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Celebrating Pride Month: A Compilation of 27 Disabled LGBTQ+ Activists You Should Know

June is Pride Month, and Love Disabled Life HQ is proud to celebrate Pride week by compiling a list of 27 disabled LGBTQ+ advocates and activists you should know.

I don’t think this should be a newsflash to anyone, but a person can be both gay and disabled. Yet, people who share both identities say that being accepted as both is challenging. It’s like society has difficulty recognizing that a person can simultaneously be part of two marginalized communities. The stigma and discrimination that can occur as either a disabled person or a gay person are only compounded when someone who is both feels they don’t even exist because they aren’t acknowledged in society.

According to the article, “The Intersection of LGBTQ History and Disability,” More than a third of LGBTQ people identify as having a disability. Among lesbian, gay and bisexual adults, 30 percent of men and 36 percent of women identify as having a disability. Additionally, as this PDF explains, Research shows that LGBT people are more likely than the general population to have a disability and face systemic challenges finding employment, community, and more.

From my perspective, as a heterosexual, cisgender white female, what I need to do is work harder at listening and learning. Even though I am disabled, for LGBTQ+ disabled people, that is only half of their identity, should they choose even to disclose it. From what I do know from listening to the current advocacy and inclusion for LGBTQ+ disabled people, it is that many claim the gay community isn’t accessible enough for those with disabilities. Conversely, the disabled community falls short of acknowledging the presence of LGBTQ+ people among them.

In short, there is more work to be done. For a great intro to queer and disabled intersectionality, check out Invisibility within queer and crip communities: subverting the gaze by Amber Reid.

Below is a list of LGBTQ+ disabled advocates, activists and influencers. Please take a few minutes to click, read, listen and learn. Advocacy is not a one-person mission. It takes us all working together. That, to me, is the definition of true solidarity.

Jessica Kellgren is a 32-year-old YouTuber and content creator from Brighton. She is a lesbian and lives with her wife Claudia, newborn baby son Rupert and dogs Walter and Tilly.

Aaron Phillip (pronounced A-ron) is a 21-year-old model and LGBTQ+ and disability advocate from New York. Aaron was born with cerebral palsy and is a wheelchair user. In 2018, Aaron became the first black transgender and disabled model to be signed to a major modeling agency.

Chella Man is a 22-year-old YouTuber, artist, actor and model from Brooklyn, New York City. He is also an LGBTQ+ and disability activist.

Rosie Jones is likely the most well-known disabled gay person in the UK. She is best known for being a stand-up comedian, actress and screenwriter. She has ataxia cerebral palsy and came out as a lesbian many years ago.

Spencer West is a successful global keynote speaker, content creator, and activist. He is a TikTok sensation with an incredible three million followers. He posts videos about life as a gay, disabled man.

Liam O’Dell is a freelance journalist, blogger and campaigner from Bedfordshire. He is mildly deaf and wears hearing aids, and is asexual.

Elle Rose, also known online as secretladyspider, is a 27-year-old freelance writer, Twitter user and YouTuber from Indiana, USA. She publishes content about asexuality, disability and mental health.

Shona Louise is a freelance writer, blogger and photographer from Hull, England. She has Marfan syndrome, a genetic connective tissue disorder, and uses a powered wheelchair. She came out as bisexual/queer in 2017.

Carson Tueller is a speaker, writer, coach and social media influencer living in New York City. In 2013, he came out as gay and injured his spinal cord in an accident that broke his neck, paralyzing him from the chest down.

Lizzie Williams is a Paralympic wheelchair racer and LGBTQ+/disability advocate with more than 19,000 followers on Instagram. She was born with Osteogenesis Imperfecta (brittle bone disease) and has broken more than 70 bones throughout her life.

Kay Ulanday Barret is a disabled transgender poet, activist, and fashion star. 

Ryan O’Connell is an American writer, actor, director and comedian who identifies as gay and has mild cerebral palsy.

Dominick Evans is a trans quip (portmanteau of “queer” and “crip”) filmmaker, father, gamer, writer, founder of #FilmDis, and media advocate for the Center for Disability Rights. 

Andrew Gurza is a Disability Awareness Consultant and the co-founder of Bump’n, an adult product company “for and by disabled people.”

Lady Francesca is a member of the Drag Syndrome collective – described as a “drag collective featuring highly addictive queens and kings with Down-Syndrome.”

Leo B. Allanach seeks to “create art that changes the way people think, elevates marginalized voices, and inspires others to action.” Leo identifies as trans, queer, and a chronically-ill cane user.

Lydia X. Z. Brown is a disabled, queer, and nonbinary Chinese-American recognized as a disability and LGBTQIA+ advocacy pioneer. 

Nasreen Alkhateeb is an award-winning visionary filmmaker focused on boosting the voices of underrepresented populations through her work.

Olu Niyi-Awosusi describes themselves as an ethical technologist and accessibility advocate and identifies as “mad/disabled.”

Roy Jones is the current president of The Rainbow Alliance for The Deaf (RAD), a nonprofit organization dedicated to fostering a thriving community and advocating for the rights of Deaf LGBTQIA+ people.

Stevie Boebi is a queer and disabled content creator, activist, and influencer who explores the intersection between being LGBTQIA+ and disabled on her many popular channels.

Julian Gavino is an NYC-based writer, model and activist for the trans-disabled community. 

Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha based in Toronto and Oakland, California, is a queer and trans writer, poet, performer and activist who has dedicated her work to bringing representation to LGBTQIA+ people of color, mainly through the Sri Lankan and South Asian experiences. 

Syrus Marcus Ware is an award-winning visual artist, activist and educator who co-founded the Performance. Disability. Art collective (with writer and activist Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha), Black Lives Matter – Canada, and the Wildseed Centre for Art and Activism in Toronto. 

Ruby Allegra is a non-binary, disabled artist and Instagram influencer based in Kaurna Land, Australia. Ruby shares many of their artwork on Instagram, depicting queer disabled experiences.

Jillian Mercado is one of the leading disabled models in the fashion industry.

Kenny Fries Kenny Fries officially started writing in 1988, after he had begun attending Millay Colony for the Arts. The majority of Fries' books and poems were written due to his experiences as a disabled, gay, Jewish man.

Note: This list was compiled from these articles. Feel free to check them out for more details and information. Did I miss someone? Feel free to leave the name or link in the comments section below.

1) https://disabilityhorizons.com/2021/06/10-influential-disabled-lgbtq-activists-to-follow-this-pride-month/

2) https://medium.com/matthews-place/6-disabled-lgbtqia-activists-you-should-know-e694fdd60bf

3) https://wid.org/12-disabled-lgbtqia-activists-advocates-who-you-need-to-know/

4) https://cripplemedia.com/disability-pride-five-disabled-lgbtq-activists-who-connected-communities/

5) https://www.qicreative.com/news/9-disabled-lgbtq-trailblazers