People with Disability Australia
PWDA Marches at Midsumma for LGBTQIA+ Disability Rights
Key Facts:
People with Disability Australia (PWDA), the national disability rights and representative organisation led by and for people with disability, will return to the Midsumma Pride March this Sunday for the second year, marching under the banner InFocus: Queer & Disabled. The theme, developed in consultation with PWDA members, is a call to centre LGBTQIA+ people with disability in public life, policy and community spaces.
PWDA's group will join the Access and Inclusion wave, with members, staff and board representatives marching alongside our allies to proudly claim space for a community that is too often pushed to the margins and out of the spotlight.
The theme InFocus: Queer & Disabled is about celebration, visibility and advocacy. It places LGBTQIA+ people with disability in the spotlight, not as an afterthought, but as leaders, storytellers and drivers of change. It places LGBTQIA+ people with disability front and centre, where we belong.
PWDA President Jeramy Hope said pride events like Midsumma are vital spaces where LGBTQIA+ people with disability can be visible on their own terms.
"Pride is about joy and visibility, but it's also about belonging. It's about creating spaces where LGBTQIA+ people with disability feel safe to show up as their whole selves," he said.
"Midsumma is an opportunity for people to tell their own stories, to be proud of who they are, and to be safely and authentically who they are. That sense of belonging is powerful, especially for LGBTIQIA+ people with disability who are too often excluded or overlooked." Jeramy said.
As a parent and ally, Jeramy said showing up publicly is part of how he lives those values.
"Allyship isn't passive. It's about listening, standing alongside, and using your voice to help create safer, more inclusive spaces," he said.
"As a parent, I want my daughter and her community to grow up knowing they are valued, respected and supported. That's why I am committed to showing up today and every time visibility and support are needed."
Jeramy Hope's daughter and PWDA member Jenna Hope said marching under the InFocus banner feels personal and powerful.
"For so many of us, being queer and disabled means constantly having to explain ourselves or choose which part of our identity gets seen. InFocus is about refusing that. It's about saying we deserve to take up space exactly as we are," Jenna said.
"I want a future where LGBTIQIA+ people with disability don't have to fight to belong. I want our full identities to be celebrated, our access needs respected and our voices at the centre of shaping the world around us."
PWDA's participation is grounded in the lived experiences of community. PWDA's national survey of LGBTQIA+ people with disability found that discrimination and negative experiences remains widespread, particularly in healthcare and support systems. Sixty-five per cent of respondents reported experiencing discrimination from healthcare workers, support workers, carers or family members because of their LGBTQIA+ identity, while 64 per cent said they had not been believed or had their identity ignored.
Jeramy Hope, said visibility must be matched by systemic change.
"Pride is powerful because it makes us visible, but visibility alone is not enough. LGBTQIA+ people with disability are still facing discrimination, inconsistency and barriers to healthcare, inaccessible services and exclusion from community spaces," he said.
"InFocus is about shifting the narrative. It's about centring our leadership, demanding inclusion by design, and reminding decision-makers that disability rights and LGBTQIA+ are human rights."
PWDA will continue to amplify LGBTQIA+ people with disability's voices through its InFocus: Queer & Disabled digital storytelling campaign, sharing lived experience stories throughout February and March.
"When we march, we're not just celebrating our existence we're showcasing our resistance and persistence," Jenna said.
"It's 2026 - the best time to ask yourself how are you showing up for LGBTQIA+ people with disability? If not - why not now?"
About us:
People with Disability Australia (PWDA) is a national disability rights and advocacy, non-profit, non-government organisation. We have a cross-disability focus, representing the interests of people with all kinds of disability and our membership is made up of people with disability and organisations mainly constituted by people with disability.
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