Pride 2026 Message
The Centre for Independent Living in Toronto wishes a happy pride to our 2 S L G B T Q I A plus community!
Disabled 2 S L G B T Q I A plus people face unique issues as they experience both ableism and homophobia or transphobia.
At CILT, we recognize equity, dignity, and self-determination as foundational Independent Living principles that empower people with disabilities to take control of their own lives.
Our commitment to serving 2 S L G B T Q I A plus and other equity-deserving populations is rooted in the understanding that independence and disability justice cannot be achieved without addressing the intersecting forms of oppression that many individuals face.
These movements fight the stigma against us existing as our whole selves, whether that be gender, sexuality, disability or neurodivergence, without needing to be “fixed” or “cured.”
They fight for our rights to make decisions about our own bodies, whether that is access to gender affirming care or living independently and managing our own services.
And most importantly they fight against barriers and discrimination against our right to accessible and affordable housing, livable incomes, nutritious food, clean water, safe air, public restrooms, gainful employment, meaningful experiences in life and the decision to have a family.
Wishing everyone a happy, warm and inclusive Pride!
The Centre for Independent Living in Toronto (CILT) Inc.
Queer Disability Resources
Articles
Why understanding chronic pain in 2 S / L G B T Q I A plus communities matters more than ever
12 Disabled L G B T Q I A plus Activists & Advocates Who You Need to Know
Disabled L G B T Q Creatives Imagine a Better Tomorrow
https://www.advocate.com/exclusives/2021/1/29/disabled-lgbtq-creatives-imagine-better-tomorrow
Disability Justice is a L G B T Q Issue
UN experts issue guidance in relation to L G B T persons living with disabilities
Understanding Disability in the LGBTQ+ Community
https://www.hrc.org/resources/understanding-disabled-lgbtq-people
Articles/Websites
10 Canadian L G B T Q I stories that need to be made into films or TV series
Queer is not a bad word. It’s our unifying path forward
https://www.cbc.ca/arts/queer-is-not-a-bad-word-1.6869284
What Queer Individuals with Marginalized Identities Hope You Recall After Pride.
I’m queer and disabled. Pride isn’t accessible for me | CBC Radio
Why accessibility in the queer community is still a problem
https://xtramagazine.com/power/why-accessibility-in-the-queer-community-is-still-a-problem-8776
10 influential disabled L G B T Q plus activists to follow this Pride Month with video links:
Invisibility within queer and crip communities: subverting the gaze.
By Amber Reid
https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/knots/article/download/22833/18600
Hooking up with chronic pain
How getting diagnosed with autism helped me embrace my asexuality https://xtramagazine.com/health/autism-helped-me-embrace-being-asexual-250727
Still Being Left Behind: The Intimate Lives of Queer Disabled People https://thesocietypages.org/ccf/2022/07/19/still-being-left-behind-the-intimate-lives-of-queer-disabled-people/
For LGBTQ2S+ people with spina bifida, connection is everything https://xtramagazine.com/health/spina-bifida-lgbtq-238297
What the Fight Against HIV Can Teach Us About Surviving the COVID Era
Stories
Meaningful Sexual Lives and Sexual Rights- Rainbow Hunt
Rainbow is a transgender woman with an intellectual and learning disability. Rainbow talks about how it is important for all people to have positive spaces where they feel safe in their sexuality. Many resources are not available to people if they cannot get to downtown Toronto because of distance and transportation costs. People are often isolated due to a lack of resources and social supports, especially people who identify as LGBTQ+. Rainbow talks about how to create spaces for people to celebrate who they are and feel like they are a part of a community, specifically discussing a grassroots community collective called Rainbow’s Pride In Scarborough.
Multiple and Converging Identities—Dev Ramsawakh
Dev draws from their own experiences living as a racialized, non-binary, and queer disabled person to explain the complexities of having a relationship to their own sexuality as a multiply marginalized person. Dev gives examples from their life as to how an understanding of intersectionality is essential to provide the appropriate resources, tools and information required to have a healthy empowered sense of sexuality.
Multiple and Converging Identities Speaker Dr. Alan Martino (Audio Recording)
This talk shares the results of a systematic review addressing the juncture between disability and sexualities, illuminating the unique challenges that LGBT+ disabled people face when exploring their sexuality, establishing relationships, and remaining sexual. Similarly, a small interview study suggests that, because of social isolation, restrictions, and surveillance, participants are often unable to access spaces that allow intimate relationships to flourish. This work sheds light on the consistent experiences of invisibility, exclusion, and lack of support for LGBT+ disabled people. Future studies should make space for the array of sexualities among disabled people by exploring their narratives, experiences, and perspectives.
Mari Ramsawakh on queer disability and the arts | This Ability | Xtra Magazine
Andrew Gurza on queer disability and sex | This Ability | Xtra Magazine
Videos
AMI Plus—LGBTQ+ Inclusion in Sport
Beyond the Field S1 Ep4
PBS News—With Imara Jones, 5 mins
As Pride Month kicks off, black trans activists want their stories centered.
Imara Jones: The Anti-Trans Hate Machine
Making Pride Disability Inclusive | The Pulse
Billy Porter Gives A Brief History of Queer Political Action – 5 mins
Peter Knegt on The Body Politic Collective | Super Queeroes
Remembering the 1981 Toronto bathhouse raids | Queer History | Xtra
Remembering Stonewall: On 50th Anniversary, Leaders of Uprising Look Back on Sparking L G B T Q Movement
The Stonewall You Know Is a Myth. And That’s O.K.
Why is Pride a Parade?
Podcasts:
CRIP times Podcast
(Not every episode is focused on 2 S L G B T Q I A plus and Disability topics but many are!)
Books/Print:
Queer Disabled Stories Matter (booklist)
List originally published June 15, 2022 by the Toronto Public Library
So Lucky by Nicola Griffith
Mara Tagarelli’s life revolves around practicing martial arts and her role as the head of a major AIDS foundation. Then everything changes. In the span of a single week, her wife leaves and she is diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. Already frustrated with the challenges of adapting to a disability, Mara must also cope with the way that everyone around her is suddenly treating her differently. Based on the author’s own experiences with MS, this book is an examination of what it’s like to be queer, disabled and chronically ill in America.
The Charm Offensive by Alison Cochrun
Dev Deshpande believes in fairytale happy endings. It’s why he works on a reality dating show. Charlie Winshaw is this season’s Prince Charming but he doesn’t want to be there. He only wants to demonstrate to the world that he is not as socially inept as his former business partner claims. Dev finds himself tasked with helping Charlie look good on camera and connect with the women vying for his attention. But it’s the two men that have a real connection. As a queer disabled person on the asexual spectrum, I was really excited to read this one. Admittedly, the reality show premise is a bit ridiculous. If you can get past that, it’s a cute romance between an Indian-American man with depression and a neurodivergent white man with OCD who is beginning to realize he might be asexual.
Borderline by Mishell Baker
Millie is not feeling particularly optimistic about the future. A year ago, she attempted suicide. Now, she is a double leg amputee and has lost her filmmaking career. But her life changes drastically when she is offered a job with the Arcadia Project, a secret organization that oversees relations between Hollywood and a parallel realm filled with mythical and fantastical creatures. For her first assignment, our bisexual hero, who also has borderline personality disorder, finds herself unravelling the mystery of a missing movie star who also happens to be a nobleman in the Seelie Court.
An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon
Aster lives aboard the HSS Matilda, a space vessel with a social structure modelled after the antebellum American South. The ship is supposedly taking the last of humanity to the Promised Land. For dark-skinned inhabitants like Aster, who lives in the lower deck slums, this ship ride is no pleasure cruise. Discontentment is growing and rumors of civil war are spreading. Aster finally has a chance at a brighter future, but is she brave enough to join the fight? An emotionally tough but important read, this book is filled with neurodivergent and gender fluid characters.
An Unsuitable Heir by K.J. Charles
Victorian London is a tough place to be if you don’t fit it. Mark Braglewicz and Pen Starling both know what it’s like to live outside the norm. Mark is a private detective born with one arm and Pen is a gender fluid circus performer. Their paths cross when Mark is tasked with informing Pen that he is the recipient of a significant inheritance. Pen is uncomfortable enough being seen as a man so he certainly doesn’t want to be a nobleman. But there’s a killer on the loose and Pen is on their kill list. Can Pen trust Mark enough to keep him safe?
Ascension by Jacqueline Koyanagi
To put it simply, Ascension is a space opera about an impoverished Black, queer woman with a chronic illness. What more could you want from a book? How about a polyamorous captain, a pilot who fades in and out of existence and a sister in need of saving. Strap on your space helmets for this epic tale.
Panpocalypse by Carley Moore
Carley Moore’s pandemic-era novel was originally published online in weekly installments. Set in New York City during the summer of 2020, Moore tells the story of a queer, disabled woman struggling with feeling isolated from her community. She cycles through the lonely streets in search of the first woman she ever loved. Along the way, she hears rumors of an underground bar modelled after a 1930s Parisian lesbian bar.
Disability/Neurodivergence | L G B T Q Reads (booklist)
