Three-time Paralympic gold medallist and Just Like Us patron Lauren Rowles has spoken about the power of visibility during Disability History Month.
Rowles, who joined the LGBTQ+ youth charity as a patron in March 2024, highlighted the disproportionate barriers faced by LGBTQ+ disabled young people.
“I’m really proud to be a patron for the charity Just Like Us, which works with LGBTQ+ young people,” she said.
“This Disability History Month they’re really putting a spotlight on disabled LGBTQ+ young people. 61% of disabled LGBTQ+ kids at school say they feel lonely on a daily basis, compared to the 50% of non-disabled LGBTQ+ kids. That’s staggering – 11% more kids, just because they’re disabled, feel lonely,” she explained, citing the charity’s Growing up LGBT+ report.
“I was one of those kids when I went back to school. I was 13 when I acquired my disability and ended up in a wheelchair.
“I grew up able bodied, and I went back to the same school after having my disability as I did before, and just because I had a disability, I felt so segregated. I felt really isolated, and it was almost as though the disability allowed for other kids to bully me.
“We’ve had this view in society for so many years about disabled people, and how they are allowed to be treated, and I think that it’s a real shame, even in this day and age, in 2024, that still those 61% of kids still say they feel lonely.
“The work of Just Like Us, and the programmes that they have working in schools, is allowing us to reach those kids and make them feel more included.”
Just Like Us provides free, LGBTQ+ inclusive disability awareness resources for school. During Disability History Month 2024, the charity has released a brand new spotlight resource on British Sign Language (BSL) and the LGBTQ+ community, designed for use in secondary schools.
A series of resources for secondary schools who are part of the free Pride Groups programme is also available, including LGBT+ disabled sportspeople, Being LGBT+ and disabled and a LGBT+ disability Pride session.
Lauren discussed the importance of representation and visibility, during Disability History Month and beyond.
She explained: “I see so many young people that sit there like I did in assemblies, in classes and feel like they don’t really belong anywhere. I want to make those kids feel cool again. I think that that’s been my mission, really, in the last few years through the power of the Paralympics, is making disability cool again.
“But also showing that intersectionality – I am queer as well, and that is something I’m so proud of. To be able to reach out to young people and make them feel seen and visible is something that I know that when I was at school I would have just loved. To have had somebody that was sat in front of me saying: ‘You can be different, and that is amazing’.”
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