Answered Questions is a monthly resource for the Spanish language Disability Community that fills an information need. This month’s question is: We are an organization that serves and supports the LGBTQ+ community in our area. We have had recent feedback that our events need to be more inclusive and accessible for LGBTQ+ community members with disabilities. What resources, research, and information are available to help us provide inclusive and accessible events for those in the LGBTQ+ community and allies with disabilities? This edition of Answered Questions includes items that share information, research and technical assistance related to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA); discuss the creation of inclusive programming and practice; discuss improving the inclusiveness of digital mental health content for LGBTQ+ youth; and more. More about Answered Questions.
NIDILRR-Funded Projects:
The ADA National Network (ADANN) (in English) serves as a platform to facilitate and support increased implementation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) across all ADA stakeholders. The Network and its ten regional centers develop and manage national and regional knowledge translation activities and identify and reach out to underserved ADA stakeholder communities. The ADANN and the regional centers provide training and technical assistance to people with disabilities, allies, organizations, and businesses to help them learn about their rights and responsibilities under the ADA. The ADANN provides resources in English and Spanish, such as fact sheets, guides, and briefs, and videos (in English), including a guide on how to make temporary events like Pride accessible to people with disabilities (in English).
From the NARIC Collection:
Creating Inclusive Programming and Practice for LGBTQQ Youth Through Awareness (in English), a webinar from the Rehabilitation Research and Training Center for Pathways to Positive Futures: Supporting Successful Transition for Youth and Young Adults with Serious Mental Health Conditions (Transitions ACR) (in English), presents information and key definitions for organizations that provide programs and services in support of LGBTQ+ youth. Presenters share research data and studies, causes of health and system disparities, policies and theories, and support strategies, among others. This webinar raises greater awareness of the LGBTQ+ community for agencies and organizations.
Youths in the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and other (LGBTQ+) community face an increased risk for psychiatric morbidity, the stress of being in a minority group drives the disparity, and they experience barriers in accessing care. The article, The promise of digital mental health for LGTBQ+ youths (in English), shares strategies to improve the inclusiveness of existing digital mental health content for youth in the LGBTQ+ community and describes ways to move toward mental health care equity by developing new content to address minority stress and resilience among youth in the LGBTQ+ community.
Intersection of LGBTQ Identity and Disability:
The article, Breaking Down Closet Doors and Other Barriers: Four Stories from LGBTQ+ People with Disabilities, shares the stories of four people who live at the intersection of LGBTQ+ and disability identities. They discuss their experiences, how they have faced discrimination from society, and their fears of coming out of the closet, including the risk of being rejected within their own environment. They also share the discrimination they face within the LGBTQ+ community related to their disability and how their families and disability organizations lack the understanding and knowledge about the reality of LGBTQ+ people. The four people interviewed for this article discuss ways that LGBTQ+ and disability organizations can support LGBTQ+ people with disabilities through their inclusion in, access to, and visibility in events, social media, the arts, and more and the removal of barriers within society.
Organizations Work Together:
The article, Equal Accessibility is Key to Celebrating LGBTQ Identities During This Pride Season, discusses the events of the 2016 of the Pride Toronto parade and shows how Black Lives Matter Toronto showed and worked with Pride Toronto to create more accessibility and inclusion for all LGBTQ+ people of color, including black transgender women, indigenous people, South Asians, and LGBTQ+ people with disabilities. The article also discusses the violence and discrimination faced by LGBTQ+ people with disabilities and from other marginalized groups. Finally, the author discusses how inclusion and accessibility at Pride events have improved since 2016 and how organizations may work together to improve access and inclusion for all.
Resources:
- The Right to Accessibility for Women and LGBTI+ People with Disabilities: Overcoming Barriers for a Society is a webinar from the National Institute for Public Administration (INAP, acronym in Spanish) in Argentina discusses what local, state, and federal agencies are doing to enforce and support the right to accessibility for women and LGBTQ+ Argentinians with disabilities. The group discussion includes members from different federal agencies and non-profit organizations that work together and individually to guarantee the right to accessibility.
- NARIC’s blog post, Celebrating Disability and LGBTQ+ Pride, discusses the intersection of disability and LGBTQ+ identity and shares research and resources from the NIDILRR grantee community, along with research and resources from elsewhere in the community. This blog post is also available in English.
Further Research:
REHABDATA:
PubMed:
International:
Each month, we look through the searches on our blog and through the information requests made by our patrons who speak Spanish and pick a topic that fills the largest need. Each resource mentioned above is associated with this month’s information need. We search the various Spanish language news sources and feeds throughout the month to bring you these articles. With the exception of the NIDILRR Projects, From the NARIC Collection, and Further Investigation, all the linked articles and resources are in Spanish – any that are in English will be clearly marked.
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