(Dis)locations: Dutch Disabled LGBTQ+ Subjects and Queer Social Space

The purpose of this research was to determine the architectural and social accessibility of “queer spaces” in the Netherlands. Via a series of personal interviews with LGBTQ+ disabled Dutch individuals, lived experiences inside and outside queer spaces were discussed in the con-text of their respective disabilities and other identities. Some sub-questions that were addressed include: the definitions of “access and of “queer space,” how architectural and social access bar-riers compare with and influence one another, and the present and future possibilities for queer spaces of increased accessibility. In concluding the research, the author distinguishes “queer spaces” from LGBTQ+ spaces, reflecting the finding that these two are distinct in the experi-ences of interviewees. The research found the majority of LGBTQ+-centered social spaces that interviewees were familiar with were not psychosocially or architecturally accessible, and that these two fac-tors are greatly informed by one another. It also found that ideas of “access cannot simply be located in the material accommodation of disability, and that factors such as race and gender can and do pose access barriers to LGBTQ+ spaces. It also found that these multiply-marginalized interviewees preferred “mixed spaces” over identity-specific social spaces, and suggested that there is further research to be done on the potential \u27queerness\u27\u27 of mixed-identity space

Blogging to Counter Epistemic Injustice: Trans disabled digital micro-resistance

As part of a larger research project on the intersections between transness, disability, cisgenderism (also called transphobia), and ableism/sanism, this article presents the results of a three-month netnography of blog posts made between 2013 and 2019 by selected Tumblr and off-Tumblr blogs authored by people identifying as both trans and disabled. Mobilizing a theoretical framework that combines trans and disability/crip/Mad theory and the notion of epistemic injustice, we highlight the unique possibilities of community building, connection, identity formation, and micro-practices of resistance in trans disabled digital communities. Trans disabled bloggers counter epistemic injustice by speaking back, reclaiming space, and responding to the cisgenderist and ableist/sanist micro-aggressions they experience in their daily lives. This exploration of trans disabled bloggers' micro-activism is divided into four parts. After reviewing the literature in the emerging field of trans disability studies in the first part, the second and third parts present our theoretical and methodological frameworks. Findings are presented and discussed in the three subsections of the fourth part, which delves deeper into our typology of three interrelated genres of trans disabled blog posts: informational, testimonial, and activist. As their names suggest, these genres aim respectively to: 1) inform other trans disabled internet users of identificatory possibilities; 2) testify about bloggers' lived experiences; and 3) advocate for trans disabled people through appeals to users both within and outside trans and disabled communities