Ability Status and Sexual Orientation

Chronic illness and/or disability (CID) conditions interact with various life domains, including one’s own biopsychosocial development, activities of daily living, interpersonal relationships, educational and vocational endeavors, and access to health and community resources. The impact of CID is further nuanced by the richly diverse racial, ethnic, gender, religious, cultural, and linguistic identities of persons living with CID. Relatedly, persons living with CID have diverse sexual orientations, although sexuality is a topic that has been long neglected, ignored, or believed to be nonexistent among persons living with CID. If sexuality is at all considered, persons living with CID are often assumed to be heterosexual. However, persons living with CID are just as likely to indicate a minority sexual orientation identity (e.g., lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer [LGBQ]). ...