{"id":21882,"date":"2021-08-16T09:27:58","date_gmt":"2021-08-16T03:57:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.tarshi.net\/inplainspeak\/?p=21882"},"modified":"2021-08-16T01:37:29","modified_gmt":"2021-08-15T20:07:29","slug":"queer-people-with-disabilities-and-an-ally-speak-out-how-fundamentally-inaccessible-the-ongoing-queer-rights-movement-is","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tarshi.net\/inplainspeak\/queer-people-with-disabilities-and-an-ally-speak-out-how-fundamentally-inaccessible-the-ongoing-queer-rights-movement-is\/","title":{"rendered":"Queer People With Disabilities And An Ally Speak Out How Fundamentally Inaccessible The Ongoing Queer Rights Movement Is"},"content":{"rendered":"
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This post was originally posted here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Highlighting how everything that we talk about when we talk about queer issues caters to only a privileged section of society, they share how access to technology and the internet, which may sound like a non-issue for a person of able-bodymind, may not be even suited for disabled people\u2019s use. In that sense, they say that a disabled person gets \u201cdoubly marginalised.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Gaysi<\/em> spoke with LGBTQIA+ people with disabilities and an ally, all of whom share how a majority of queer spaces are sites of blatant ableism, and those that show solidarity, make an attempt to \u2018include\u2019 people with disabilities, adding insult to the injury, making them feel as if they did not belong already.<\/p>\n

\u2018Access is a choice we make as organisers\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Noor<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Noor is a storyteller, community organiser, and an activist. In March 2021, he tweeted <\/a>that \u201cbuilding in access is your responsibility. Failing to do so is your choice\u201d. He points out that currently there\u2019s a constant buzz<\/em> about \u2018including\u2019 queer disabled people in LGBTQIA+ engagement activities, as if the queer movement is \u201cyet to see disabled people as a full part of their community, as people who have to<\/strong> and should<\/strong> be there.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s just not true,\u201d concludes Noor. He says, \u201cQueer disabled people are and have always been a part of the movement, and still are,\u201d emphasising the need for a shift in approach and mindset. He adds: \u201cWhat I want to see change is fundamentally restructuring how we organise queer spaces. I want us to structure them by centering those traditionally left behind from the start, and that includes disabled people. Access is a choice we make as organisers\u2014it\u2019s as fundamental as a space to meet. In its absence, I\u2019ve seen a fundamental lack of understanding of issues impacting the disability community. In the US that looks like the sub-minimum wage<\/strong>, conservatorship<\/strong>, abuse in institutions<\/strong>, and so many more human rights violations, every day. But we don\u2019t get to make those a part of our goals as people [simultaneously belonging to] both identity groups specifically because our participation is not being valued as equal.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lamenting how allies fail to understand \u201cthe profound loneliness of knowing that the places that claim to value you often will show the opposite through their actions,\u201d Noor goes on to say how jaded \u201cthe feeling of entering a mosque and the prayer space being impossible for you to enter\u201d leaves him. \u201cThe thrift stores are so crowded you can\u2019t breathe. The graveyard is up a hill without pavement. Even in death, my funeral may not be accessible to everyone I loved in life. And I have to live with that reality. I wish they knew. And I wish they realised that that was just the tip of the iceberg.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018#LoveIsLove means two able-bodied gay people in love\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Safal Lama<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Safal Lama, a non-binary person with disability, opines that the \u201congoing queer movements never included people from marginalised groups, like people with disabilities, Dalits, or anyone who has been marginalised on other grounds. In Nepal as well, I don\u2019t see any representation from disabled people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Highlighting how everything that we talk about when we talk about queer issues caters to only a privileged section of society, they share how access to technology and the internet, which may sound like a non-issue for a person of able-bodymind, may not be even suited for disabled people\u2019s use. In that sense, they say that a disabled person gets \u201cdoubly marginalised.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lama also feels that when we say #LoveIsLove we only \u201cthink of two queer people [of able-bodymind] and mostly gays.\u201d For them, a safe space to talk about intersectionality in discussions related to queer rights, which includes queer, trans and nonbinary people with disabilities, is the need of the hour.<\/p>\n

\u2018Don\u2019t want tokenistic representation\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

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@DisabledSpice<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

@DisabledSpice, a disabled queer activist and an artist who is part of the Determined Art Movement (DAM) collective, says that they \u201cdon\u2019t care\u201d about diversity and inclusion as they \u201cdon\u2019t want to be included as a token representation.\u201d They continue: \u201cI want to be heard, and I want my queer and disabled elders to be heard. I want the next generation of disabled and queer folks to be more visible, specifically trans people, street workers, Dalits, Bahujan, Pasmanda, and Adivasi communities.\u201d<\/p>\n

Emphasising the need to abolish institutions and structures of power, they submit that it would be better \u201cif we have more agency in our economic, housing, and socio-political rights.\u201d For allies, they feel that there\u2019s a need to realise that they can\u2019t just \u2018assign\u2019 allyship to themselves, it requires \u201cconstant work in friendship, forgiveness and unlearning.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018There\u2019s a particular class that has access\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Kanav Narayan Sahgal<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cWhen it comes to physical and mental disabilities, there is little space for everyone,\u201d says Kanav Narayan Sahgal, a development professional and an ally to queer people with disabilities.<\/p>\n

Hinting at this bias that\u2019s in the very structure of how we imagine queer spaces, Kanav reminds how pride marches are inaccessible to people with disabilities, and that after the coronavirus outbreak, when \u201ceverything moved online,\u201d how deeply discriminatory even the online medium became.<\/p>\n

Kanav wonders \u201chow do people with hearing and visual disabilities attend online events? What accommodations are made for them? And are they even made at all? Given that the medium of instruction in most online spaces is English, so many people are left out. Moreover, we rarely think about whether the internet is available to all. Do we even consider the possibility of whether cellphones are discreetly available to use for those queer disabled attendees who need privacy? Clearly, there\u2019s only a particular class that can access these things.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thinking about the inclusion of disabled and neurodivergent people at protest sites and discussion spaces, Kanav says that \u201cprotest spaces remind me immediately of police violence and unwarranted arrests.\u201d He goes on to say that \u201cfor someone who has attended protests, I have witnessed first-hand the kinds of transportation restrictions and frequent internet shutdowns that limit people from organising. However, while able-bodied people can get away with most of these difficulties, people with disabilities are at a greater risk.\u201d He also underlines that there\u2019s a tendency to view LGBTQIA+ people \u201cas a monolithic group. So for example, if we try to talk about the issues faced by bisexual neurodivergent women or asexual men with disabilities\u2014I don\u2019t think allies are even willing to learn because these issues seem too \u2018complicated\u2019!\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This post was originally posted here. Highlighting how everything that we talk about when we talk about queer issues caters…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":21886,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[85,1,2961],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-21882","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-blog-roll","8":"category-categories","9":"category-disability-and-sexuality-2"},"menu_order":102,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tarshi.net\/inplainspeak\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21882","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tarshi.net\/inplainspeak\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tarshi.net\/inplainspeak\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarshi.net\/inplainspeak\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarshi.net\/inplainspeak\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21882"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarshi.net\/inplainspeak\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21882\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21887,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarshi.net\/inplainspeak\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21882\/revisions\/21887"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarshi.net\/inplainspeak\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21886"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tarshi.net\/inplainspeak\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21882"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarshi.net\/inplainspeak\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21882"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarshi.net\/inplainspeak\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21882"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}