Actor Selma Blair lauds Americans with Disabilities Act at White House event

Selma Blair said the country’s laws must show that the lives of disabled people “are not of lesser value,” as the “Legally Blonde” actor introduced President Biden at an event celebrating the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

“I'm Selma Blair, and I'm here before you today as a proud, disabled woman with my cane and my service dog, Scout, by my side,” the performer said Monday at the White House’s gathering, timed to the kick-off of Disability Pride Month.

“Although I'd had symptoms since the age of 7, it took a lifetime of self-advocacy to finally lead me to a diagnosis at age 46,” Blair said. In 2018, Blair revealed that she had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. 

“In my own disability advocacy, I have realized that these historic pieces of legislation were vital steps towards fairness,” Blair, now 51, said of the ADA, which was signed in 1990, and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, “but the push towards equity continues.”

“Our laws and policies must reflect that our disabled lives are not of lesser value,” she said, praising the Biden administration for “working to do just that.”

Blair called it an “honor” to introduce Biden, whom she described as a “friend to the disability community.”

Biden lauded Blair, saying her advocacy “has given people hope” and “changed people’s lives.”