Author: Robin
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Weekend Reading: Elevating the Voice of A Queer Disabled Man of Color”
The voices speaking loudest about sexuality and disability have typically been white – very, very white. Change is happening – slowly – and social media platforms are helping a lot; but, the history of this movement has been whitewashed in ways that make me wince. Elevating the hidden voices, or the quiet voices, or the…
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When a disabled person faces discrimination at a gay bar, an angel loses their wings.
On the one hand, service dog refusals still happen everywhere – even though guide dogs have been a thing in the U.S. for about 90 years. So, that a blind person, looking to spend an evening at the bar with some friends, was turned away because the bouncers didn’t want to let them in with…
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Disability History: SAAM Edition
This piece on disability and sexual assault was published in 2010, long before hashtag movements and mainstream coverage. It’s 2018, and, honestly, I don’t feel as if we’ve made any sort of significant cultural shift. Each April, we observe Sexual Assault Awareness Month. Every year we learn about at least one more documentary, local or…
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Weekend Reading: When shopping for sex toys is a radical act.
The Internet is giant! It’s a library that will never get full (at least, I hope it won’t) and has decades of material. Most of us can barely get through news (fake or not) and opinions posted each day, let alone find the gems of the past. This week’s post is from Dave Hingsburger, published…
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Because I Won’t Shut Up About the Importance of Sexual Healthcare
Sexual healthcare is vital for anyone and everyone who’s sexually active, but, between inadequate research, inaccesible buildings and equipment, inexperienced and insensitive healthcare providers, and a whole bunch of other factors, most people with disabilities aren’t getting their sexual healthcare needs met. Before I read this article from the Disability Visibility Project, I knew that…
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A Few Words on Caregiving and Relationships
One of the major stressors on disabled people’s relationships is negative (or even incorrect) attitudes and beliefs about disability from outsiders. Yup, it’s the people who have no business commenting on the relationship, or who have no clue about disability, that get most in the way of disabled folks’ intimate lives and partnerships. Sometimes it’s…
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Your Sexual Choices Shouldn’t Belong to Anyone Except You
It happens when parents send their gay children to “conversion therapy” to “turn them straight.” It happens when doctors withhold sexual health information, or sterilize a patient without that patient’s informed consent. It happens when the medical establishment performs medically unnecessary surgeries on babies because their genitals and other sex characteristics don’t match what medical…