Barbara Lisicki

Barbara Lisicki is a British disability rights activist, comedian, and equality trainer. an organization that engaged in nonviolent civil disobedience to raise awareness and to advocate for the rights of disabled people. She is a featured subject of the 2022 BBC docudrama Then Barbara Met Alan, and appeared in The Disabled Century on BBC2 in 1999.

Early life and education Lisicki was raised in North London with her siblings by her mother. In 1989, she met Alan Holdsworth when they were both performers in the Disability Arts Cabaret. She co-founded the Tragic But Brave group with Holdsworth and Ian Stanton in the late 1980s, and they toured for years in the UK, Europe, and the United States. In 1989, Lisicki participated on the BBC discussion show Network and explained the opposition to how disabled people were portrayed, stating, "If you make a disabled person an object of charity, you're not going to see them as your equal". Protest locations included the Westminster Bridge,

In 1995, the Disability Discrimination Act became law, providing the first protections against disability discrimination in the UK, and in 1997, protesters chaining themselves to the gates of Downing Street. In 2015, Lisicki stated, "Some people thought 'we've won with the Disability Discrimination Act' [...] We didn't win. It was never a victory. All that I ever say to people is that at least now the government agrees with us that discrimination happens."

Personal life Lisicki and Alan Holdsworth have an adult child called Jasia (they/them), and a granddaughter.