I’m in a take-no-prisoners kind of mood, so let’s talk about OwnVoices disability rep in books.

“We need more OwnVoices representation for disability,” is a thing I have heard many, many times. I wholeheartedly agree. We need more disabled writers telling disabled stories.

Here’s a thing you might not realize, though. There are a *lot* of disabled YA writers. They’re writing, they’re publishing, they’re creating stories. Yet many have not claimed the OwnVoices label nor allowed it to be used to publicize their work.

Because if the ACA goes, disabled American writers are *screwed.*

I remember the days before the ACA. I remember when pre-existing conditions could disqualify you from most insurances or make them horrifically expensive. All of that could easily happen again. If a supreme court justice is rammed through before the election, it probably will.

Insurance companies could go through people’s Tweets, Instagram stories, Facebook pages, their publisher’s marketing campaigns—and if they find something that looks like a pre-existing condition, welp, there goes your insurance.

So whenever I hear people say, “I want more OwnVoices disabled books,” I reply, “Then support universal health care. Because that’s the best way you’re going to get them.”

Also please call your senators. https://twitter.com/Celeste_pewter/status/1309963230681292800