Republicans Came for Disabled Kids—You Made Them Back Down

This time, the story is about you.

Today’s newsletter is doing something different.

I always tell you that your voice matters. That raising hell works. That refusing to shut up changes things. But today, I don’t just want to tell you, I want to show you.

Photo by Alireza Attari on Unsplash

Because when I first started reporting this story, Republicans were winning.

Texas and sixteen other Republican-led states had filed a lawsuit challenging a Biden administration rule that protected transgender Americans under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which is the same law that ensures students with disabilities get the accommodations they need to participate in school. And because of how the lawsuit was worded, it wasn’t just threatening trans rights. It was threatening disability rights, too.

One section of the lawsuit literally read: “Section 504 is Unconstitutional.” Another asked a judge to block all enforcement of the law. Parents and disability advocates quickly realized what was happening—this wasn’t just an attack on trans people. This was an attack on every disabled child in America.

No, Disabled People Having Jobs Didn't Cause a Plane Crash

I was interviewing Jack Catalano, a special education teacher and neurodiversity-affirming mathematics coach for students with disabilities in New York City, about what this would mean for students. He told me how gutting these protections would send us back to a time when disabled students were segregated, locked in basement classrooms, or denied an education entirely.

“We cannot risk returning to our dark past of segregation and institutionalization, where students with disabilities faced isolation or received no education at all prior to Section 504,” he said. “This isn't just about education—it’s about human dignity and survival.”

So I sat down to write a story about another brutal rollback of rights. Another example of powerful people deciding that vulnerable children don’t deserve protection. Another gut punch.

But then, right before I published, something incredible happened.

Your voices worked. Your protests worked. Your calls, your tweets, your relentless attention—they rewrote not just my story, but history.

@gregisaphotographerTrans rights are human rights. And that’s church.

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The backlash was immediate. Parents, disability advocates, and legal experts pounced on the language in the lawsuit, exposing how it could gut protections for disabled children. Families like John and Tayler Cantrell of Topeka, Kansas—whose 4-year-old son, Cooper, relies on these protections—spoke out publicly, calling out what this lawsuit would mean for real kids.

And suddenly, Republican attorneys general felt the heat.

This week, in a desperate attempt to rewrite history, they scrambled to reassure the public that they never intended to attack disability rights. They now claim that their lawsuit only targets Biden’s rule that protects transgender people under Section 504—not the law itself. They’re trying to walk it back, insisting that the words “Section 504 is Unconstitutional” were only about the specific rule, not the entire law.

Why are they doing this? Because people like you made it politically impossible for them to do anything else.

They’re probably not backing down because they care about disabled kids. They’re backing down because parents, teachers, and disability rights advocates made it clear that coming for these kids would cost them.

And that’s where this newsletter is different.

If I were writing this for a traditional media outlet, my editor would have just told me to update the story. Cut out the parts that didn’t happen. File a new version with a neutral, polite headline like “Republicans Walk Back Attacks on Disabled Children Following Backlash.” But I don’t work for them.

I work for you.

And because you’re my boss (and that you’re the best boss I’ve ever had) we get to do things differently. We get to pull back the curtain and show how stories unfold in real time. We get to celebrate what it means to fight back and win. We get to be loud, relentless, and insufferable—because it works.

This is what collective action looks like. This is what refusing to shut up achieves.

Jack put it best: “Public education remains America’s greatest promise—a declaration that every child, regardless of their background or abilities, deserves the opportunity to learn, grow, and reach their full potential. Special education isn’t a place—it’s a commitment to providing essential services and support that every human being deserves. Students with disabilities don’t have ‘special needs.’ They have human needs.”

And the people who fought for them? The people who made this change happen?

That’s you.

But before we pop the champagne, let’s be clear: disabled kids still need us. Even though Republicans are walking back their attack, they haven’t stopped. The lawsuit is still alive, and as long as it is, Section 504 remains at risk. They still have the opportunity to go after disability rights down the line, and we already know they’ll take it if they think they can get away with it.

So while this is a step in the right direction, the fight isn’t over until this entire lawsuit is gone.

They assumed they could chip away at rights, one group at a time, and that no one would notice.

They were wrong.

And if we could make them retreat on this, what else can we stop?

Because this was never just about one law. It was about whether we let the people in power strip away rights piece by piece—or whether we keep making their lives hell every time they try.

So let’s keep going. Let’s keep fighting. Let’s make sure this lawsuit doesn’t just get watered down—it gets thrown out entirely.

More of this. More being loud. More being ungovernable. More making them regret every second of coming for us.

And if no one else tells you this today: you did something good. You made a difference. You changed history.

Now, let’s finish the job.

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What You Can Do Next

Jack is right: this isn’t just about education. It’s about human dignity. And we know that this administration is coming for disabled people in many other ways. I mean they did blame a plane crash on disabled people. And their proposed cuts to Medicaid would be devastating for disabled Americans. And as I’ve reported on before, Project 2025 is coming for them too. I asked Jack and he said that if you want to be part of the fight to protect it, here’s what you can do:

🔹 Follow disability rights organizations like Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund (DREDF) and support their work.
🔹 Contact your representatives and tell them you oppose attacks on both Section 504 and trans students.
🔹 Educate yourself on how school vouchers and “parental rights” campaigns are being used to strip students of essential services.
🔹 Keep making noise. Keep being insufferable. Keep proving that collective action works.

You can also follow the making of our documentary about Trump’s assault on the rights of people with disabilities here! Jack is in it! And if you want to follow Jack’s incredible advocacy, you can find him on Instagram and on TikTok. His content is super educational, compassionate and just overall fantastic.

Let’s keep going. We will persist. And if they try this again?

We’ll make them scared again.