It's Disability Pride Month! ♿✨
Happy Disability Pride Month!
The Nonbinarian Book Bike launched its virtual Book Club in July 2023 (!) with a book by Samantha Irby, whose unabashed candor about her disability and how it affects her movement through the world makes her stand out not just for her talent as a storyteller and comedian, but for how she refuses to hide. As a vocally and visibly disabled, queer writer myself, Irby and others who commit their thoughts to the page for millions to read inspire me daily—and I’m lucky to be part of a community like the Nonbinarian Book Bike where talking about disability is encouraged, even when it’s complicated or messy or embarrassing or ugly.
It’s no secret that the last four years have reaffirmed how little the general populace cares for disabled people. The COVID-19 pandemic is far from over, yet for many, a return to pre-COVID times takes precedence over community care, leaving disabled people behind. Virtual access to event spaces, opportunities, and jobs is dwindling as companies seek to protect their bottom lines and in response to pro-Palestine protests all over the country, U.S. lawmakers are proposing mask bans—a fascist action not only targeting activists, but disabled people who may not be able to leave home safely without this baseline protection. (See ACT UP NY’s post about #NoNYMaskBan for how to take action and adapt for your local and state legislature as needed.)
The likelihood that you know someone who is disabled is high, even if their disability isn’t visible and even if they don’t talk about it. Approximately 42.5 million Americans are disabled. If that isn’t striking, consider this: No one is immune from becoming disabled. Accidents, dormant conditions, developed conditions, and more can change anyone’s life in an instant, and there are very few protections in place for disabled people to safely navigate the world. The Americans with Disabilities Act didn’t become law until 1990, and compliance is often enforced only after a business, local government, or individual is taken to court. Just because disability doesn’t affect you or someone you love today doesn’t mean it won’t at some point in the future.
Disabled people are often multiply marginalized and face discrimination from several angles—and while spaces frequently claim to be inclusive of everyone belonging to a certain group, disabled people are still a second thought even then, leaving us especially isolated. Disabled people deserve the same basic rights as non-disabled people. We deserve the same access, opportunities, and support. We deserve kindness.
This Disability Pride Month, I challenge you to broaden your reading list, your follow list, your watch list, your playlist, or whatever you like to include disabled creators. Tell your representatives not to ban masks. If you’ve stopped masking, start again! If you’ve been masking, donate a few to your neighborhood Little Free Library or community pantry. Find out if your community has a disability advocacy network that needs help or if your local hospital needs volunteers. Show up! Show out! Whatever you can do, please do it. We need you.
— Samantha Puc, Newsletter Editor & Book Club Coordinator
The Nonbinarian Book Bike celebrated its first Pride Month this year! 🏳️⚧🏳🌈 If you came to an event and said hi to the Bike, thank you for making it extra special! We always love connecting with our community and we gave away so many books last month. Thank you for making the work we do possible!
Heading into July, our inventory is low! If you’d like to donate to the Book Bike, please bring titles to any of our pop-ups in July or purchase books through our Inventory Wishlist. These will be delivered directly to the Book Bike for distribution!
And don’t forget to grab a book for yourself while you’re at it! If you’re not sure what book to bring for our next Riis Read-In on Saturday, July 13, don’t worry—we’ve got you covered! We’ve put together some recommendations in the links below.
Shopping with Bookshop.org supports independent bookstores and the Nonbinarian Book Bike! If you prefer to listen to audiobooks, consider getting yours through Libro.fm, which also supports independent bookstores and the Nonbinarian Book Bike! Everyone wins when you shop small!
Our Pride Month calendar was packed and we’re taking a little breather as we confirm events for July! Please keep an eye on our Instagram for more additions to this month’s calendar!
Here's where we'll be (so far) during Disability Pride Month, weather permitting (all times EST; 💻 = virtual, 🚲 = in-person).
🚲 Herbert von King Park Pop-Up & Partner Event with The Tea Stand: Sunday, July 7 from 12 p.m.—2 p.m., Bed-Stuy
🚲 Riis Reads: Saturday, July 13, starting at ~11 a.m.
💻 The Nonbinarian Book Club: Friday, July 26 at 8 p.m., Zoom
In honor of Disability Pride Month, our pick for this month’s Book Club is Disability Intimacy edited by Alice Wong! This gorgeous essay collection features over the work of more than two dozen disabled authors exploring how disability and intimacy intersect in their lives, and why narrowing the definition of “intimacy” to “sex” limits everyone.
The Nonbinarian Book Club is partnered with Bluestockings Cooperative. You can purchase this month's Nonbinarian Book Club book at Bluestockings to support their mission and ours! Click here to order online and use code BOOKBIKE for 15% off at checkout.
The Nonbinarian Book Bike is partnered with the following independent bookstores! Books purchased from our wishlists will be donated directly to the bike for free distribution.
The Nonbinarian Book Bike is also proud to partner with the following organizations for our community reading events! Please check out their mission statements and support them however possible.
🌠 Reading 4 Black Lives Project
Finally, The Nonbinarian Book Bike is partnered with Trans formative Schools, "a progressive education community centering trans joy and social justice." The organization aims to uplift trans children and educators, as well as families "touched by transness," through the implementation of a free afterschool program for ages 9-15. Trans formative Schools' dream is to create a liberal middle school that employs rigorous academics, identity exploration, and more.
All books purchased from this Bookshop wishlist will go directly to Trans formative Schools. The Nonbinarian Book Bike receives a portion of each purchase, which helps us pay for storage, bike maintenance and upkeep, and more. By purchasing from this list, you directly support two trans-led organizations and support indie bookstores through Bookshop.org.
If you'd like to partner with us for an event or sponsorship, please reach out via e-mail! In addition to subscribing to our newsletter, following us on social media, and participating in events, you can also support the Book Bike in the following ways:
📚 Donate a book (or books) to the Book Bike!
📚 Donate funds to help upkeep costs like storage and bike maintenance! You can make a one-time donation or set up a monthly one on Ko-Fi, or you can donate via Venmo.
📚 Buy a book from our wishlist!
📚 Buy a book through our Bookshop storefront!
📚 Support us with a Libro.fm subscription!
📚 Buy Nonbinarian merch!
To get involved in our virtual or physical programming, please DM @nonbinarianbike on IG or email info@thenonbinarian.gay!
Thank you to the Nonbinarian community for always showing up and showing out! It has been a joy to meet you at pop-ups, interact with you on social media, and get to know the Brooklyn community and its various neighborhoods.
We’re thrilled to have already distributed more than 300 free LGBTQIA+ books in 2024! That’s more than half of what we distributed in our entire 2023 season. 😲 Let’s keep it going!
Want to contribute to the Nonbinarian Newsletter?
If you want to submit something to the newsletter, including events, mutual aid needs, book recs, or ideas you'd like to see us include, please email us at newsletter@thenonbinarian.gay.
Thank you for supporting the Nonbinarian Book Bike! Look for our next newsletter on the 1st of the month. In the meantime, follow us on social media for daily updates.