The June roller coaster continues.
Just days ago, we were basking in celebration. Mikelle modeled with flair and confidence at Denver Fashion Week—wearing a red dress, standing in the spotlight, and receiving applause. Last Sunday, her story was one of nine featured at the Beam + documentary screening, a collection of voices from people with disabilities claiming their agency, shaping their lives, and showing the world what’s possible when inclusion is real.
For a moment, it felt like progress was winning.
Now, we sit on a quiet Saturday afternoon, watching the Senate prepare to vote on a sweeping, midnight-dropped bill—one that most members haven’t even had time to read. A bill that proposes devastating cuts to Medicaid, food assistance, housing supports, and home and community-based services—the very services that keep people like Mikelle living, thriving, and contributing in their communities.
To make matters worse, the Supreme Court has ruled against women’s access to trusted providers like Planned Parenthood, a decision that signals potential future restrictions on provider choice for everyone—including people with disabilities like Mikelle. If the federal government moves in this direction, our right to choose trusted medical professionals may be stripped away too.
This so-called “Big Beautiful Bill” is anything but. It will not only gut essential services for people with disabilities, families, and older Americans—it will also increase the federal deficit by an estimated $5 trillion. That’s right: this isn’t about fiscal responsibility. It’s about stripping support from the most vulnerable while pretending it’s for the greater good.
And yet, the cruelty doesn’t stop there.
Former Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell shrugged off the pain this bill will cause, telling his colleagues, “They will get over it.” Senator Joni Ernst dismissed very real concerns with a chilling, “Everyone dies at some point,” then doubled down with a social media reel filmed in a cemetery. How do we reconcile that level of indifference with the values of a civil society?
Meanwhile, Senator Mike Lee praised the assassination of a Minnesota state legislator and her husband—leaving their children parentless—as if this were a moment to celebrate—one less Democrat.
We must ask:
What has happened to the America that signed the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990? Where is the leadership that once honored decisions like Olmstead v. L.C., which affirmed the right of people with disabilities to live in their communities with dignity?
The truth is, if this legislation passes, even those decisions may be ignored.
And it won’t stop there.
FEMA and the National Weather Service will struggle to prepare for and respond to natural disasters. Hospitals, already strained, will shutter as funding disappears. Communities will face hunger, homelessness, and hopelessness. And when you can no longer take care of yourself, the message from the federal government will be clear: too bad, so sad.
But here at The Shining Beautiful Series, we are not giving up.
We’ll continue to tell stories, raise our voices, and fight for the future we believe in—one where everyone, regardless of disability, income, or age, has the right to live with dignity, choice, and community.
Because every spotlight moment—like Mikelle’s on the runway—must be matched with advocacy behind the scenes, this is not just about services. It’s about values. About who we are. And who we’re willing to become.