5 Women Who Created History With Their Disabilities

Women have been making history for centuries; for some, this was the only choice they had. For disabled women in particular, it was either live the way others expected them to or fight for the lives they knew they deserved.

Anyone with a disability can tell you they’ve faced discrimination at least once in their lives. Whether it’s trying to figure out how to get into a building with a step in front of it or getting ignored on Tinder after someone finds out about your disability, there always seems to be something. But these women (and many others) made sure things were going to change.

* Jillian Mercado

Jillian Mercado is one of the first-ever signed models with a physical disability. When she started to consider modeling as her chosen career, she tried to find other models who used wheelchairs but had no luck. There barely any models with physical disabilities of any kind.

About four years ago, Mercado went to an open casting call that ended up changing her life and the modeling industry. She got hired for a Diesel Jeans ad campaign and was signed by IMG Models a year later. Since then, she has appeared in Beyoncé’s merchandise campaign for her Formation tour and starred in Target commercials.

* Stella Young

Stella Young took over the media trying to normalize disability — she wrote articles, edited an online magazine, had her own comedy show and hosted Australia’s first disability culture TV show, No Limits. She even did a TEDx talk in 2014 called “I’m Not Your Inspiration, Thank You Very Much.”

With her TEDx talk, she opened up millions of people’s eyes and introduced the concept of “inspiration porn.” It’s when people see others with disabilities as “living, breathing feel-good memes” and as weird as it sounds, it’s not uncommon for someone with a disability to be told they’re an inspiration while they’re doing their daily routine.

* Claudia Gordon

Claudia Gordon is making changes in Washington, D.C., and is working with former President Obama to solve national disability issues. She has advocated for the deaf and disabled communities through all her work; Gordon has worked at the National Council on Disability, the National Coalition for Disability Rights and Homeland Security (where she worked on making sure the government has emergency preparedness plans in place for people with disabilities.)

Most important, she is the first black deaf lawyer in America and the first deaf student to graduate from American University’s law school.

* Judy Heumann

When Judy Heumann was sent home for being a “fire hazard” in elementary school, she realized how unfair the world can be and knew she needed to make a change. She ended up becoming the first wheelchair user to teach in New York City after the board of education initially denied her license. Heumann sued for discrimination when she found out she was only denied because of doubts she could help a student in an emergency or go to the bathroom by herself — she won and went on to teach for three years.

She became the U.S. assistant secretary of education for special education and rehabilitative services after teaching and now works for the State Department as a special advisor for international disability rights.

* Dr. Maya Angelou

You may know her name, but what you probably didn’t know is that she grew up with a disability. That’s right! Dr. Maya Angelou, the author all of your favorite poems, had a hidden disability.

When she was a child, she was abused and sexually assaulted by her mother’s boyfriend. When she told someone about it, he was convicted, released and found dead. The trauma of being raped and thinking she caused her abuser’s death after she spoke up caused her to develop selective mutism (an anxiety disorder that causes a child to barely speak in certain situations.) For Angelou, this meant being completely silent for five years.

She was one of the most influential black women in history and turned her struggles into powerful life lessons.