Disability Pride March and Festival 2012

Taking it to the the streets of downtown Mountain View, hundreds of disabled and non-disabled folks called out for social justice for all and especially for the preservation of the rights guaranteed the disabled on Saturday. "Funding for vulnerable citizens must be saved", was the overriding message of the day.

For the past two years, this event had been held in San Jose near the Silicon Valley Independent Living Center office. SVILC moved to downtown Mountain View this year in order to be more visible to the public. Castro Street in Mountain View provided a superb audience as it was teeming with shoppers and strollers who lined the parade route.

The parade was planned to coincide with other disability pride events around the country, including one at the site of the original Disability Pride Parade in Chicago. That event started in 2004 and was originally founded in order to combat the shame that many young people with disabilities feel.

The Mountain View parade was followed by a festival teeming with musical acts including reality TV stars "The Push Girls" who performed hip-hop moves in their wheelchairs.