As far as public support goes, why aren't disabilities and chronic illnesses treated in a similar manner to LGBT issues?
I'm just curious about this. As someone with a chronic illness, I pretty much never hear anyone talk about things related to the sorts of difficulties and discrimination I and others might face within society. I'm not aware of companies or governments doing anything special to bring awareness on the same scale of say, pride month for instance. In fact certain aspects of accessibility were only normalized during the pandemic when healthy people needed them and now they're being gradually rescinded now that they don't. It's annoying for those who've come to prefer those accommodations. It's cruel for those who rely on them.
And just to be clear, I'm not suggesting this is an either or sort of thing. I'm just wondering why it's not a that and this sort of thing. It's possible I'm not considering the whole picture here, and I don't mean for this to be controversial.
IIRC, the LGBTQ rights gains of the 2010s were accompanied by the message that it’s not a choice.
Too many people still believe that health and ability are markers of virtue. These people believe that a sick or disabled person must be undersleeping, forgetting their vitamins, being lazy, skipping church, eating junk food, or even thinking negative thoughts. It’s a big lie people tell themselves to feel safe. “I do everything right, so nothing bad can happen to me.”
It won’t get any better until everyone realizes that it can happen to anyone.
It’s not stupidity, it’s the Just World Hypothesis. A classic example is that thing people do when when driving by a car accident. Many people will look at the wreck and say, “They must have been texting.” Or, “They must have been speeding.” People make up fanfiction to reinforce their feelings of safety. The same thing happens with health and ability.