Diverse disability identities: Gender and sexuality, racial and ethnic diversity, Indigeneity

A major critique of disability studies paradigms is that they have failed to fully consider and problematize the diversity of disabled people, locally, nationally and internationally. It is mostly assumed within theory, research and policy that disability is a homogenous category and little attention is paid to how disability intersects with other social identities, such as Indigeneity, race, ethnicity, religion, class, sexuality and gender diversity. Disabled people are too often perceived as exclusively or primarily disabled. Despite being equally recognized as an equity-seeking group, people with disabilities are too often understood to be somehow separate from, rather than members of, diverse social groups.

This way of thinking has major consequences for disabled people's opportunities to live equal lives and to participate fully in society. This applies no less in cases where disabled people also belong to other minority groups and thus face marginalization and discrimination on several grounds. For instance, consider that nearly 1 in 3 First Nations, Métis and Inuit people have a disability, which is much higher than the estimated 1 in 4 people in Canada who have a disability (Statistics Canada 2022 (external link, opens in new window) ). In the planning and implementation of measures to ensure the rights of disabled people, it is necessary to consider other dimensions to their identities (Women and Gender Equality, Canada (external link, opens in new window) ). Thus, more knowledge about diverse disability identities is needed.

When it comes to disability, interlocking forms of oppression are rarely studied in their complexity nor in how disabled people may prioritize other social identities. Applying an intersectional perspective, this research seeks to understand the experiences of disabled people as complex persons informed by multiple realities, social identities, and lived experiences.

The purpose of this study is to explore diverse disability identities. We hope to gain an in-depth understanding of how disabled people who also identify across a range of other social and cultural categories (2SLGBTQ+, race, ethnicity, Indigeneity) in other areas of their lives, understand their disabilities. We recognize that people’s identities are not stable but are fluid and often ambiguous, depending upon the context.

We are conducting a qualitative interview study with people with disabilities who identify with other social and cultural minority identities, including sexual and gender diversity, racial and ethnic diversity and Indigeneity. Interviews explore the following research question: "How do people understand their disabilities in the context of their diverse lives across gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity and Indigeneity?". The project is important to expand existing knowledge about diverse disability identity and how people’s complex identities promote, hinder and/or challenge opportunities for their participation, inclusion and rights realization in everyday life and the impact for social, cultural and emotional wellbeing. This study is a comparative country study involving Norway, Canada and Australia.