Pioneering disability rights activist dies

 Diane Coleman was a pioneering disability rights activist who died from sepsis at her home in Rochester,New York on November 1,2024 at the age of 71.

         Doctors expected Diane Coleman to die before she reached adulthood.But she proved them wrong.And she made disability rights her life's work before she died in November 2024 at the age of 71.She was born with muscular spinal atrophy and started using a wheelchair at the very tender age of 11.Her experiences informed her advocacy,which included launching the Los Angeles chapter of Adapt,a disability rights group known for its protests.In the mid-nineties she turned her attention to advocating against assisted suicide.

             She said:"Discrimination against people with severe disabilities pervades our society.Assisted suicide is the most lethal form of discrimination applied only to people with significant health impairments,assisted suicide is the ultimate expression of society's fear and revulsion against disability."

                Disability rights activist Diane Coleman founded the group "Not Dead Yet."

                  She was a woman who knew what she wanted,knew her own mind,and fought for what she wanted to accomplish.She was brilliant and amazing.And in the face of chaos,just calm and loving and warm.She advocated to put lifts on public buses.She also worked to assure that disabled people have a right to live in freedom and get services and supports in the community instead of being institutionalised.

                       She fought against Jack Kevorkian,saying it's discriminatory assisted suicide to people with disabilities.She saw assisted suicide as the ultimate form of discrimination.And for her,it was an affront.

                         Diane Coleman was a magnanimous soul.I hope many people will preserve her legacy and fight for the rights of disabled people.

                        Politicians rarely talk about disabled people and do not usually campaign to woo disabled voters before elections.

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