LGBTQ+ Pride Month 2025: 11 Notable People in the Disability Community Who Intersect Into the LGBTQ+ Community
[Image Description: The image has a cloudy red, orange, yellow, light green, medium blue, and light purple horizontally striped rainbow background with my First Former Buddy Club President logo in the bottom left corner. "LGBTQ+ Pride Month 2025" is in center-aligned turquoise text. "Notable People in the Disability Community Who Intersect into the LGBTQ+ Community" is in left-aligned dark purple text with an enlarged red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple rainbow flag below.]
According to research from the Movement Advancement Project, an estimate of "3 to 5 million LGBTQ people live with one or more disabilities" (GLAAD 2025). Additionally, "nearly one in two LGBTQ+ teens in the US seriously considered attempting suicide in the past year. 1 in 6 made an attempt" (The Trevor Project 2024). People in the LGBTQ+ community are at an increased risk for anxiety, depression, and attempting or dying by suicide due to the constant prejudice that they face. This month is LGBTQ+ Pride Month. LGBTQ+ pride is a movement that should be celebrated all year round - not just one month per year. I would like to make it clear that the point of this post is not to shove views down anyone's throat at all. I am not up for any political debates on my page or in my messages. Anyone who does this will be blocked. The point of this post is to show representation of the fact that the LGBTQ+ community is real and to show respect for people of all walks of life no matter who they are. It is also to show yet again that people in the disability and LGBTQ+ communities are capable of success and provide a safe space for people in the disability and LGBTQ+ communities. Whether you are open about your sexuality, gender identity, and/or disability or not, you deserve to be represented, heard, seen, accepted, and included. Whether you fit the LGBTQ+/disability/trauma survivor stereotypes or not or have invisible disabilities or trauma, you deserve to be represented, heard, seen, accepted, and included. Scroll through to learn more about 11 trailblazing people in the disability community who intersect into the LGBTQ+ community.
DISCLAIMER: All of the below photos are from Google Images. I do not take ownership for any of them.
[Image Description: The image shows a portrait of Frida Kahlo with a serious facial expression. Frida is wearing a red robozo (shawl), multiple bangle bracelets on her left wrist, and red floral headpiece with her black hair in an updo while posing with a falcon standing on some type of pottery work in front of a dark teal background.]
When Frida Kahlo was six years old, she was told that she had an illness called polio, which made her right leg grow shorter and thinner than her left leg. Frida's disabling illness caused her to be isolated from her peers for months, start school later than her peers, and she was bullied. Frida was a student who performed well academically who planned to attend medical school until she got into a bus accident when she and her then-boyfriend named Alejandro Gomez Arias were on their way home from school when she was eighteen years old. Several passengers were killed in this accident and Alejandro suffered minor injuries while Frida was injured by an iron handrail that went through her pelvis and suffered many other severe injuries. Frida's injuries from the bus accident caused her to have chronic pain and fatigue, be confined to lying in bed for many months to recover and struggling with medical health concerns for the rest of her life. Frida's pain motivated her to paint about her pain and things that she loved to channel her healing. Frida expressed herself through her paintings as a Mexican woman, suffering person, and relationships with both men and women as a bisexual woman. Frida's right leg was amputated at the knee due to gangrene in 1953, which followed by her struggling with severe anxiety and depression and an escalated dependence on painkillers. When her husband named Diego Rivera cheated on her, she attempted suicide. Frida had a high fever and was in extreme pain on the night July 12, 1954, which was followed by her nurse finding her deceased at 6:00am the next morning. While the official cause of death is said to be pulmonary embolism, no autopsy was performed, and biographer Hayden Herrera has argued that Frida died by suicide. Frida grew up in a house called Casa Azul in Mexico City that is now a museum.
2. Audre Lorde (February 18, 1954-November 17, 1992)
[Image Description: The image shows a black and white portrait of Audre Lorde with a serious facial expression. Audre is wearing her black hair in her natural afro hairstyle and a dark and light blue floral-patterned garment. The background has a big red circle with black polka dots in it surrounding Audre's head with a yellow and teal floral pattern on the sides.]
Audre Lorde was a Black, Carribean-American poet, civil rights activist, feminist, and socialist who was dedicated to standing up against all different types of injustice. Audre was legally blind due to her nearsightedness and listened to her mother's stories about the West Indies instead of reading them. Audre did not start speaking until she was four or five years old and learned to talk, read, and write at the same time. Audre wrote her first poem when she was in the eighth grade. Audre struggled with communication as a child and came to love the power of poetry as a means of expression. Audre exhibited strong emotional expression in her poetry about anger and outrage at civil and social injustices she witnessed and experienced throughout her life. Audre actively wrote about intersectional identity and activism, especially when it came to civil rights, feminism, lesbianism, disability, illness, Black female identity, race, class, age, and ageism. Audre believed that these intersectional parts of her were important experiences as part of being a woman. Audre attended the National Autonomous University of Mexico as a student for one year in 1954. This was when she began to identify as a lesbian and poet on both personal and artistic levels. Audre later attended and graduated from Hunter College in 1959 where she worked as a librarian, continued to write, and became an active participant in the gay culture of Greenwich Village. Audre later earned her Master's Degree in Library Science from Columbia University School of Library Service in 1961 while working as a public librarian in nearby Mount Vernon, New York. Audre co-founded Kitchen Table: Women of Color Press, Women's Coalition of St. Croix, and Sisterhood in Support of Sisters in South Africa (SISA) in the 1980s. During this same era, Audre was diagnosed with breast cancer and published two of her books titled The Cancer Journals and A Burst of Light. Both of these books include essays and journal entries about her breast cancer journey, disability, treatment, physical beauty and prosthesis, and life as a lesbian. Both works also include themes of death, fear of morality, survival, emotional healing, and inner power. Audre also published a third book about her childhood and adulthood titled Zami: A New Spelling of My Name during this time period.
3. Anderson Cooper (June 3, 1967-present)
Anderson Cooper has been a CNN news anchor since 2001 where he hosts his own show called Anderson Cooper 360°. Anderson also serves as a 60 Minutes correspondent for CBS News. As a child, Anderson used to pretend to read due to insecurity about his struggles with reading and making sense of letters and words. He was diagnosed with dyslexia as a child after teachers observed his reading difficulties at a private school in NYC. Anderson worked with a reading specialist twice a week who supported and encouraged him to read books about his interests. When Anderson was ten years old, his father died, and his brother later died by suicide when he was a young adult. Anderson's hardships inspired him to become a television correspondent telling other people's survival stories. Anderson became a strong student who graduated from Yale University and started his journalism career right out of college. Anderson came out as gay in 2012, which led to him becoming "the most prominent gay journalist on American television." He also became the first LGBTQ+ person to moderate a presidential debate in 2016. Anderson has won six Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) Media Awards, eighteen Emmy Awards, two Peabody Awards, and the Edward Murrow Award from the Overseas Press Club. In addition, Anderson raises two sons named Wyatt Morgan and Sebastian Luke Maisani-Cooper with his ex-partner and co-parent named Bejamin Maisani.
4. Josh Thomas (May 26, 1987-present)
[Image Description: The image shows Josh Thomas smiling. He is wearing a striped, red, cream, black, and light blue long sleeved V-neck sweater over a light blue collared shirt with short blonde hair.]
Josh Thomas is an Australian openly gay comedian, actor, and writer. Josh is notable for producing and starring as the male lead in Freeform's Everything's Gonna Be Okay. Josh's character was named Nicholas who was a young adult gay half-brother of Matilda who is autistic, and Genivieve left to be their guardian after their father dies from cancer because their mother was already dead. Josh was diagnosed with ADHD when he was twenty-eight years old and revealed his self-diagnosis of being autistic in an Instagram post in 2021. Josh said that he felt relieved after realizing that he is autistic because it helped him and other people learn to understand himself better.
Related Links:
- Josh Thomas' Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joshthomas87/
5. Jessica Kellgren-Fozard (January 25, 1989-present)
[Image Description: The image shows a photo of Jessica Kellgren-Fozard smiling and standing in front of a taupe background. Jessica is wearing a vintage-style floral slight blue dress with ruffles along the straps and chest area, an apricot bow in her shoulder length, curly, medium brown hair, a white pearl necklace, and apricot pearl bracelet on her left wrist. Jessica is also holding up a wooden brown fan in her left hand and several white and apricot pearl necklaces in her right hand.]
Jessica Kellgren-Fozard is a notable disabled YouTuber from Camden, London, England who grew up in Bristol, Southwest England. Jessica's videos cover several topics, such as fashion and beauty, disability and LGBTQ+ advocacy, and history. Jessica began making YouTube videos in 2011 and has since gained 1.19m subscribers. Initially, after graduating from secondary school from Cotham School when she was nineteen years old, Jessica pursued a local Business and Technology Education Council (BTEC) diploma in Art and Design. Then, she studied at the University of Brighton followed by graduating with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Film and Screen Studies. Jessica is deaf, blind in one eye, and has hereditary neuropathy with liability to pressure palsy (HNPP), Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS), postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), memory loss, and Attention Deficit-Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Jessica's chronic illness symptoms started appearing when she was a teenager. Jessica's mother named Lee Kellgren is also a dyslexic artist and print maker. In addition, Jessica is the granddaughter of Jonas Kellgren who was the first professor of rheumatology at the University of Manchester in the United Kingdom. In addition, Jessica is a lesbian who lives in Brighton, East Sussex, England with her wife named Claudia. Jessica and Claudia married at a Quaker meeting house in Bristol in September 2016. They both have three children together that Claudia gave birth to, one of which is a son named Rupert Henrik Kan and two newborn identical twin girls.
Related Links:
- Jessica Kellgren-Fozard's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@jessicaoutofthecloset
- Jessica Kellgren-Fozard's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jessicaoutofthecloset/
6. Tyler Oakley (March 22, 1989-present)
[Image Description: The image shows a professional headshot of Tyler Oakley smiling. Tyler is wearing black-rimmed glasses with short blonde hair, a textured black jacket over a white collared dress shirt with a faded black pattern on it.]
Tyler Oakley is a notable American YouTuber and mental health and LGBTQ+ advocate. Tyler is one of twelve children, and his parents divorced when he was an infant. Tyler moved to Okemos, Michigan when he was in sixth grade and joined choir and theater. Tyler struggled with bulimia nervosa as a teenager and came out as gay in high school. The majority Tyler's advocacy work has been committed to the LGBTQ+ community, especially when it comes to pride, rights, healthcare, education, and suicide prevention among LGBTQ+ youth. Tyler is an active supporter of The Trevor Project, which is a nonprofit organization for suicide prevention among the LGBTQ+ community. Tyler completed an internship with The Trevor Project in 2009 and has been co-hosting the organization's red carpet event called TrevorLIVE since 2011. Tyler has also donated thousands of dollars to The Trevor Project and posts content about his advocacy work, pop culture, and humor. Tyler began making YouTube videos in 2007 during his freshmen year at Michigan State University where he graduated from with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in communication, marketing, and social media. Tyler has since gained 6.68 million YouTube subscribers and gained several awards for his advocacy work and content creating. In 2016, Tyler published his book titled Binge, which is about the extremely funny moments that contributed to him gaining his fame.
Related Links:
- Tyler Oakley's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@TylerOakley
7. Cara Delevingne (August 12, 1992-present)
[Image Description: The image shows a photograph of Cara Delevingne standing with a serious facial expression at a high-profile event. Cara is wearing a long black strapless dress with sheer off-the-shoulder black sleeves and a diamond and emerald necklace with shoulder length, blonde hair curled.]
Cara Delevingne is an English model and actress. Cara's father named Charles Hamar Delevingne is a notable English property developer who is the son of a notable former English aristocrat and socialite Angela Delevingne and grandson of a notable former lawyer and politician, The First Viscount Greenwood. Cara's maternal grandmother named Sir Jocelyn Stevens was also the former British publisher of Queen magazine and the chairman of English Heritage. Cara has several other notable family members as well. Besides modeling, Cara has starred in or made appearances in many films, television shows, and music videos, such as Bad Blood (2015 Taylor Swift music video), Suicide Squad (2016 film), Futurama (sitcom since 1999; appearances in 2023 and 2024). Cara attended the Independent Bedale School in Steep Hampshire from 2003-2009. Cara has dyspraxia and ADHD and says that school was challenging for her. Cara has been open about her battle with depression that started when she was fifteen years old when she discovered her mother's drug addiction. Cara left school for six months the year after and was prescribed antidepressant medication, which she says may have saved her life. During a 2023 Vogue interview, Cara revealed that she had checked herself into rehab the previous year, entered a twelve-step program, and has been sober ever since. Cara has also been open about being queer and pansexual after previously identifying as bisexual. In addition, Cara came out as gender fluid in 2018 and identifies with she/her/hers pronouns. Besides being a mental health, disability, and LGBTQ+ advocate, Cara is also an animal rights and environmental advocate.
8. Demi Lovato (August 20, 1992-present)
[Image Description: The image shows a photo of Demi Lovato smiling with her teeth outdoors at her wedding. Demi is wearing a white strapless dress with white pearl chains on the front and along her left arm, her shoulder length, wavy, black hair and silver earrings. The side of her husband, Jordan Lutes, is on the left with wearing a white dress shirt, black bow tie, and black blazer.]
Demi Lovato is a singer, songwriter, and actress. Demi appeared on the children's television series, Barney & Friends, as a child for her first acting role. In later years, Demi starred on Disney Channel in As the Bell Rings, Camp Rock, Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam, Princess Protection Program, and in her own TV show called Sonny with a Chance. Demi struggled with bulimia nervosa and self-harm along with being bullied as a child, which led to her being homeschooled. In 2010, when Demi was 18 years old, she withdrew from the Jonas Brothers live-in-concert tour to enter a rehabilitation treatment facility for mental and physical health concerns where she was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and drug/alcohol addiction. After being 5 years sober, Demi relapsed and overdosed in 2018. The overdose caused Demi to have three strokes, a heart attack, brain damage, a vision impairment, and a hearing impairment. In 2021, Demi came out as nonbinary and currently identifies with they/them/theirs/she/her/hers pronouns. Demi stated in her 2021 documentary series, Dancing with the Devil, that she believes that she was misdiagnosed with bipolar disorder and self-diagnoses as having Attention Deficit-Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) instead. Demi is known for her activist work for mental health, disability rights, drug/alcohol addiction recovery, eating disorders, LGBTQ+ rights, women's rights, and bullying prevention. Recently, Demi married a male musician named Jordan Lutes on May 25, 2025, at the Bellosguardo Estate in Santa Barbara, California.
9. Jessie Paege (March 12, 1999-present)
[Image Description: The image shows a photograph of Jessie Paege standing with a serious facial expression. Jessie is wearing a black crop top, charcoal blazer, and black choker necklace with her shoulder length straight hair dyed pink.]
Jessie Paege is a notable YouTuber. Jessie was raised by her parents in New Jersey. Jessie's father is a police officer, her mother is an elementary school teacher, and she has one older brother. As a child, Jessie played several sports including soccer and volleyball along with electric guitar when she was fourteen years old. Jessie became very shy during her elementary school years due to being left out by her peers and somewhat isolation. This led to Jessie struggling with social anxiety. Jessie was a huge fan of Bethany Mota who Jessie later learned was shy too before starting her YouTube career when they met at one of Bethany's Meet and Greet events. This moment was what motivated Jessie to start her YouTube channel in 2013 when she was 14 years old to battle her social anxiety. Jessie's YouTube channel has since gained 1.72 million subscribers and covers multiple topics including mental health, disabilities, and LGBTQ+ advocacy along with her passion for music. Jessie has also been open about her battle with anorexia nervosa along with life with her other disabilities including selective mutism and being autistic. Jessie came out as a lesbian in 2016 and is known for being outspoken when it comes to her advocacy work overall. Jessie is also an advocate for animal rights, humanity, and blood donations.
Related Links:
- Jessie Paege's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@jessiepaege
10. Renee Rapp (January 10, 2000-present)
[Image Description: The image shows a photograph of Renee Rapp smiling in front of a bright pink background. Renee is wearing a light blue jean jacket buttoned up with her shoulder length straight blonde hair down. Renee's hands are positioned near her face.]
Renee Rapp is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Renee gained fame for starring as Regina George in Mean Girls on Broadway and played this same role again in the 2024 remake of the film. Renee has been open about her struggles with mental health and an eating disorder. While Renee was working on the set of the Broadway adaptation of Mean Girls, she was body shamed by people who worked with her on the production. They would say hurtful remarks about her body, which worsened the eating disorder that she was already struggling with. This constant workplace bullying was negatively impacting Renee's well-being so much that her parents flew from their home in North Carolina to New York to pull her out of the show. Renee was not diagnosed with Attention Deficit-Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) until adulthood because she was unaware of her disability and just thought that she was "really dramatic." Renee says that while her ADHD can be exhausting, it also helps her a lot, especially when it comes to her creative process. While Renee has come a long way with managing her ADHD, she says that she also has many struggles. Renee says that before being diagnosed with ADHD, she always had difficulty finishing songwriting projects, which led to her to believe for so long that she was a terrible songwriter and stupid. Renee says that after gaining a better understanding and knowledge about what ADHD is, she really loves this part of her, which shows disability pride. In 2024, Renee came out as a lesbian on Saturday Night Live (SNL) after previously identifying as bisexual in 2022.
Related Links:
- Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/reneerapp/
- Not My Fault - Renee Rapp ft. Megan Thee Stallion lyric video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSFknXcKYY4
11. Zara Beth (July 20, 2005-present)
[Image Description: The image shows a photograph of Zara Beth smiling and sitting at a wooden brown desk. Zara is wearing a burnt orange sweatshirt over a white shirt with her shoulder length, straight, light brown hair down. Zara's right hand is posed near her face. There is a red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple horizontal striped LGBTQ+ flag and vertical mirror along with plenty of other wall decor hanging on the white wall.]
Zara Beth is a YouTuber, artist, musician, and writer from the United Kingdom. Zara's YouTube channel covers a variety of topics including life as a disabled person, disability advocacy, invisible disabilities, ambulatory wheelchair users, chronic illness, accessibility in schools, LGBTQ+ representation and intersectionality, and her hobbies. Zara is autistic, has Tourette's Syndrome and mental health struggles, later developed Functional Neurological Disorder (FND), and became an ambulatory wheelchair user. In addition, Zara identifies as a queer woman with she/her/hers pronouns. Zara really cares about providing a safe space for people in the neurodiverse, disability, and LGBTQ+ communities.
Related Links:
- Zara Beth's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@Zara_Beth
To learn more about how to support the LGBTQIA+ community, click on the below links to some resources:
- American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) LGBTQ+ Pride and Mental Health - www.afsp.org/pride
- Covenant House's Homelessness Among LGBTQ Youth - www.covenanthouse.org/homeless-issues/lgbtq-youth
- Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) Resource List - www.glaad.org/resourcelist
- GLAAD Pride Facts - www.glaad.org/pridefacts/
- Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) - www.glsen.org
- Human Rights Campaign (HRC) - www.hrc.org
- It Gets Better Project - www.itgetsbetter.org
- LGBTQ Nation - www.lgbtqnation.com
- Matthew Shepard Foundation - www.matthewshepard.org
- National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Pride - www.nami.org/pride
- National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) - www.nclrights.org
- National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE) - www.transequality.org
- NOH8 Campaign - www.noh8campaign.com
- Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) - www.pflag.org
- The Trevor Project - www.thetrevorproject.org
- Trans Lifeline - www.translifeline.org
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Citations
1. Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD). LGBTQ People with Disabilities. (2025). https://glaad.org/disabilities/
2. The Trevor Project. "2024 US National Survey on the Mental Health of LGBTQ+ People." (2024). https://www.thetrevorproject.org/survey-2024/
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