KosAbility is a community diary series posted at 5 PM ET every Sunday and Wednesday by volunteer diarists. This is a gathering place for people who are living with disabilities, who love someone with a disability, or who want to know more about the issues surrounding this topic. There are two parts to each diary. First, a volunteer diarist will offer their specific knowledge and insight about a topic they know intimately. Then, readers are invited to comment on what they've read and or ask general questions about disabilities, share something they've learned, tell bad jokes, post photos, or rage about the unfairness of their situation. Our only rule is to be kind; trolls will be spayed or neutered.
I won't be taking off my Gay Writer hat and putting on my Disabled Writer hat this evening. Even if I could do it I wouldn't attempt it. I'm a person. I'm a writer. I'm an activist. I'm disabled. I'm gay. There is no part of my identity I'm not proud of. There is no part of my identity that anyone can minimize or take away from me in order to uncomplicate their perception of my story. I won't hide anything from anyone.
It's not just that people who are double minorities endure more stress than others. That's expected. It's a lot more complicated, because different identities require confronting different types of issues in different settings and still sometimes the two identities clash. A problem might come up that involves interplay between both of your identities, and you have to figure out - all on your own - how you're supposed to handle it.