Lawrence resident Kathy Lobb has been fighting negative stereotypes sometimes associated with her disability for more than 50 years.

“I am a person with a developmental disability,” Lobb said. “My disability just didn’t come up. I’ve had it all my life.”

That’s why the release of a new movie, “Tropic Thunder,” is especially hurtful to her. In the film, which hit Lawrence theaters Wednesday, Ben Stiller portrays an actor who had previously portrayed a character with an intellectual disability.

The movie uses the derogatory term “retard” and other insulting terms when referring to the character, something that has outraged advocates for the disabled nationwide.

“For years, people with developmental disabilities have been marginalized in ways that are horrific,” said Barb Bishop, executive director of the ARC of Douglas County. “One of the things they’ve said is we don’t want to be hurt anymore. We don’t want these words to be used that marginalize us.”

Local advocates for the disabled are urging people to boycott the movie. Lobb, who has worked for the Self Advocate Coalition of Kansas for more than six years, sent a letter to DreamWorks Pictures expressing her disgust with the movie. She’s now helping organize a letter-writing campaign.

“We’re offended because we feel like it’s taking a step back, saying that we don’t have a right in society when we do,” Lobb said. “I would not support this movie at all. It gives us a bad taste in our mouths when we’ve been fighting for so many years.”

While some groups nationally have gone as far as to picket the film and call for the movie to be pulled from theaters, no protests are planned in Lawrence.

Advocates said they would like to see changes made to the movie before it’s released on DVD, but a simple apology would suffice.

“Most importantly, all they could say is we made a mistake – this is something we shouldn’t have done,” Bishop said. “I think that would go a long way.”