FIGHT for DEIA to help those with disabilities
Marilyn Baldwin | Published on 2/10/2025
Fight for DEIA to help those with disabilities
By Marilyn Baldwin, Orlando
Orlando Sentinel letter to editor Sun., Feb. 2, 2025
We must fight to keep the DEIA (diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility)
programs for people with disabilities. Accessibility and employment matter and will
positively impact our diverse DEIA community and our entire community. Please help us
work to give people with disabilities the quality of life that we deserve with employment
opportunities and accessible accommodations, so that we can live independently with
dignity in our local communities.
I am an African American citizen with a disability living in our local Central Florida
community. I am legally blind, with limited vision and hearing loss, and a degree from
Florida’s Bethune-Cookman University. Because of the Americans with Disabilities Act
and a wonderful employer, I was able to work for years as a productive, tax-paying
employee in local government. And now, I am able to assume a leadership role as co-
chair of the DEIA Committee of the League of Women Voters of Orange County.
Without DEIA, I and others in my situation would likely have spent our years
struggling to rise above dependency on others and perhaps on American taxpayers.
The Americans with Disabilities Act and other DEIA programs helped make the journey
to independence possible for me and countless others. I want to ensure that all people
with disabilities like me have the same opportunities that I had for employment in jobs
that they are qualified to hold.
Shown right/below: Marilyn being assisted by Supervisor of Elections office on how to cast a ballot using adaptive technology for voters with disabilities.
Marilyn Baldwin is co-chair of the DEIA Committee of the League of Women Voters of
Orange County.