Diversity Rules Magazine

3 Diversity Rules Magazine July 2016 David-Elijah Nahmod is a film critic and re- porter in San Francis- co. His articles appear regularly in The Bay Area Reporter and SF Weekly. You can also find him on Facebook and Twitter. David developed Post Traumatic Syndrome Disor- der (PTSD) after surviving gay conversion therapy as a child and has found that many in the LGBT community suffer from severe, often untreated emotional disorders due to the extreme anti-gay traumas they endured. This column chronicles his journey. In July 1990, Congress enacted the Americans With Disabilities Act, a wide ranging civil-rights law meant to prevent discrimination based on disability. Each July, people with disabilities celebrate the passage of this important legislation. Disability comes in many forms: blindness, deafness, loss of limbs, as well as emotional and mood disorders such as manic depression and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder--all are among the conditions covered by ADA Law. "e numbers are staggering," said Scott Monette. "Al- most 57 million Americans are living with a disabil- ity. Two thirds of whom are completely outside of the workforce. It struck me that this is the last significant minority group that is outside of mainstream society in the country." Monette feels that raising disability awareness and vis- ibility will bring about much needed positive changes to the lives of people who are disabled. "Disability could touch each and every one of us," he points out. "Disability cuts across race, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation and income levels. On top of the 57 mil- lion Americans living with disabilities there are another 100 million Americans where someone they love has a disability. at is almost 53% of the total American population." ese are issues which Monette understands all too well. His own son is disabled. "Matthew, 20 years old, is deaf, and is on the autism spectrum," Monette explains. Inspired by his son's disabili- ties Monette launched 100 Percent Wines, a company dedicated not only to fine wines, but to helping the dis- abled find their way into the workforce. "I wanted my work to have meaning and to try to ad- dress an issue that was becoming more and more rel- evant for our family as Matthew got older, his employ- ment," Monette said. "I started talking to everyone about potential job opportunities and really did not see a pathway for Matthew or others that I was excited about. e more people I spoke to, the more I didn't hear anyone talking about fundamentally changing the employment prospects for this population. I was naive enough to want to try." Monette explained why he chose wine as his product. "Wine is about celebration," he said. "I wanted to have this conversation in a positive and uplifting way, not focused on social justice or discrimination. You have a bottle of wine with family or friends because you are celebrating something. I thought that if we could bring people living with disabilities into this conversa- tion over a glass of wine, that would be interesting." Monette added that in his view, helping people to find work is the best social program. "It's about dignity and respect," he said. "A job unlocks economic possibili- ties, but think about the self-confidence and pride you PTSD Memoir - Con't on page 10 If You Could Read My Mind Raising A Glass to the Disabled By David-Elijah Nahmod

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