Being LGBTQ+ and disabled

There are many ways in which being disabled and LGBTQ+ is different to being non disabled and LGBTQ+, or being disabled and cishet (the term ciset means cisgender heterosexual so people who are straight and not trans).

Many LGBTQ+ spaces are inaccessible for various reasons, for example, not being wheelchair accessible, being loud or only open in evenings.

Being LGBTQ+ and disabled

There are higher rates of disabled people in the queer community and vice versa:

• More than ⅓ of queer adults identify as having a disability
• One study found ¼ of heterosexual women have a disability, compared to over 1/3 of lesbians and bi women.

In the Disability Download podcast Hannah Barham-Brown talks about disability pride and why LGBTQ+ events need to be more accessible.

Disability and being yourself

Disability can be used by professionals, friends and family as a way of invalidating sexuality or gender. For example, if you have a learning disability or are neurodivergent, for example, your sexuality or gender identity may be ‘blamed’ on that rather than validated.

“My gender is obfuscated by the medicalised lens my body is scrutinised through” – H Howitt, Non-Binary Lives

Other people report medical trauma related to being disabled stops them seeking gender affirmation treatment, as well as issues like having the ‘wrong weight’ for surgery because of their impairment…

Being LGBTQ and having care support

One example of how being LGBTQ and disabled can be isolating comes from research looking at being LGBTQ, disabled and having PA or care support. It was found that:

• people might not feel safe coming out to PAs which can lead to self-censorship
• more than half of those surveyed said that they never or only sometimes disclosed their sexual orientation or gender identity to the Personal Assistants who they paid to support them
• more than a third of those surveyed said that they had experienced discrimination or received poor treatment from their PAs because of their sexual orientation or gender identity
• more than 90% of those surveyed said that their needs as a LGBTQI+ disabled person were either not considered at all or were only given some consideration when their needs were assessed or reviewed
• when asked about getting support to do LGBTQI+ ‘things’ (e.g. go to an event/bar, have help to have sex with self or others) 22% said that their PAs did not help them with any of these activities.

Source: University of Bristol, the Social Care Institute for Excellence, Regard and Stonewall.