Making Pride More Accessible for Disabled 2LGBTQIA+ Folks
Tuesday, June 21, 2022
Disability Rights Florida Blog
Happy Pride Month to all, especially our 2LGBTQIA+ friends with disabilities.
What a wonderful month to celebrate with you. Before we begin the blog, we want to name that whether you are out or not, figuring out your identity or not, we see you, we appreciate you, and care for you. Your experiences and identities are valid, and we hope to always offer you a safe space at our organization and events to be your true and authentic self.
2LGBTQIA+ is an acronym that includes various people’s genders and sexualities.
Let’s talk about how having and disability and being in the 2LGBTQIA+ community impacts each other. But first, for those who may be unfamiliar with the acronym 2LGBTQIA+ and Pride Month itself, let’s take a moment to break it down.
- The 2 stands for 2 Spirit. 2 Spirit is a label used by Indigenous individuals. 2 Spirit people identify as having both masculine and feminine spirits. This term refers to an Indigenous (sometimes also stated as Native person, in the US, this would be Native American) person’s gender. Only an Indigenous person can claim this identity.
- The L stands for Lesbian. This is someone's sexuality. Typically, this refers to a woman or feminine person who loves other women, feminine people, and non-men.
- The G stands for Gay. This is someone’s sexuality. Typically, this is a man or masculine person who loves other men, masculine people, and non-women.
- The B stands for Bisexual. This is an individual’s sexuality and means that a person may like more than one gender. This could be their own gender and others.
- The T stands for transgender. Like the name suggests, transgender is someone’s gender. Someone who is trans feels that their sex assigned at birth doesn’t match their gender identity they truly are.
- The Q in the acronym stands for Queer or Questioning. Queer is an umbrella term that some people may use to say they are not straight and do not identify with their sex assigned at birth. The Q can also mean questioning, which refers to people who may be unsure, or questioning’, what their sexuality or gender identity is and are exploring what it could be.
- It is very important to note that queer is a reclaimed term by the LGBTQ+ community. This term is formerly a slur and has a dark and violent history. It should only be used by an individual in the community to describe themselves. Unless you have permission to refer to someone’s identity using this word, you should be cautious about saying it.
- I stands for intersex. Intersex is a general term used for people born with reproductive or sexual anatomy/traits that don't appear to fit the typical definitions of female or male.
- A stands for asexual. Asexual is an umbrella term for anyone who experiences little to no sexual attraction toward other people of any gender.
- The + sign is for other gender or sexuality identifiers and allies.
Note: These definitions are not fully comprehensive, and non-binary and trans individuals may view these definitions more fluidly. These labels are self-identifiers, and not something anyone can place on someone without permission.
You can learn more about sexuality and gender identity on The Trevor Project's website.
Now that we’ve gone over what these identities are, what is Pride? What is Pride Month? How did it start?
- Pride month is a celebration of the 2LGBTQIA+ community each year in June. It honors the Stonewall uprising that happened on June 28th, 1969. At that time, it was still illegal to be gay, and many people experienced discrimination and violence because of who they are. These protests led to the gay rights movement, led primarily by Black trans women, who were the most impacted by discrimination due to their intersectional identities.
- Over 50 years later, we honor this history and the continued struggles of the 2LGBTQIA+ community in the month of June.
Living at the intersection of disability and being 2LGBTQIA+
Now that we’ve touched on a brief history and overview of the 2LGBTQIA+ community and Pride, let’s talk about what these identities mean for people with disabilities who also identify as 2LGBTQIA+.
People who have a disability experience discrimination, and people who are a part of the 2LGBTQIA+ community experience discrimination. But what happens when you belong to both of these marginalized communities? You may experience discrimination in a more nuanced and different way than someone who holds just one of these identities. This is a term called ‘intersectionality’. A term coined by Kimberlé Crenshaw, intersectionality means that the social identities people have, such as race, gender, sexuality, religion, disability, etc., shape the way they experience the world and are treated in our society. If you have marginalized (or not privileged) identities, you experience more barriers in life. Your access to healthcare, housing, employment, etc. may be impacted due to the oppression of certain identities and groups.
Take being a 2LGBTQIA+ person with a disability for example. Due to our society not being created to serve these communities equitably, someone with who holds an identity in both the 2LGBTQIA+ and disability communities may have a harder time accessing accessible, inclusive, disability and 2LGBTQIA+ friendly care that is vital for the health and wellbeing. Because of this, we see higher rates of disability in the 2LGBTQIA+ community. 1 in 4 for people in the general population have a disability, but because of societal barriers, these statistics are higher for those in the 2LGBTQIA+ community.
2LGBTQIA+ people with disabilities face additional unique challenges:
- Limited access to 2LGBTQIA+-inclusive and fully accessible services: Accessing affordable, accessible and inclusive health care, community services and more is challenging for 2LGBTQIA+ people with disabilities; and especially so in rural communities.
- Bullying and exclusion for 2LGBTQIA+ youth with disabilities: 2LGBTQIA+ youth with disabilities report high rates of harassment and are more likely to be bullied or harassed than students without disabilities.
- Added barriers to employment: People with disabilities report incredibly high rates of employment discrimination and unemployment.
- Overrepresented in the juvenile and criminal justice systems: Research finds that 2LGBTQIA+ and gender nonconforming youth and 2LGBTQIA+ people are greatly overrepresented in the criminal and juvenile justice systems, as are people with disabilities and people of color.
- Invisibility within both communities: 2LGBTQIA+ people with disabilities often report that it is challenging to have their identities fully recognized.
- 2LGBTQIA+ people are more likely to experience mental health conditions that can impact daily life: Mental health conditions can potentially impact a person’s daily life to such an extent that it is a disability in the eyes of the law, medical professionals and/or the individual living with that condition.
Looking forward & Making Pride Month Accessible
We want to call attention to these disparities this Pride Month because disabled 2LGBTQIA+ people are still experiencing inadequate care and support – and this must change. We hope through education and awareness, we will be able to make our society more inclusive of all folks. However, we also want to recenter on the hope, joy, and futures of 2LGBTQIA+ disabled folks. Despite the adverse experiences listed before, individuals with these identities still exist and resist. We must continue to value and care for these communities and be vocal about how we care and support them. If you don’t have a disability or are not in the 2LGBTQIA+ community: educate yourself, share resources with others, and work to make the spaces you are a part of more accessible and inclusive for all.
If you’re in the 2LGBTQIA+ community, but don’t have a disability, prioritize making Pride celebrations and events accessible for everyone. That could look like:
- Hosting virtual or hybrid events
- Putting 2LGBTQIA+ disabled people in leadership planning roles
- Having American Sign Language interpreters at Pride events
- Having sensory-safe spaces for events that may be overwhelming
- Requiring masks and social distancing for COVID-19 safety
- Using microphones, proper amplification, and captioning when possible, for speeches and announcements at events
- Using content warnings before talking about topics that may be distressing or harmful for someone
- Being mindful about using ableist language that can harm the disability community
- Ensuring that sidewalks and ways to get around events are not blocked or hard to navigate
- And so much more! Get creative! Use Google! Learn from disabled 2LGBTQIA+ folks who have already advocated for these accessibility needs and implement them
For those who are in these communities, enjoy this month! You deserve rest, inclusion, access, care, and validation this month and beyond. We hope you have a wonderful rest of Pride Month.
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