Disability doesn't exist in isolation. We are simultaneously disabled and part of other communities. Intersectionality means understanding how disability intersects with race, gender, sexuality, class, immigration status, and more. This section centers the experiences of multiply-marginalized disabled people—those navigating multiple forms of discrimination and privilege simultaneously.
A disabled white person has different experiences than a disabled Black person. A disabled wealthy person accesses resources differently than a disabled poor person. A disabled trans person navigates systems differently than a disabled cisgender person.
Intersectionality is not "adding" identities together. It's recognizing that oppressions are interconnected and created by the same systems. Fighting ableism without fighting racism, transphobia, poverty, and other oppressions is not enough.
This section centers the leadership and voices of multiply-marginalized disabled people, especially those from the Global South, people of color, trans and nonbinary people, and poor disabled people.
Disability and racism. Covers medical racism in healthcare, overdiagnosis and underdiagnosis across racial groups, disability in communities of color, police violence, incarceration, and anti-Blackness in disability spaces.
Disability and gender. Covers how gender shapes disability experience, reproductive coercion, gendered violence, disability in maternal health, and trans disability.
Disability and sexual orientation/gender identity. Covers conversion therapy and disability, family rejection, healthcare bias, and strengths of LGBTQ+ disabled community.
Disability and faith. Covers religious perspectives on disability (varied), ableism in religious spaces, religious healing movements, chaplaincy access, and spirituality with disability.
Disability and immigration status. Covers barriers disabled immigrants face, refugee disabilities, medical screening for immigration, access to benefits, and healthcare disparities.
Disability and economic hardship. Covers how poverty and disability compound, access to care and equipment, and systemic poverty creation.
Disability and the criminal justice system. Covers overincarceration of disabled people (especially Black disabled people), police violence, disability in prisons, and harm reduction.
Disability in rural areas. Covers lack of services, transportation barriers, limited employment, and rural disability culture.
Disability in Indigenous communities. Covers Indigenous approaches to disability, colonialism and disability, land access, and decolonizing disability frameworks.
Disability as cause and consequence of homelessness. Covers survival and disability, shelter access, and systemic barriers.
Race & Disability →
Gender & Disability → and LGBTQ+ & Disability →
Religion & Disability →
Immigration & Refugees →
¶ I'm disabled and poor
Poverty & Class →
Incarceration & Criminalization →
¶ I'm disabled and live in rural area
Rural Disability →
Indigenous Disability Perspectives →
Disability & Homelessness →
Intersectionality means understanding how different systems of oppression (ableism, racism, sexism, transphobia, classism, etc.) work together to create unique experiences for people with multiple marginalized identities.
It's not:
- Treating all oppressions as equal or the same
- Adding discrimination together ("I experience ableism + racism = twice as much discrimination")
- Saying all disabled people are equally affected by all systems
It IS:
- Recognizing that these systems are interconnected
- Understanding that some people face multiple forms of discrimination simultaneously
- Centering the experiences of most-marginalized people
- Working to dismantle all oppressions, not just one
For disabled people: Intersectionality helps us understand that disability discrimination isn't separate from other discrimination. The same systems that oppress us as disabled people oppress us through racism, transphobia, poverty, etc.
For disability advocacy: If disability justice advocates only fight ableism without addressing racism, we're fighting on behalf of privileged disabled people and leaving multiply-marginalized people behind.
For strategy: Multiply-marginalized communities often have the most sophisticated analyses and strategies. Their leadership strengthens all movements.
Disability and racism overlap in complex ways:
Medical racism:
- Black patients' pain taken less seriously
- Indigenous people denied pain medication
- Over-medication of Black disabled people
- Under-diagnosis of disability in some communities, over-diagnosis in others
- Experimentation on disabled people of color without consent
Overrepresentation in disabled populations:
- Black disabled children overidentified as intellectually disabled
- Indigenous people more likely to experience disability due to environmental factors
- Police violence creates disability
Underrepresentation in disability resources:
- Disability movement is predominantly white
- Disability resources written in white cultural context
- Communities of color excluded from disability spaces
Disability in communities of color:
- Poverty increases disability
- Environmental racism creates disability (pollution, contaminated water)
- Community-based care models traditional in many communities
- Resilience and mutual aid traditions
Police violence and disability:
- Disabled people killed by police at disproportionate rates
- Black disabled people at highest risk
- Mental health crisis response
- Disability criminalized
Disability and gender intersect:
Gendered disability bias:
- Women's pain taken less seriously
- Women denied disability diagnosis (it's "just stress")
- Men with disabilities sometimes given more accommodations
- Trans people often excluded from disability spaces and resources
Reproductive coercion:
- Pressure not to have children
- Pressure to have children
- Forced abortion or forced pregnancy (historically)
- Sterilization without consent
Violence and disability:
- Disabled women experience more intimate partner violence
- Gendered violence affects disabled people specifically
- Disability as result of gender-based violence
- Lack of safety planning for disabled women
Maternal disability:
- Pregnant disabled people face discrimination
- Disabled mothers face judgment
- Postnatal disability (including postpartum depression/psychosis)
- Reproductive rights critical for disabled women
Sexual orientation and gender identity compound disability challenges:
Conversion therapy:
- Often targets disabled trans/LGBTQ+ people
- Disability used as "proof" of need for conversion
- Trauma and additional disability from conversion practices
Family rejection:
- LGBTQ+ disabled people often lose family support
- "Chosen family" becomes support system
- Lack of family support affects access to care
Healthcare bias:
- Refusal of care based on sexual orientation/gender identity
- Assumption that sexuality/identity is mental illness
- Hormone therapy access for trans people challenging
- Reproductive healthcare denial
Strengths of LGBTQ+ disabled community:
- Strong chosen families
- Mutual aid traditions
- Creative problem-solving
- Queer disability culture
- Political analysis connecting oppressions
Disability and spirituality/faith:
Healing narratives:
- Pressure that prayer will "cure" disability
- Disability as punishment for sin
- Judgment for not having faith
- Healing narratives can be harmful or affirming depending on approach
Religious accessibility:
- Houses of worship often not physically accessible
- No interpretation, captioning, large print
- Assumptions about people's participation
- Accessible liturgy and practice
Spirituality and meaning-making:
- Religion/spirituality can be source of meaning with disability
- Community support through faith
- Spiritual practices that support coping
- Connection to something larger than self
Diverse religious perspectives:
- Different traditions have different approaches to disability
- Some traditions center care and integration
- Some traditions have disability-specific theology
- Navigating faith and disability identity
Immigration and disability intersect:
Barriers to immigration:
- Medical screening for "inadmissibility"
- Disability can be reason for visa denial
- Disabled immigrants face more scrutiny
Refugee disabilities:
- Refugee camps often not accessible
- Disability from war, violence, or escape
- Trauma creates disability
- Resettlement challenges with disability
Access barriers for disabled immigrants:
- Language barriers
- Unfamiliarity with systems
- Fear of deportation if access services
- Limited benefits for non-citizens
- Healthcare access barriers
Systemic displacement:
- Colonialism created disability in colonized populations
- Climate displacement and disability
- Disability as result of immigration process
Disability and poverty are deeply connected:
Disability causes poverty:
- Reduced work capacity
- Healthcare costs
- Inadequate disability benefits
- Difficulty accessing employment
- Discrimination in hiring/promotion
Poverty causes disability:
- Inadequate nutrition
- Unsafe housing
- Environmental hazards
- Limited healthcare access
- Untreated conditions become disabling
Intersecting hardship:
- Medical debt
- Housing instability
- Food insecurity
- Medication rationing
- Choosing between medications and basics
Systemic issues:
- Benefits designed to keep people in poverty
- Inadequate minimum wages
- Lack of affordable healthcare
- Housing costs
- Benefits cliffs (losing benefits when income increases)
Disability and the criminal justice system:
Why disabled people are incarcerated:
- Criminalization of disability (especially psychiatric and substance use disabilities)
- Police response to disability (seeing disability as criminal behavior)
- Systemic racism + disability = disproportionate incarceration
- Prisons used when mental health services unavailable
Conditions in prison:
- Prisons not accessible for mobility disabilities
- Medication access challenges
- Mental health support inadequate
- Disability creates vulnerability to violence
- Segregation of disabled prisoners
Police violence:
- Disabled people killed by police at higher rates
- Mental health crises resulting in police response and death
- Black disabled people at highest risk
- Lack of de-escalation training
- Disability criminalized
Alternatives:
- Diversion from criminal justice
- Mental health crises teams
- Community-based response
- Restorative justice
- Reducing incarceration
Disability in rural areas:
Access barriers:
- Limited medical specialists
- Paratransit/public transit unavailable
- Long distances to services
- Limited mental health services
- Equipment repair difficult
Employment challenges:
- Limited job options
- Specialized employment services rare
- Self-employment often only option
- Disability often incompatible with available jobs
Community strengths:
- Strong community bonds
- Informal support systems
- Self-sufficiency traditions
- Natural environment access
- Disability culture and mutual aid
Indigenous approaches to disability:
Traditional approaches:
- Disability as natural human variation
- Community responsibility for support
- Spiritual/ceremonial roles for disabled people
- Interdependence valued
- Nature connection
Colonialism and disability:
- Colonizers created or increased disability (disease, violence, displacement)
- Separation of Indigenous people from land creates disability
- Western medicine imposed on Indigenous healing
- Medicalization of disability that was previously community-managed
Decolonizing disability:
- Reclaiming Indigenous disability approaches
- Land access as disability support
- Community-based care
- Resistance to Western medical model
- Indigenous leadership in disability justice
Disability and housing instability:
Disability causes homelessness:
- Lack of affordable accessible housing
- Discrimination from landlords
- Unable to work traditional jobs
- Medical debt
- Family rejection
Homelessness creates disability:
- Untreated conditions worsen
- Trauma and violence
- Environmental exposure
- Mental health challenges
- Substance use as coping
Survival and disability:
- Disability while homeless
- Accessing medication/care without stable housing
- Medical equipment maintenance
- Mental health support
- Getting diagnosed with disability without documents
True intersectional disability justice centers multiply-marginalized disabled people:
- Disabled people of color leading movements
- Trans and nonbinary disabled people in leadership
- Poor and low-income disabled people's expertise
- Indigenous disabled people's perspectives
- Disabled people with multiple disabilities
- Global South leadership
- People from criminalized communities
If disability resources don't include these voices, they're incomplete.
Have you navigated disability + other identities? Know about communities, resources, or strategies?
We particularly welcome contributions from multiply-marginalized disabled people, especially from Global South communities, disabled people of color, trans/nonbinary disabled people, and disabled people with lived experience of poverty, incarceration, or homelessness.
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Maintained by: DisabilityWiki Intersectionality Team
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