Pride, Power, and Accessibility: Exploring the Intersectionality of LGBTQIA+ and Disability Communities

June is Pride Month—a time to celebrate the resilience, joy, and diversity of the LGBTQIA+ community. But within the rainbow spectrum of gender identities and sexual orientations lies another powerful, often underrepresented truth: 1 in 3 LGBTQ+ individuals identifies as a person with a disability. This statistic isn’t just a number—it’s a reminder of the deep, overlapping experiences of marginalization, identity, and resilience within these communities.

What Does Intersectionality Mean?

First introduced by legal scholar Kimberlé Crenshaw, intersectionality describes how different aspects of a person's identity—like race, gender, sexuality, and disability—combine to shape their experiences. For LGBTQIA+ individuals with disabilities, these parts of who they are don't exist in isolation. Their daily lives are shaped by the ways these identities intersect, bringing both unique challenges and sources of strength—especially where ableism and queerphobia meet.

The Statistics Tell a Story

When we say 1 in 3 LGBTQ+ people lives with a disability, we’re talking about a wide range of conditions, including physical disabilities, chronic illnesses, intellectual and developmental disabilities, sensory impairments, and mental health conditions. LGBTQIA+ people are more likely than their non-LGBTQ+ peers to experience trauma, poverty, and barriers to healthcare, all of which increase the risk of acquiring a disability over time.

And yet, the narratives we often see in media, advocacy rarely center these lived experiences.

Unique Challenges at the Intersection of LGBTQIA+ and Disability

Here are just a few of the barriers faced by LGBTQIA+ disabled individuals:

• Healthcare Disparities: LGBTQIA+ individuals with disabilities often struggle to find inclusive and affirming medical care that understands both their disability and queer identities. Discrimination from providers can lead to delayed diagnoses, untreated conditions, or outright avoidance of care.

• Inaccessibility in LGBTQ+ Spaces: Pride parades, queer nightlife, and community events often overlook physical and sensory accessibility. As a result, disabled LGBTQIA+ folks may feel excluded from spaces that should be sources of joy and connection.

• Invisibility and Erasure: Many narratives in both disability rights and LGBTQIA+ movements focus on singular identities, leaving those with multiple marginalized identities feeling unseen or forced to “choose” which aspect of themselves to prioritize.

• Mental Health and Stigma: Mental illness is a common form of disability in the LGBTQ+ community, compounded by stigma both within and outside of queer spaces. Talking openly about mental health is crucial—but stigma still prevents many from seeking support. The Trever Project provides 24/7 crisis care for LGBTQ+ people.

The Power of Representation and Inclusion

Despite these challenges, LGBTQIA+ disabled individuals are leading powerful movements for justice and visibility. Activists like Alice Wong, a disabled advocate and founder of the Disability Visibility Project, and the late Stacey Milbern, a queer disabled Korean-American activist, have been instrumental in reframing disability not as a deficit but as a rich identity with culture and power.

Their legacies continue through the work of a new generation of leaders, including people like Imani Barbarin (@crutches_and_spice), who uses storytelling and social media to advocate for disability justice, and Lydia X. Z. Brown, who brings critical focus to the intersections of race, disability, and queerness.

Representation matters, not just in politics or media, but in everyday spaces, relationships, and conversations. When LGBTQIA+ disabled people see themselves reflected in media, in leadership, in activism, in community, they're reminded that they belong. Visibility challenges stigma. It disrupts the false narratives that say only certain bodies or identities are worthy of celebration. It tells the truth: that disability is not something to overcome in spite of queerness, or vice versa—but that both identities can coexist fully, joyfully, and proudly.

Making Pride Accessible—for Everyone

As we celebrate Pride, we can also take steps to ensure it is inclusive of disabled community members:

• Design events with accessibility in mind: Include ramps, ASL interpreters, sensory-safe spaces, and clear communication about accessibility features.

• Use inclusive language: Acknowledge the diversity within the LGBTQIA+ community, including those with disabilities.

• Support intersectional advocacy groups: Organizations like Sins Invalid, Autistic Women & Nonbinary Network, and National Queer Asian Pacific Islander Alliance do critical work at the intersection of disability and queerness.

• Listen to lived experiences: Make space for disabled LGBTQIA+ voices to lead, share, and thrive.

Final Thoughts

Pride Month is more than parades and rainbow flags. It’s a time to reflect on the past and pushes toward a future where everyone, regardless of gender identity, sexual orientation, or ability can live freely, authentically, and with dignity. It’s about honoring and celebrating the beautiful complexity of our communities, especially those who are too often unseen or unheard.

Recognizing the intersection between LGBTQIA+ and disability communities isn’t just about inclusion; it’s about reimagining what justice, equity, and freedom truly look like. When we center the voices of those who live at the margins—queer, disabled, Black, brown, trans—we don’t just make space; we strengthen the entire movement. We create communities that are more compassionate, more resilient, and more transformative.

So let’s amplify the voices of LGBTQIA+ disabled people. Let’s listen, learn, make space, and tear down the barriers—physical, cultural, and systemic—that still stand in the way. Because a world that works for those most impacted is a world that works better for all of us.