There is no such thing as a single-issue struggle, because we do not live single-issue lives.
Audre Lorde
American writer, feminist, womanist, librarian, and civil rights activist

What does intersectionality mean?

Every person has multiple identities. We must remember that when talking about any marginalized group. A disabled person is not just a disabled person. They may be a woman, black, and have Parkinson's Disease. They may be non-binary, white, and hard of hearing. Most importantly, they are human beings with hobbies, families, and an interest in learning, exploring, and engaging in the world around them. When we forget to include their access needs in our Diversity and Inclusion discussions, we exclude many of the people we are striving to include.

Keri Gray, founder and CEO of the Keri Gray Group, speaks about Disability and Intersectionality as part of a Ford Foundation video series.

Disability by Race

  • 1 in 4 Black people have a disability
  • 1 in 5 White people have a disability
  • 1 in 5 Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders have a disability
  • 1 in 6 Hispanic people have a disability
  • 3 in 10 Native Americans and Native Alaskans have a disability
  • 1 in 10 Asian Americans have a disability

Source: The CDC's Infographic, "Adults with Disabilities: Ethnicity and Race."

Disability in the LGBTQ Community

An estimated 3-5 Million LGBTQ people have disabilities​.

  • 2 in 5 transgender people have a disability
  • 1 in 4 LGB people have a disability

Recommended Read: "Care Work: Dreaming Disability Justice"

Care Work: Dreaming Disability Justice book cover with a person grabbing hold of an uprooted tree.

In this collection of essays, Lambda Literary Award–winning writer and longtime activist and performance artist Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha explores the politics and realities of disability justice, a movement that centers the lives and leadership of sick and disabled queer, trans, Black, and brown people, with knowledge and gifts for all.

Care Work is a mapping of access as radical love, a celebration of the work that sick and disabled queer/people of color are doing to find each other and to build power and community, and a tool kit for everyone who wants to build radically resilient, sustainable communities of liberation where no one is left behind. Powerful and passionate, Care Work is a crucial and necessary call to arms.

Read Care Work