Queer and Disabled: Voices from People Who Have Been Hidden
There is a reluctance to discuss sex and gender within the context of special education. Often, the assumption is that individuals with disabilities are asexual or too immature to have thoughts about sex and sexuality. Misconceptions about individuals with disabilities concerning sex and sexuality exclude this population from resources or avenues to explore this very important aspect of being human. Individuals with disabilities who also identify as queer face further isolation from support and a sense of community. The group of people who identify as disabled and queer struggle to find support from either of the intersectional Identities. The queer and disabled population is often excluded from the queer community because of a disability while at the same time being ostracized from the support of the disability community because they are queer. This article investigates data collected from Internet postings, involving individuals who self-identify as queer and disabled to examine issues and concerns faced by this unseen population. In these data, individuals expose their feelings about sex, sexuality, gender identity, access, and disability as they express their very personal accounts of living in two worlds. These analyzed narratives uncover the voices of an intersectional population who the ableist and heteronormative culture has ignored and pushed aside. The goal of an exploration into the perspectives and experiences of the project contributors is to provide insight that eventually leads to understanding and enables more effective support systems to be provided for individuals who simultaneously identify as queer and disabled.ABSTRACT
Contributor Notes
Holly B. Luganob is now affiliated with Cartwright School District.
Authors Bio
James Ingram is an assistant professor at Northern Arizona University (NAU). Ingram’s primary research interest involves sex education and sexuality development for young adults with intellectual disabilities. Additional interests include the transition into adulthood of culturally diverse students with disabilities. Through research, Ingram hopes to provide appropriate support to individuals with disabilities as they move from the structured environments of high school into life as adults. Before his appointment to the department of Educational Specialties, Ingram served as coordinator of an adult transition program within Flagstaff Unified School District. Ingram’s teaching career spans over 20 years in public secondary education. At NAU, Ingram applies his vast experience to teaching courses in secondary methods in special education.
Michelle Novelli is an associate clinical professor in Education Specialties at Northern Arizona University (NAU). Novelli works as coordinator for the PRAXIS special and elementary education program for undergraduate teacher candidates pursuing dual certification. In this role, she supervises students in practicum fieldwork from kindergarten grades through high school and adult transition. Her research interests include the impact of early teaching experiences on teacher development. Prior to working at NAU, Novelli worked in inclusive education at a diverse, Title I elementary school in Flagstaff Unified School District for 15 years.
Holly Luganob is currently a special education resource teacher in a K–12 school. Dr. Luganob has worked in education for 28 years, as both a general education teacher and a special education teacher. Her primary interest in research and teaching is working with students from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.
Christina Gabaldon is an elementary principal, grant writer, and state and federal program coordinator of a rural charter school in northern Arizona. Ms. Gabaldon has M.Ed. degrees in Educational Leadership and Elementary Education. Currently, she is a LEADERS scholarship recipient and full-time PhD student at Northern Arizona University, working on her doctorate in Curriculum and Instruction with an emphasis in culturally and linguistically diverse (CLDE) students and educational technology. Ms. Gabaldon has worked in the educational field for 20 years in various positions, which included special education director, SPED teacher, and instructed grades 1, 2, 4, middle school English, and social studies.
