Making the Invisible Visible: Addressing the Sexuality Education Needs of Persons with Disabilities Who Identify as Queer in Kenya

Amani Karisa (), Mchungwani Rashid, Zakayo Wanjihia, Fridah Kiambati, Lydia Namatende-Sakwa, Emmy Kageha Igonya, Anthony Idowu Ajayi, Benta Abuya, Caroline W. Kabiru and Moses Ngware
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Amani Karisa: Human Development Theme, African Population and Health Research Center, Nairobi 00100, Kenya
Mchungwani Rashid: Human Development Theme, African Population and Health Research Center, Nairobi 00100, Kenya
Zakayo Wanjihia: Human Development Theme, African Population and Health Research Center, Nairobi 00100, Kenya
Fridah Kiambati: Human Development Theme, African Population and Health Research Center, Nairobi 00100, Kenya
Lydia Namatende-Sakwa: Human Development Theme, African Population and Health Research Center, Nairobi 00100, Kenya
Emmy Kageha Igonya: Health and Wellbeing Theme, African Population and Health Research Center, Nairobi 00100, Kenya
Anthony Idowu Ajayi: Health and Wellbeing Theme, African Population and Health Research Center, Nairobi 00100, Kenya
Benta Abuya: Human Development Theme, African Population and Health Research Center, Nairobi 00100, Kenya
Caroline W. Kabiru: Health and Wellbeing Theme, African Population and Health Research Center, Nairobi 00100, Kenya
Moses Ngware: Human Development Theme, African Population and Health Research Center, Nairobi 00100, Kenya

Disabilities, 2025, vol. 5, issue 3, 1-18

Abstract: Persons with disabilities face barriers to accessing sexuality education. For those who identify as queer, these challenges are compounded by stigma, ableism, and heteronormativity, resulting in distinct and overlooked experiences. This study explored the sexuality education needs of persons with disabilities who identify as queer in Kenya—a neglected demographic—using a phenomenological approach. Data were collected through a focus group discussion with six participants and analyzed thematically. Three themes emerged: invisibility and erasure; unprepared institutions and constrained support networks; and agency and everyday resistance. Educational institutions often overlook the intersectional needs of persons with disabilities who identify as queer, leaving them without adequate tools to navigate relationships, sexuality, and rights. Support systems are often unprepared or unwilling to address these needs. Societal attitudes that desexualize disability and marginalize queerness intersect to produce compounded exclusion. Despite these challenges, participants demonstrated agency by using digital spaces and informal networks to resist exclusion. This calls for policy reforms that move beyond tokenism to address the lived realities of multiply marginalized groups. Policy reform means not only a legal or governmental shift but also a broader cultural and institutional process that creates space for recognition, protection, and participation.

Keywords: comprehensive sexuality education; disability; discrimination; health; intersectionality; LGBT; LGBTQIA+; minority (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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