[1] In addition to multidisciplinary performances by people with disabilities, Sins Invalid organizes visual art exhibitions, readings, and a bi-monthly educational video series.
[3] Berne serves as Director of the organization and has been involved in work surrounding asylum claims, youth incarceration alternatives, the LGBTQIA community, and mental health support for survivors of violence, among other fields.
He has worked, studied, and lectured internationally and is considered a "leading voice" regarding police brutality toward and wrongful incarceration of people with disabilities.
[5] As Berne articulates, there is a pervasive societal norm that validates bodies according to beauty, hygienic, health, and other sets of standards.
"[6] However, in opposition to the societal norm, Sins Invalid's framework asserts that humans have a wide variety of embodiments, and all bodies are valid and worthy of celebration.
[1] In 2012, the project launched a Kickstarter campaign, culminating in the 2013 release of a 32-minute documentary titled Sins Invalid: An Unshamed Claim to Beauty in the Face of Invisibility, directed by Berne, which details its disability justice efforts and the value of artistic expression.
Present in an ableist society, people with disability are perceived of a fate that is "worse than death" and prevents them from living a "full life."
"[7] A review by Terry Rowden states, "Moving decisively beyond any simple 'shock' or 'transgressive' aesthetic…challenges the politics that systematically disables our ability to recognize beauty.
"[8] In support of disabled people's ability to fulfill their lives and as a liberating movement, Sins Invalid presents performances that challenge "normal" and "sexy," providing provocative work for their audience.
"[12] In the documentary, Sins Invalid member Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha comments on the freedom that the space provides for various manifestations of difference, such as queerness.
[3] Since the project is conscious of so many diverse lenses and does not limit the frame to disability, performers and audience members alike have the opportunity to feel empowered by the acknowledgement of identities.
[15] Beyond the ways in which Sins Invalid embodies how their performances serve as a fight for disability justice, the term also portrays the importance of access for this marginalized community.