The Autistic, Non-Binary, Queer, Law Student Fighting for Disability Justice

"Lydia X. Z. Brown is angry.

A gender non-binary, queer, disabled person of color, Brown is self-described as “multiply-marginalized.” And the third-year law student at Northeastern, whose resumé of activism and pro bono disability justice work spans nearly 20 pages, is angry that there is still a need for this type of effort.
“I’m angry about how I and people like me are treated,” Brown said. “I’m angry at the erasure, the isolation I and people like me have experienced. Ten years after I began doing advocacy work, I’m still saying the same damn things all the time.”
Brown, L’18, is set to graduate in May as a public interest law scholar. Brown identifies as gender non-binary and uses “they/them/their” pronouns, an identification which will be reflected throughout this story.
A visiting lecturer at the Tufts University Experimental College, Brown led a course called “Re-Thinking Disability: From Public Policy to Social Movements.” Among Brown’s accomplishments: Serving as chairperson of the Massachusetts Developmental Disabilities Council; interning on the Massachusetts Committee for Public Counsel Services; participating in the Civil Rights and Restorative Justice Project and Prisoners’ Rights Clinic at Northeastern; working within the American Civil Liberties Union and the Autistic Self Advocacy Network; and acting as the lead editor of All the Weight of Our Dreams, the first-ever anthology of writings and artwork by autistic people of color..."

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