I should feel better or worse to learn that the love life situation for disabled people today isn't necessarily that much better in the 2020s as it was in the 1980s.

Disability Thinking Weekday is a Monday-Friday newsletter with links and commentary on disability-related articles and other content. You can help promote Disability Thinking Weekday by forwarding it by email or posting on your social media. You can also comment by sending me an email at: apulrang@icloud.com. Collected comments are shared on the first of each month. A free subscription sends a newsletter to your email each weekday. Benefits of paid subscription include:

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