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Being gay is a disability

Studies on Gender and Intersecting Identities
Functional health difficulties among lesbian, gay and attracted to both genders people in Canada

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Acknowledgments

This study was funded by Women and Gender Equality Canada.

Highlights
  • From 2017 to 2018 in Canada, age-standardized findings show that a higher share of lesbian, gay and double attraction (LGB) people aged 18 and older reported experiencing difficulties in functional health than their heterosexual counterparts. Over half (52.2%) of LGB adults reported experiencing at least some difficulty in any of the six domains of practical health, significantly higher than heterosexual adults (38.3%).
  • Among the LGB population, bisexual people (59.6%) were the most likely to report at least some difficulty in one or more functional health domains, followed by gay or lesbian individuals (43.0%).
  • Over half of bisexual women (61.6%), bisexual men (56.6%) and lesbian women (50.6%) reported having at least some difficulty in any domain of functional health—significantly higher than heterosexual men

    Understanding Disability in the LGBTQ+ Collective

    Disability refers to conditions that impair the body or mind and form it more tough or impossible to do certain activities or functions of daily living. The Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) states that a range of disabilities can impact a person’s vision, movement, thinking, remembering, learning, communicating, hearing, mental health and social relationships.

    Societal norms pertaining to sexual orientation and gender identity, as skillfully as norms around ability, often operate to deny Queer people and people with disabilities opportunities that others love in their daily lives. Some studies have even proposed that the traumatic effect of discrimination and rejection on LGBTQ+ people’s mental and physical health can itself be considered a disability. Disabled LGBTQ+ people who live at the intersection of these two identities can face compounded discrimination and stigmatization, and it is important for those who serve, interact with, and affectionate and care for those individuals to understand this complex dynamic.

    Rates of disability among LGBTQ+ people

    HRC Foundation analyzed the disab

    LGBTQ People with Disabilities

    *This section was created as a collaboration between GLAAD and RespectAbility

    A Large Intersection
    The LGBTQ group and the disability community intersect in significant ways. According to  research published in 2012, fully 36% of women in the LGBTQ community and 30% of men in the community also self-identify as people with disabilities. Twenty-six percent of same-sex attracted men and 40% of bisexual men disclosed having a disability, as did 36% of lesbians and 36% of bisexual women. Analyze from the Movement Advancement Project estimated that 3 to 5 million LGBTQ people live with one or more disabilities.

    One in four lesbian, gay, and bisexual adults in the U.S. has a disability, and two in five transgender adults hold a disability.

    Further study done by UCLA via the California Health Interview Survey shows that transitioned people “are significantly more likely to report having a disability due to a physical, mental or emotional condition.”

    Just as LGBTQ status cuts across every demographic — gender, age, race, sexual orientation, etc. — so does disability. – Too often, people with disabilities are represented by straight, whit

    Part 2: Gender and Disability | Disabled and Queer

    Disabled and Queer

    In the second part of this series, the focus is on the intersectionality between ‘being Queer and having a disability’. The following quote is from Bob Guter, editor of Bent: A Journal of CripGay Voices.

    As we pursue love and work and physical autonomy while being ignored by our nondisabled gay brothers, as we struggle to sense whole in the face of slurs, stares, and outright discrimination, is it any wonder that managing our identities leaves us neither the time nor the energy for activism? Or is that position merely an forgive for ethical sloth?

    LGBT Disability

    In an era where identity is a hotly contested issue almost everywhere including Parliament (and its counterparts in other countries), social media, television, film, and music, to be queer and have a disability is to live in a world where being ignored is almost commonplace. A seek on Twitter revealed two groups that explore these domains – LGBT Disability@lgbt_disability  and Disability LGBT @DisabilityLGBT.  Twitter has approximately 300 million registered users, so the fact that only two groups exist (or at least identify) as q