I like this phrase in the context of competing access needs when it comes to disabilities. Sometimes, multiple disabled people may struggle to find a solution that works for everyone, and it’s never easy. Everyone may have a right to exist in a space, but if what you need to make that happen would prevent someone else from being able to, then it sort of stops being a right in that moment, and becomes a discussion.

As someone with multiple disabilities and many disabled friends, it’s something I’ve seen quite often. Examples include:

• A person with an assistance dog and a person with a severe allergy to dogs
• One autistic person whose safe food has a strong smell that is a sensory trigger for another autistic person in the same space

There’s a version of that one I like which goes something like, “your right to swing your fist ends where my nose begins.”