Wednesday, June 6, 2018

6/24/18 #CripTheVote Twitter Chat: Gun Violence and Mental Health


Graphic with an aqua blue background and black text that reads: #CripTheVote Twitter Chat, Gun Violence and Mental Health, June 24, 2018, 4 pm Pacific/ 7 pm Eastern, Guest host: @yovimi, For more: http://cripthevote.blogspot.com. On the left is an illustration of a black bird that’s Twitter’s icon and on the right is an illustration of the scales of justice.

Join #CripTheVote for this important discussion of gun violence, gun control and people with mental health disabilities with guest host Victoria M. Rodríguez-Roldán, Senior Policy Counsel, Trans/Gender Nonconforming Justice Director, Disability Justice Project Director of the National LGBTQ Task Force. Please note: Since we have a lot of questions for this chat, we will run 75 minutes instead of 60.

Check out this report from the National LGBTQ Task Force:


How to Participate

Follow @GreggBeratan @AndrewPulrang @DisVisibility @yovimi. When it’s time, search #CripTheVote on Twitter for the series of live tweets under the ‘Latest’ tab for the full conversation.

If you don’t use Twitter, you can follow along in real time here: http://twubs.com/CripTheVote

If you might be overwhelmed by the amount of tweets and only want to see the chat’s questions so you can respond to them, check @DisVisibility’s account.

Here’s an article about how to participate in a Twitter chat: https://www.adweek.com/digital/how-to-join-a-twitter-hashtag-chat/

Check out this captioned ASL explanation of how to participate in a chat by @behearddc https://www.facebook.com/HEARDDC/videos/1181213075257528/

Introductory Tweets and Questions for the Chat

Welcome to the #CripTheVote chat on gun violence and mental health. We are delighted to have guest host @yovimi join us as guest host.

Remember to use the #CripTheVote hashtag when you tweet. If you respond to a question such as Q1, your tweet should follow this format: “A1 [your message] #CripTheVote”

Please note there will be discussion of gun violence, mass shootings, ableism, institutionalization, and other potentially upsetting topics. Feel free to take breaks or drop out of the convo if needed. #CripTheVote

Q1 Incidents of mass violence or interpersonal violence occur all too often in the United States. How do you view the connection between gun violence, gun control policy, and disability issues? #CripTheVote

Q2 It is not unusual to see rampant speculation that may be rooted in ableism and hate towards Muslims, people of color, immigrants and other marginalized groups. How does this impact you as a disabled person?  #CripTheVote

Q3 What are the pervasive stereotypes and misinformation about predictors of violence and people with disabilities, especially people w/ mental health disabilities? #CripTheVote

Q4 There are proposals at the local, state, and federal level about restricting the right to own guns from people deemed ‘unsafe,’ including people with mental health and psychiatric disabilities. Is this a problem? If so why? #CripTheVote

Q5 What are some examples related to gun violence prevention that infringe on the privacy and rights of people with mental health and psychiatric disabilities? What can be done to stop them? #CripTheVote

Q6 What are some policy changes you would like to see to prevent mass shootings and gun violence in general that do not discriminate against disabled people and people of color, especially Black, Latinx and Indigenous people? #CripTheVote

Q7 What’s your take on the discussion around gun violence prevention and proposed policy solutions? Is it inclusive? Which communities are left out of the chance to shape policy and create solutions?  #CripTheVote

Q8 What are ways disability/mad/mental health communities can organize, work with, & support other communities in preventing gun violence? #CripTheVote

Q9 For people with disabilities who have other marginalized identities: how do we make sure everyone gets a ‘seat at the table’ when it comes to community organizing and activism? #CripTheVote

Q10 Do you have any ideas for how to engage from a disability rights perspective with strong gun control advocates, who may push for ANY curbs on guns, regardless of disability concerns #CripTheVote

Thank you for joining the #CripTheVote chat on gun violence and mental health. A special thank you to our guest host @yovimi for joining us today!


A compilation of Tweets from this #CripTheVote chat will be up shortly. Check out our blog for the latest: http://cripthevote.blogspot.com/