If you’re a disabled, gay twentysomethg, Grdr is a godsend | Josh Hepple | The Guardian

Contents:

• DISABILY: 'PEOPLE ASSUME I N'T BE GAY BEE I'M DISABLED'
• 6 DISABLED LGBTQIA+ ACTIVISTS YOU SHOULD KNOWMATTHEW'S PLACE·FOLLOWPUBLISHED MATTHEW’S PLACE·3 M READ·AUG 3, 2021--LISTENSHAREBY JUDY BOKAODISABLED DIVIDUALS ARE MOST S SEXUALIZED. HOWEVER, THEY ARE LIKE EVERY OTHER PERSON AND HAVE SEXUALY. IT IS RRECT TO ASSUME THEY ARE HETERONORMATIVE. IT IS NOT EASY LIVG WH A DISABILY BUT IS EVEN HARR WHEN ONE’S SEXUALY IS ALSO FACTORED . TODAY, WE CELEBRATE DISABLED LGBTQIA+ ACTIVISTS WHO HAVE SPIRED THROUGHOUT THE YEARS.CHELLA MANHE IS A AF, TRANSGENR, GENRQUEER YOUTUBER WHO HAS BEEN VERY OPEN ABOUT HIS EXPERIENC. HIS RISG POPULARY ON YOUTUBE OPENED DOORS FOR HIM. HE WAS STED AS A MUTE SUPERHERO THE SEND SERI OF THE DC UNIVERSE SERI “TANS”. HIS CHARACTER SIGN LANGUAGE TO MUNITE WH HIS LLEAGU. HIS SIRE TO SPEAK OPENLY ON HIS YOUTUBE CHANNEL HAS GIVEN MANY PEOPLE SIGHT TO THE CHALLENG HE GO THROUGH AND IS CERTALY WHOLOME AND EYE-OPENG.AARON PHILIPSHE IS THE FIRST BLACK, TRANSGENR, AND PHYSILLY DISABLED MOL TO EVER BE REPRENTED BY A MOLG AGENCY. AARON WAS BORN WH CEREBRAL PALSY AND IS A WHEELCHAIR ER. SHE FIRST SHOT TO THE LIMELIGHT WHEN SHE TWEETED PICTUR POSG HER WHEELCHAIR ASKG FOR CLIVY AND DIVERSY WHEN TO BEG SUTED OR SIGNED BY A MOLG AGENCY. HER TWEET WENT VIRAL AND HER WISH WAS GRANTED. SHE HAS BEEN FEATURED PHOTO SHOOTS FOR DIFFERENT MAGAZE PUBLITNS. SHE IS A HUGE FASHN LOVER AND SHE HER SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORM TO RAISE AWARENS BY SHARG LGBTQIA+ AND DISABILY NTENT.KAY ULANDAY BARRETKAY IS A DISABLED TRANSGENR POET, ACTIVIST, AND FASHN STAR. KAY’S WORK VERS A RANGE OF TOPICS OM RACE, DISABILY, SEXUALY AND HOW THEY ALL TERSECT. BARRET’S POETRY N BT BE SCRIBED AS POWERFUL, SPIRG, HEARTBREAKG WH A GOOD SENSE OF HUMOR.JUSTIN CHAPPELLHE INTIFI AS A GAY MAN WH A DISABILY. HE WAS BORN WH SPA BIFIDA AND IS A WHEELCHAIR ER. HIS PASSN IS POLICS AND HOP TO GET MORE VOLVED WH THE POLIL SYSTEM TO ADDRS THE ISSU THE LGBTQIA+ AND THE DISABLED MUNI FAC. HE WANTS TO AL WH ISSU SUCH AS STIGMA THE MUNI PARTICULARLY WHEN TO EMPLOYMENT DISCRIMATN.RYAN O’CONNELLHE IS AN AMERIN WRER, ACTOR, DIRECTOR AND EDIAN WHO INTIFI AS GAY AND HAS D CEREBRAL PALSY. HIS NETFLIX SERI “SPECIAL “ IS BREAKG NEW GROUND WHEN TO REPRENTATN OF DISABLED LGBTQIA+ PEOPLE. IN HIS PAST TERVIEW HE HAS SPOKEN ABOUT HOLLYWOOD’S NEED TO BE MORE ACCEPTG AND NSIRATE OF THE DISABLED CREATORS.DOMINICK EVANSEVANS IS A TRANS QUIP (PORTMANTE OF “QUEER” AND “CRIP”) FILMMAKER, FATHER, GAMER, WRER, FOUNR OF #FILMDIS, AND MEDIA ADVOTE FOR THE CENTER FOR DISABILY RIGHTS. THE 37-YEAR-OLD, WHO HAS SPAL MCULAR ATROPHY AS WELL AS ASTHMA, CHRONIC PA, AND PSYCHIATRIC DISABILI CLUDG OCD, FAC ABLEISM ON A DAILY BASIS. HE IS WORKG ON RAISG AWARENS ON DISCRIMATN HEALTHRE SERVIC . HE SAID HE HAS NEARLY DIED BEE OF THE SLOW TREATMENT HE GOT AT A HOSPAL UPON INTIFYG AS A TRANSGENR. HE HOP SUCH BIAS N BE ERADITED THE MEDIL FIELD.IT IS CLEAR THAT WE STILL HAVE A LONG WAY WHEN TO RAISG AWARENS ON THE LGBTQIA+ AND THE DISABILY TERSECTNALY. IT TAK MORE VOIC LIKE THE TO BE ABLE TO SPEAK UP AND MAND CHANGE AND SUPPORT OM ALL MUNI. HOPEFULLY , WE WILL BE ABLE TO TACKLE THE ISSU THEY FACE AND MAKE THE WORLD A BETTER PLACE FOR EVERYONE.ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
• IF YOU’RE A DISABLED, GAY TWENTYSOMETHG, GRDR IS A GODSEND
• ‘LEG’ REUNTS GAY MAN’S EXPERIENCE WH CEREBRAL PALSY
• 'SPECIAL': GROUNDBREAKG NEW NETFLIX SERI STARS GAY MAN WH CEREBRAL PALSY
• IF I ONLY HAD A LEG: GROWG UP GAY WH CEREBRAL PALSY
• RYAN O'CONNELL IS GAY, DISABLED, AND NOT YOUR 'INSPIRATN PORN'
• FLIX’S ‘SPECIAL’ ULD BE THE GAYT SHOW ON TV
• GREG WALLOCH, THE GAY COMEDIAN WH CEREBRAL PALSY, TALKS ABOUT HOWARD STERN
• NEW MEMOIR 'LEG' EXPLOR GAY PRI AND HOW THOR DIDN'T KNOW HE HAD CEREBRAL PALSY UNTIL HE WAS 30

DISABILY: 'PEOPLE ASSUME I N'T BE GAY BEE I'M DISABLED'

Media ptn, "I am a gay!

Stephen, who has cerebral palsy, is a disabily and gay rights mpaigner and Tik Tok as a way to raise awarens on the he adms sometim he don't feel like he's part of the LGBT muny bee he often up agast "ableism" - discrimatn agast people wh disabili. "But I'm also gay but they don't accept me. "Image source, HandoutImage ptn, Stephen says he's been nied accs to clubs due to his disabilyWhen Stephen he told his fay he was gay, he says wasn't really a big thg as he has two olr sisters who are lbians.

"I don't thk people ually thk, 'Oh this disabled person is gay or straight or they want to teract or they have sir'.

6 DISABLED LGBTQIA+ ACTIVISTS YOU SHOULD KNOWMATTHEW'S PLACE·FOLLOWPUBLISHED MATTHEW’S PLACE·3 M READ·AUG 3, 2021--LISTENSHAREBY JUDY BOKAODISABLED DIVIDUALS ARE MOST S SEXUALIZED. HOWEVER, THEY ARE LIKE EVERY OTHER PERSON AND HAVE SEXUALY. IT IS RRECT TO ASSUME THEY ARE HETERONORMATIVE. IT IS NOT EASY LIVG WH A DISABILY BUT IS EVEN HARR WHEN ONE’S SEXUALY IS ALSO FACTORED . TODAY, WE CELEBRATE DISABLED LGBTQIA+ ACTIVISTS WHO HAVE SPIRED THROUGHOUT THE YEARS.CHELLA MANHE IS A AF, TRANSGENR, GENRQUEER YOUTUBER WHO HAS BEEN VERY OPEN ABOUT HIS EXPERIENC. HIS RISG POPULARY ON YOUTUBE OPENED DOORS FOR HIM. HE WAS STED AS A MUTE SUPERHERO THE SEND SERI OF THE DC UNIVERSE SERI “TANS”. HIS CHARACTER SIGN LANGUAGE TO MUNITE WH HIS LLEAGU. HIS SIRE TO SPEAK OPENLY ON HIS YOUTUBE CHANNEL HAS GIVEN MANY PEOPLE SIGHT TO THE CHALLENG HE GO THROUGH AND IS CERTALY WHOLOME AND EYE-OPENG.AARON PHILIPSHE IS THE FIRST BLACK, TRANSGENR, AND PHYSILLY DISABLED MOL TO EVER BE REPRENTED BY A MOLG AGENCY. AARON WAS BORN WH CEREBRAL PALSY AND IS A WHEELCHAIR ER. SHE FIRST SHOT TO THE LIMELIGHT WHEN SHE TWEETED PICTUR POSG HER WHEELCHAIR ASKG FOR CLIVY AND DIVERSY WHEN TO BEG SUTED OR SIGNED BY A MOLG AGENCY. HER TWEET WENT VIRAL AND HER WISH WAS GRANTED. SHE HAS BEEN FEATURED PHOTO SHOOTS FOR DIFFERENT MAGAZE PUBLITNS. SHE IS A HUGE FASHN LOVER AND SHE HER SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORM TO RAISE AWARENS BY SHARG LGBTQIA+ AND DISABILY NTENT.KAY ULANDAY BARRETKAY IS A DISABLED TRANSGENR POET, ACTIVIST, AND FASHN STAR. KAY’S WORK VERS A RANGE OF TOPICS OM RACE, DISABILY, SEXUALY AND HOW THEY ALL TERSECT. BARRET’S POETRY N BT BE SCRIBED AS POWERFUL, SPIRG, HEARTBREAKG WH A GOOD SENSE OF HUMOR.JUSTIN CHAPPELLHE INTIFI AS A GAY MAN WH A DISABILY. HE WAS BORN WH SPA BIFIDA AND IS A WHEELCHAIR ER. HIS PASSN IS POLICS AND HOP TO GET MORE VOLVED WH THE POLIL SYSTEM TO ADDRS THE ISSU THE LGBTQIA+ AND THE DISABLED MUNI FAC. HE WANTS TO AL WH ISSU SUCH AS STIGMA THE MUNI PARTICULARLY WHEN TO EMPLOYMENT DISCRIMATN.RYAN O’CONNELLHE IS AN AMERIN WRER, ACTOR, DIRECTOR AND EDIAN WHO INTIFI AS GAY AND HAS D CEREBRAL PALSY. HIS NETFLIX SERI “SPECIAL “ IS BREAKG NEW GROUND WHEN TO REPRENTATN OF DISABLED LGBTQIA+ PEOPLE. IN HIS PAST TERVIEW HE HAS SPOKEN ABOUT HOLLYWOOD’S NEED TO BE MORE ACCEPTG AND NSIRATE OF THE DISABLED CREATORS.DOMINICK EVANSEVANS IS A TRANS QUIP (PORTMANTE OF “QUEER” AND “CRIP”) FILMMAKER, FATHER, GAMER, WRER, FOUNR OF #FILMDIS, AND MEDIA ADVOTE FOR THE CENTER FOR DISABILY RIGHTS. THE 37-YEAR-OLD, WHO HAS SPAL MCULAR ATROPHY AS WELL AS ASTHMA, CHRONIC PA, AND PSYCHIATRIC DISABILI CLUDG OCD, FAC ABLEISM ON A DAILY BASIS. HE IS WORKG ON RAISG AWARENS ON DISCRIMATN HEALTHRE SERVIC . HE SAID HE HAS NEARLY DIED BEE OF THE SLOW TREATMENT HE GOT AT A HOSPAL UPON INTIFYG AS A TRANSGENR. HE HOP SUCH BIAS N BE ERADITED THE MEDIL FIELD.IT IS CLEAR THAT WE STILL HAVE A LONG WAY WHEN TO RAISG AWARENS ON THE LGBTQIA+ AND THE DISABILY TERSECTNALY. IT TAK MORE VOIC LIKE THE TO BE ABLE TO SPEAK UP AND MAND CHANGE AND SUPPORT OM ALL MUNI. HOPEFULLY , WE WILL BE ABLE TO TACKLE THE ISSU THEY FACE AND MAKE THE WORLD A BETTER PLACE FOR EVERYONE.ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

2 ln his vios, he sarsm and humour to raise awarens and addrs some of the misnceptns he experienc as a disabled gay person. Barret’s poetry n bt be scribed as powerful, spirg, heartbreakg wh a good sense of CHAPPELLHe intifi as a gay man wh a disabily.

IF YOU’RE A DISABLED, GAY TWENTYSOMETHG, GRDR IS A GODSEND

He wants to al wh issu such as stigma the muni particularly when to employment O’CONNELLHe is an Amerin wrer, actor, director and edian who intifi as gay and has d cerebral palsy. I’m a gay man and have a fairly stereotypil liftyle for someone his mid-20s central is, however, one big difference between me and my fellow gay men. A gay man wh cerebral palsy.

‘LEG’ REUNTS GAY MAN’S EXPERIENCE WH CEREBRAL PALSY

And he do so once aga wh the send and fal season, which expands episos om short bs to s-length servgs, wh openly gay actor Jim Parsons still producg. Durg this season, which premiered May 20, lead character Ryan (the actor, who is gay and livg wh cerebral palsy himself, shar his name wh the tle character) ntu his journey to self-fulfillment.

Here, O’Connell talks about his hont approach to gay sex (and why he thks most gay sex on TV is “dire”), cidg to rporate a storyle on the, uh, shty part of butt play and how ’s important for him to still, after “Special, ” create stori about people livg wh disabili. As for the gay sex on “Special”: It’s not the kd of gay sex that’s watered down to make straight people more fortable, which is why I love so much. Y, ’s fely… you n tell ’s wrten and performed by a gay person.

And also, I’ve been very vol about how I only hire gay actors to play gay rol and people are like, “Um, ’s lled actg, ever heard of ? ” And also, om a selfish pot of view, ’s much easier to shoot a gay sex scene wh a gay actor than is a straight actor. I don’t wanna fuckg expla the mechanics of gay sex to a straight actor.

'SPECIAL': GROUNDBREAKG NEW NETFLIX SERI STARS GAY MAN WH CEREBRAL PALSY

I jt don’t unrstand why the reprentatn of gay sex has been so dire. I’m not sayg that there’s not value to those stori ’e is a part of our existence, but I thk we’ve reached a pot where I’m like, “OK, I’m ready for to level up for gay storytellg. Season 2 also explor the pleasur of beg gay.

But aga, wh me and Max Jenks, Max is a iend of me and I’ve known him for a long time and there’s jt a level of fort between the two of that, aga, is another benef of jt shootg wh gay iends. And those sex scen, even for gay actors, are still pretty choreographed, right?

IF I ONLY HAD A LEG: GROWG UP GAY WH CEREBRAL PALSY

Aga, when you’re dog wh another gay guy, ’s pretty tuive and very easy to nstct bee we’ve all done and we’ve all been there. I want to know everythg about that b the show, and mostly why you cid to wre a storyle volvg the part of butt sex so few gay men talk about.

Honey, ’s a part of the fabric of our gay ass liv. So I thk ’s really jt important to show a gay character who don’t f the physil ials. I hope that normaliz disabily and I hope that adds more texture to the queer experience, bee a lot of ways TV is gayer than ever.

RYAN O'CONNELL IS GAY, DISABLED, AND NOT YOUR 'INSPIRATN PORN'

I feel like you n’t sell a pilot whout cludg a gay guy there. But I still thk that gay men are rarely allowed to be the plited ma urse of the show. So I thk ’s really important that we show gay men and (their) rich terr life, not jt the ntext of them, like, shoppg or beg edic relief.

Pisso had his Blue Perd, and I’m still my Gay Disabled Perd. So, I wrote a novel lled “Jt By Lookg At Him” that is about a gay guy wh cerebral palsy who wr for TV. Thanks to btsellg, award-wng, gay children’s book thor and artist Todd Parr, we n all jo the fun.

Growg up gay a small town Wyomg, Parr had no klg that he’d be so succsful, acclaimed and loved. “I never had a moment where I told everybody ‘I’m gay, ’” Parr said, “It was a matter of fact and no one really qutned .

FLIX’S ‘SPECIAL’ ULD BE THE GAYT SHOW ON TV

Growg up, beg gay wasn’t Parr’s only challenge. Wh role mols like Keh Harg, the renowned Amerin gay artist.

Netflix premiered s newt seri Special today, which tells the story of a gay man livg wh cerebral palsy.

The seri also explor his sexual inty as a gay man. Netflix’s new seri “Special” is an unnventnal edy about a gay man wh cerebral palsy. ”Special, is a distctive and upliftg new seri about a gay man, Ryan wh d cerebral palsy who cis to rewre his inty and fally go after the life he wants.

GREG WALLOCH, THE GAY COMEDIAN WH CEREBRAL PALSY, TALKS ABOUT HOWARD STERN

NetflixO’Connell, who said he realized he is gay when he was 12, stayed closeted until his late 20s. “I wasn't thrilled and over the moon, bee I felt like beg gay and disabled basilly set a ath sentence to my love life. ”“I assumed that all gay men would be disgted by my disabily, and I thk that the vast majory of them tly didn't re, and I was makg to somethg that wasn't, ” he add.

Acrdg to the Anti-Bully Alliance, more than 65% of disabled LGBTQ children and teens have gone through tense homophobic, biphobic, or transphobic bullyg, more so than non-disabled LGBTQ peers. Executive Director of the Natnal Children’s Bure, Jonathan Charlworth, said that more -pth rearch is need surroundg people who are gay and disabled.

NEW MEMOIR 'LEG' EXPLOR GAY PRI AND HOW THOR DIDN'T KNOW HE HAD CEREBRAL PALSY UNTIL HE WAS 30

Dpe all of society’s advanc acceptance of sexual orientatn and inty differenc, one of the biggt hurdl faced by LGBTQ children and teens today is the lack of rourc at schools for handlg homophobia and the rultg bullyg.