Wave Staff Report
BELLFLOWER — As Disability Pride Month comes to a close, Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn honored Dr. Sue ElHessen, a disability rights advocate and educator who was crowned Ms. Wheelchair California 2026.
Dr. ElHessen, a Bellflower resident, serves as Hahn’s appointee to the County’s Commission for Public Social Services as well as a member of the state’s Equity Advisory Committee on Aging and Disability.
“It’s rare that we get an opportunity to recognize someone as inspiring as Dr. Sue,” Hahn said at the Board of Supervisors meeting July 28. “At every turn throughout her life, she was told the same thing: ‘we’ve never had someone like you before.’ She wasn’t afraid to blaze new trails, and has spent her life opening doors.”
“We opened Disability Pride Month with a flag raising with the disability community, and now as it comes to a close we take a moment to honor one of its trailblazers,” Hahn added.
Disability Pride Month is observed annually worldwide in July and honors the contributions and history of people with disabilities. Earlier this month, Hahn marked the start of Disability Pride Month by joining Long Beach city leaders to raise the disability pride flag above City Hall.
“As Ms. Wheelchair California 2026, and in celebration of the 36th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, I am honored to collaborate on sharing a message of disability advocacy, inclusion, and empowerment,” ElHessen said. “The ADA is more than a law; it is a promise that every person deserves dignity, opportunity, accessibility, and belonging. However, a law is only as powerful as the people who understand and utilize it.”
The Americans with Disabilities Act is landmark legislation passed in 1990 which prohibits discrimination based on disability. The law’s passage is credited in large part to direct advocacy by people with disabilities.
“Disability is not a limitation — it is a powerful part of our identity, our strength, and our collective journey toward a more inclusive world,” said ElHessen, who next month will travel to Michigan to represent California in the Ms. Wheelchair America competition.
