The path to university is often seen as a time to become one’s own person. More students than ever are identifying as disabled and LGBT, according to new figures from UCAS. So what are the challenges and intricacies of belonging to both communities?
Lucy King couldn’t wait to start her Speech and Speech Therapy studies at Essex University last September.
The freshman has spina bifida, is paralyzed below the knees and uses a wheelchair full-time. She also jokes about being a “disabled lesbian who is also a feminist and a Christian” and was concerned about finding her community.
Lucy is not alone. UCAS – the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service – revealed to the BBC Access All podcast that last year’s disabled cohort were twice as likely to identify as LGBT compared to non-disabled applicants.
It found that 15% of disabled applicants have an LGBT identity compared to 8% of non-disabled applicants.
The complexity goes much further than just a paper exercise, it raises considerations of accessible venues, appropriate accommodations and inclusion.
Lucy says moving to university was “very difficult”. As well as the usual administration and loan application, she also had to arrange a care package for help with chores like showering.
But she says the hardest part was finding her disability community.
“You need people to complain to, for example if the elevator is broken. I found it very helpful to have people who relate to me.”
Since there was no disabled society, Lucy joined the LGBT society, where she also found many disabled people – and says the UCAS numbers are true. But, she says, it would be so much better if checking the disabled box on her UCAS form led to social connections as well as appropriate adjustments.
This is something UCAS hopes to fix following its latest research, which revealed a record 83,220 disabled people who applied last year – up from 77,000 in 2021
CEO Clare Marchant says UCAS is “investing” in information so prospective students can talk to current students, which she says will help people like Lucy find their communities faster.
As Lucy settled in, she says that societies and groups were all very tolerant, but she faced discrimination in other ways.
At an LGBT Christmas party, she “did everything I could” to inform the host and the nightclub that she was using a wheelchair.
“But I showed up and you had to climb those very steep stairs. In the end, my father carried me up the stairs,” says Lucy.
The event was held in a private room and “for no reason” there was a single step in, meaning Lucy couldn’t get to the bar, although “I didn’t let that stop me” from having a good time.
Since London Pride occurs on Saturday and July is Disability Pride Month, Dr. Ju Gosling, a disabled lesbian and co-chair of Regard, the LGBTQI+ organization for disabled people, said such incidents were “a real slap in the face”.
She knows of another event for LGBT people of color where the organizers thought they “checked the box on intersectionality.” But it was in an upstairs venue with no accessible toilet and “totally inaccessible to disabled LGBT people of color”.
She says incidents like this show the importance of considering “people” rather than the minorities they may represent.
“It’s not about having more than one identity, it’s about having a unified identity, and if people don’t see all those things about me, they don’t know who I am.”
dr Gosling says the numbers from UCAS reflect what she’s seen in her own research, although she thinks the statistics could be higher since many disabled people choose not to disclose their sexuality if it impacts their care – or support network.
She says one of the reasons the number is higher than that of the general population is that discrimination based on isolation and violence can lead to disability or mental health problems. She suffered a brain injury in a discriminatory attack 20 years ago.
She also believes that long Covid will change the picture again, meaning proper support and information is needed to ensure people do not face double discrimination – disability and sexual.
Connor Scott-Gardner, a blind trans man studying at the University of Leeds, says he experienced double discrimination at the university.
While his faculty was “amazing”, he encountered an administrative stumbling block in changing his name.
The university would just hand out an inaccessible PDF form that he couldn’t fill out because “I can’t write or read.” It took several stressful months to fix this.
He says “toilets are another big one”. When someone isn’t sure if Connor wanted to enter the men’s room, instead of believing it was his decision, he thinks “Oh no, a blind person went into the wrong bathroom” and leads them out.
“You have to laugh,” he says, but it’s a serious and personal matter.
Connor says that realizing that people can belong to more than one group “goes a long way” and “means we plan better for everyone”.
Lucy, who has been appointed student disability officer, agrees. “Disability just has to be part of that conversation,” she says. “Ensuring events are held in accessible locations.”
In the latest podcast, Lucy and Connor talk more about their experiences as disabled LGBT students.
Hosts try blind tennis and Kate Stanforth, a disabled ballet dancer, talks about teaching wheelchair users to tap dance… with their hands.
UCAS’s Clare hopes to improve her own planning by reaching out to disabled students well in advance of their application to ensure their needs are met and to provide reassurance.
She says some students start thinking about university from the age of 10, and 56% of last year’s disabled applicants specifically researched support before applying to show how “super important” it is.
UCAS has urged the government to extend their adaptation passes to schools.
The passports are currently being tested at the University of Wolverhampton and Manchester Metropolitan University and are a way of collecting student information which can then be passed on to future staff without further verification.
“We know if a transition is a good transition then they’re more likely to continue their studies and be successful,” says Clare, while the government adds that it is “considering their next steps”.
Although some people may not want to disclose their disability to UCAS, Clare says doing so opens up many avenues of support.
“It’s not just about entry regulations once you’re at university. Think about open houses and interviews and auditions – universities can help with that.”
dr Ju agrees that planning is important, but says it’s also about thinking more deeply about those around you, especially when they need some level of nurturing.
“I’ve encountered situations where everyone thinks so-and-so is antisocial, but they’re not. They just have to be back in their room by 8:00 p.m. because they put them to bed at 9:00 p.m. and I might not want to reveal that to them.”
She says it could be a case for visually impaired students to knock on her door to “offer an elbow” to guide them to a function.
“Don’t just assume, ask people what they need to get involved.”
You can listen to the podcast and find information and support on the Access to the All page.
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