After coming out as bisexual and living with autism, Western Kentucky University student Kristen Guin was left searching for a place to belong. On one hand, she identified with the LGBT community, but on the other, there was a void of conversation about the intersection of LGBT and disabled identities. That’s when Guin decided she needed to create a space for herself and others like her and Queerability was born.
“I started Queerability after hearing a large portion of people from the LGBTQ and disability communities talking about how they wish there was a space for them in the conversation surrounding being LGBTQ and disabled,” Guin shares.
Guin set out to harness the power of social media to let others know that they, too, belonged somewhere and that their voices should be heard. “On a personal level, Queerability has been very rewarding for me. I, myself, felt alone,” Guin says. “I am Autistic and I didn’t know that other Autistic and otherwise disabled LGBTQ people like me existed until I came onto websites like Tumblr and started Queerability.”
Celebrating the one-year anniversary of Queerability last month, Guin is bringing her workshop entitled “Queerability: The Intersection of Disability and LGBTQ” to Vanderbilt University’s Out in Front, Saturday February 8.
Out in Front allows peers from across the state to share resources, develop leadership skills, and foster a strong community of LGBTQI and allied student leaders and is
Guin has spoken at WKU as well as OCALICON, a national disability conference in Ohio. “When I spoke at OCALICON, I had two instances that let me know that what Queerability has done and continues to do is needed. One was when a professional who works with people with disabilities came up to me and tell me that her students used Queerability to find people like them and know that they aren’t alone, and the other was when a lesbian told me that I helped her see that her son, who was just recently diagnosed as being on the autism spectrum, has a future.”
Out in Front is just one step in Queerability and Guin’s future as she recently announced plans to turn Queerability into a 501(c)3 non-profit LGBTQ and disability right advocacy organization by 2015.
While Out in Front is open to students and faculty, community members can register online as volunteers here.