On October 21, Kenny Fries, an award winning writer of numerous books, essays, and poetry, spoke as part of Bowdoin College’s “Disability and Accessibility” series. Fries was born with a congenital physical disability that impacts his legs and ability to walk. Fries is openly gay, and has traveled the world as a result of numerous grants that have allowed him to spend time writing in Japan and most recently Germany, where he currently lives with his husband. Fries is a prolif

Recently, society was shocked by a scandal involving its richest and most elite. It was exposed that the tools meant to aid victims of systemic oppression were being abused to benefit children of affluent families in their admittance to prestigious colleges. People went as far as photoshopping photos and faking athletic ability to get onto university teams to bolster their applications. Sadly, much of the media’s fixation on the scandal surrounds the involvement of famous ind

In late November, I penned an op-ed calling for the rejection of an assisted suicide ballot measure that would have created a referendum similar to the law in Oregon. My piece ran in several papers throughout Maine on November 29th and 30th. On December 3, The Seacoast Online ran a story where advocates for assisted suicide were celebrating claiming to have received over 45,000 total signatures, up from 6,000 published in article from late October. The article incorrectly sta

In late February, the Disability Community lost a pioneering advocate, outspoken activist, and beloved leader when Carrie Lucas passed away at the age of 47. Lucas, who had a neuromuscular disease that robbed her of most of her movement, was an unstoppable pioneer for the rights of parents with disabilities as well as for the creation of accessible environments. She was also an avid photographer and mother to four adopted children. After being told she would not be able to pa

Content Warnings: Ableism in Politics, Mention of Sexual Assault When Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy retired earlier this year many people feared that the Court, upon the appointment of a judge by President Trump, would be positioned to be more conservative than it has been in generations. Those fears were largely confirmed when Donald Trump announced Brett Kavanaugh as his nominee for Supreme Court. Kavanaugh previously worked in the DC Federal Circuit court with form

For several decades, The Common Ground Fair has been a quirky part of the autumn fair season in Maine. Billed as the largest organic fair in North America, the Common Ground Fair is a top-tier event that has a literal plethora of events, keynotes, political and historical talks as well as a number of organic farming specific lectures. The Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association, the trade group that produces the fair yearly, states that about 60,000 people attend the

Several Hundred people braved very sunny skies and high temperatures to attend the annual “Disability Pride Day” at Capitol Park in Augusta on the afternoon of Friday, July 20th. The event was sponsored by Disability Rights Maine, a protection and advocacy center for individuals with disabilities. Disability Rights Maine is a member of the National Disability Rights Network, national collection of protection and advocacy centers. Disability Pride Days have been happening for

"Shortly after the Trump Administration took office, Representative Ted Poe, a Texas Republican in the state’s second congressional district, introduced the ADA Education and Reform Act, HR 620, into the House Judiciary Committee. This law mandates a “notice and cure” period of 180 days before any lawsuit related to accessibility could go forward. No other current civil rights legislation is subject to these types of delays." Click here to read the rest of this new article