A journalist with cerebral palsy has launched a social media campaign encouraging disabled people to love themselves, loud and proud.
#DisabledAndCute was devised by Keah Brown, 25, who wanted to revolutionise the way disabled people are viewed in the media.
“Very often, disabled people are only able to tell the stories of disliking ourselves and our bodies,” Brown, who is from New York, told The Huffington Post UK.
“This conversation is about loving our bodies and empowering ourselves for us and not for anyone else.”
Brown (pictured above) created the hashtag after she realised that she no longer held a negative view of her own body.
“I was a very insecure person for a very long time and I realised that when I made the hashtag I wasn’t upset about living in my disabled body anymore and I hadn’t been for a while,” she said.
The 25-year-old tweeted four selfies with the hashtag #DisabledAndCute and added: “I want to shoutout my disabled brothers, sisters and non-binary folks.”
It wasn’t long before others responded with their own selfies - and thus, a social media campaign was born.
Not only has #DisabledAndCute inspired people with physical disabilities to get involved and celebrate who they are...
But it’s inspired those with invisible illnesses to join in too.
Brown said that she hopes the hashtag leads to a shift in the way that disabled people are portrayed in mainstream media.
She concluded: “I hope disabled people are invited into the big rooms where things happen, where dreams come true.”