‘Being LGBTQ and disabled is hard, but it taught me to advocate for myself – especially in our health system’

(Image: Pixabay)

Disability History Month is a chance for us to reflect on the way disabled people have been treated, both in distant and recent history. As an LGBTQ disabled person, I know that my intersecting identities add layers of complexity to how I’m treated by the world. 

One moment that stands out to me is when I was told by a nurse that I was, apparently, abstinent. I was surprised to hear that, and even more surprised that I was, apparently, the last to know.

The nurse, filling out a form, had just asked me which contraceptive method I was using, and I joked: “Lesbianism.” She had checked the “abstinent” box. That form, which had no option for non-heterosexual sex, became something of a metaphor for my experiences as

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