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HomeMy WebLinkAbout04-08-26 Correspondence - Disability Rights Montana - Add Your Name. History Is Watching.From:Disability Rights Montana - Growth Rings To:Bozeman Public Comment Subject:[EXTERNAL]Add Your Name. History Is Watching. Date:Thursday, April 2, 2026 12:01:34 PM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe. Forwarded this email? Subscribe here for more Every paid subscription supports Disability Rights Montana’s work across Montana. Federal funding is nowhere near sufficient to meet the advocacy and culture change work that is needed. You can help fund the future you want to see! Add Your Name. History Is Watching. Signature collection ending soon! READ IN APP This land includes us Disabled people belong here. Period. Full stop. There are moments when neutrality becomes a choice. And not a good one. Right now, the State of Montana is participating in a legal challenge that threatens Disabled Montanans’ ability to continue living in communities across our state and our right to raise our children. The Attorney General of Montana is challenging core regulations under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act that help determine whether disabled people are treated as full members of society or APR 2 pushed back toward exclusion and segregation. A coalition of disability-led organizations has written a letter that calls on Montana to step away from this case. You can show that people with disabilities belong in Montana by signing today. Sign the letter DISABLED MONTANANS WILL NOT ACCEPT INSTITUIONALIZATION! Section 504 is one of the bedrock civil rights laws protecting disabled people in the United States. It is why disabled students can attend school, why patients cannot be denied care because of disability, why public systems are legally obligated to provide access rather than excuses. Montana’s challenge of 504 regulations that protect inclusion and parental rights, won’t stay in the courtroom. The mere act of bringing the case emboldens discrimination, chills compliance, and sends a signal that disabled people’s rights are up for debate. It says disabled Montanans don’t really belong in a community run by and for non-disabled people. If the Attorney General actually wins this case, we will lose legal protections to continue living in Montana communities and continue raising our children. Montana should not be using Montanans’ tax dollars to fund an attack on disabled Montanans. We are often told that disability policy is “complicated,” that litigation strategies are “nuanced,” and that we should just wait and see how things play out. But disabled people do not have the luxury of waiting. If we wait until a bad decision is handed down by the federal court in Texas where our Attorney General ran to in order to wage is sneak attack on our rights, it will be too late. Our rights This matters because harm is not theoretical Silence is not a neutral position will have already disappeared. The Attorney General of Montana thought now was the right time for him to take his fight against disabled people to the courts, so it makes no sense for us to sit back quietly without fighting back ourselves. This letter is a line in the sand. It says that Montana does not belong on the side of erosion, retreat, or rollback when it comes to disability civil rights. We are about to close signature collection and move forward with other forms of community education and advocacy. If you believe: Disabled people deserve full civil rights protections Montana should not participate in efforts that weaken those protections Our state can and should do better Then add your name now. Sign the letter This is not about checking a box. It’s about showing that when it mattered, people spoke up. In solidarity, David David Carlson, J.D. Executive Director Disability Rights Montana p.s. if you want to peruse some of our past posts on this topic, you can find them at these links: Final opportunity to be included You’re currently a free subscriber to Life Beyond Compliance. Upgrading to paid subscriptions supports Disability Rights Montana’s work across Montana. Federal funding is no where near sufficient to meet the advocacy and culture change work that is needed. You can help fund the future you want to see! Upgrade to paid Segregation Is Back on the Table? Notin Our Montana. DAVID CARLSON ·MAR 26 Segregation Is Back on the Table? Not in Our Montana. Please check out the latest episode of Ability Montana’s audio podcast. Read full story LIKE COMMENT RESTACK © 2026 Disability Rights Montana1022 Chestnut Street, Helena, MT 59601 Unsubscribe