Biden, actress Selma Blair, salute the Americans with Disabilities Act

(2 Oct 2023)
FOR CLEAN VERSION SEE STORY NUMBER: 4456336

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Washington, DC – 2 October 2023
1. President Joe Biden walks out across White House South Lawn with actress and activist Selma Blair
2. Selma Blair and Biden walk onto stage
ANNOTATION: Actress and disability advocate Selma Blair was at the White House Monday, saluting the legacy of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
ANNOTATION: The actress from star hits such as “Legally Blonde” and “Cruel Intentions” was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2018.
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Selma Blair, Actress and advocate:
“I feel so powerful all of the sudden. OK, this is on, I don’t need this. This is for someone else, correct?
(Biden: It’s for me.)
OK, the real guy. Hello. 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 to celebrate the anniversaries of the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Rehabilitation Act, the legacy of the leaders who came before.”
++WHITE FLASH++
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Selma Blair, Actress and advocate:
“In my own disability advocacy, I have realized that these historic pieces of legislation were vital steps towards fairness. But the push towards equity continues.”
++WHITE FLASH++
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Joe Biden, U.S. President:
“History shows it’s often not the people in power, but the power of the people that moves the nation forward. And all of you did.”
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Joe Biden, U.S. President:
“And when we passed this law, we made a commitment to build an America for all Americans. For all Americans.”
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Joe Biden, U.S. President:
“Folks, for more than 61 million Americans living with a disability, these laws are our source of opportunity, meaningful inclusion, participation, respect and, as my dad would say, the most important of all, dignity. Being treated with dignity. Ensuring the American dream is for all of us, not just for some of us.”
++ENDS ON SOUNDBITE++

STORYLINE:
Actress and disability advocate Selma Blair helped President Joe Biden salute the legacy of the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Rehabilitation Act on Monday, displaying a touch of the comedic timing that made her a star in hits like “Legally Blonde” and “Cruel Intentions.”

Blair, who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2018, walked together with Biden to a ceremony on the White House’s south lawn with her cane and her service dog, an English Labrador named Scout. When she reached the stage, she told Scout, “down” and “good boy.”

As he laid near Biden’s feet, the president started to bend over to pet Scout, but Blair looked over and said, “yeah, stay.” That caused Biden to straighten up to attention.

“I feel so powerful all of a sudden,” laughed Blair. Then indicated a handheld microphone, she said, “I don’t need this. This is for someone else, correct?”

“It’s for me,” Biden responded, to which Blair responded, “OK, the real guy.”

Blair, 51, known for a number of memorable late ’90s/early ’00’s roles including in “Hellboy” and for her modeling career has in recent years become a leading face of disability rights. She told a crowd of advocates attending the ceremony, “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 after living most of my life in pain and self-doubt.”

She said Judy Heumann, a renowned activist who helped secure the legislation protecting the rights of disabled people being celebrated and who died in March at age 75, “who taught me my worth.”

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