Griffiths University PhD student, Warwick Abrahams, is conducting a national survey which he hopes will lead to solving the exclusion experienced by people with disabilities in the queer community.

“[I’m] looking at how organisations, and individuals within them, can help integration and exchange between the abled and disabled worlds … to find out what can be done so that a differently-abled person won’t feel rejected in whatever the GLBTQ scene might be,” Abrahams told MCV.

“These days there’s nothing in the media that’s inclusive about people marginalised by disability in the various gay so-called ‘communities’,” he said.

Abrahams also contends that GLBT people with disabilities face homophobia from within the disabled community.

“You may have Christian groups who are helping them and that can pose a real problem for queer people and acceptance.”

Wendy Bainger, acting secretary of Access Plus, a group for queer disabled people, echoed Abrahams view.

“There is a level of homophobia in the disability sector. A lot don’t have access to the GLIBT community because the people who control their lives don’t think they need to,” she said.

“People with disabilities are considered to be asexual, so anything to do with sexuality is swept under the carpet.”

Jayson Ralston, a leisure development access support worker with cerebral palsy told MCV: “When abled people are thinking about community inclusion for everyone they need to look at access for people with disabilities, they need to look beyond the physical.”

www.netsurvey.com.au

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