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Los Angeles, CA, June 3 – Victoria’s Secret was my childhood nightmare. I closed my eyes, held my mom’s hand, and tried not to peek, as my 5-year-old self bumped into mannequins in lace around every corner. Growing up in a conservative Catholic home, I spent over a decade believing that this playground-aged instinct to shield myself from disrobed women was a product of the thorough modest conditioning my mother surrounded me with.

But, after decades of closeted questioning, countered aggressively by my conservative hometown, and traditional Catholic family, the pandemic simplified my sexual orientation beyond doubt. There I sat, pajama-draped and Clorox-wiped, quarantined with the most queer parts of myself that I had spent my whole life trying desperately to hide from. My bisexual expression had been so suppressed and condemned that only a dystopian-esque era could bring my internalized denials to crumble. [continue reading…]

Los Angeles, California, June 3 – Tyler Hoog is a 26-year-old screenwriter based in Los Angeles, California. Originally from Longmont, Colorado, Hoog became a C4-C3 quadriplegic when he was 17-years-old after a car accident caused a spinal cord injury. Hoog talks about his early adjustments to life in a wheelchair and praises his supportive family: “Honestly it was never a focus on if I would ever walk again. My mom did a very good job of really shifting the perspective where beforehand we were going to baseball practice, now we’re going to physical therapy.”

“My mom made it so there wasn’t a moment where we sat and felt devastated,” he continues. It was just ‘this is the situation, so we’re going to make some lemonade.’” [continue reading…]

Los Angeles, California, June 3 – Danny J. Gomez is an actor, model and advocate for authentic casting in Hollywood. Born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana, Gomez was far away from the storied Hollywood sign and its accompanying industry opportunities. However, distance did not stop Gomez from pursuing his dreams.

Inspired by his favorite show at the time, Entourage, Gomez packed up his dreams and clothes and left the crawdad capitol, headed westward toward the Golden State. Gomez promised himself to make acting his top priority, but over time, he let the distractions of the industry detour his trajectory. It wasn’t until he acquired his disability, paralysis from a spinal cord injury, that he reevaluated his life and returned to fulfill his old promise.

Since then, Gomez has stayed true to his word and attached several acting credits to his name—most notably his appearance on NBC’s New Amsterdam where he played a paralyzed pilot. He has also participated in the Easterseals film challenges multiple times and continues to book acting roles. [continue reading…]

Join RespectAbility on Friday, June 4, for a Celebration of Disabled LGBTQ+ Voices in Media

Washington, D.C., June 2 – June once again marks National LGBTQ+ Pride Month and offers the nation the opportunity to reflect on the incredible contributions of the LGBTQ+ community. Our nation is at its best when it welcomes, represents and includes people of all backgrounds. This includes people with disabilities and the intersections shared with the LGBTQ+ community. According to a study published in 2012, fully 36 percent of women in the LGBTQ+ community and 30 percent of men in the community also self-identify as people with disabilities. Digging deeper shows that 26 percent of gay men and 40 percent of bisexual men disclosed having a disability, as did 36 percent of lesbians and 36 percent of bisexual women. [continue reading…]

Credit: Santiago Felipe/Getty Images

Washington, D.C., June 2 – Billy Porter has had a long history of breaking boundaries. He came out at 16 years old in the middle of the AIDS crisis. His Tony-winning stint as Lola in Kinky Boots confronted stigmas around femininity. And his role as Pray Tell on Pose made him the first openly gay Black man to win any lead acting category at the Primetime Emmy Awards. But Porter is not finished breaking boundaries quite yet.

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Amara (Sophie Kim), Noah (Jace Chapman) and Simon (Mauricio Lara)

Los Angeles, CA, June 1 – Sophie Jaewon Kim is a 14-year-old actress who can be seen on Netflix’s The Healing Powers of Dude. Kim represents a new generation of disabled actors who are indelibly transforming the entertainment industry. Kim is doing more than just wowing audiences with her acting breakthrough—she is leading the way for both Asian American and disabled performers everywhere.

Recently, Kim participated in a RespectAbility virtual event celebrating the representation and inclusion of disabled AANHPI (Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders) in media. In this panel, Kim answered questions regarding the state and future of diversity in the entertainment industry. Kim discussed the messages of support she’s received from fans, both disabled and nondisabled. [continue reading…]

Sponsors include A+E Networks, Final Draft, The Harnisch Foundation, NBCUniversal, Murray/Reese Foundation, Pop Culture Collaborative, Sony Pictures Entertainment, ViacomCBS and The Walt Disney Company

Los Angeles, California – RespectAbility, a nonprofit focused on fighting stigmas of people with disabilities in media and advocating for more authentic representation, is proud to announce that following unprecedented competition from around the world, 30 individuals have been accepted into RespectAbility’s third annual Lab for Entertainment Professionals with Disabilities. The Lab brings authentic and diverse portrayals of people with disabilities to the screen by creating a pipeline of diverse professionals with disabilities behind the camera. [continue reading…]

Los Angeles, CA, May 27 – Making history as the first Deaf or hard of hearing contestant on ABC’s iconic dating series, The Bachelor, Abigail Heringer has pioneered a new direction of diverse production in authentic and intersectional entertainment. The representative progress that has been made for AAPI television personalities and people with disabilities on-screen is largely separate and extraneous. However, Heringer celebrates her multidimensional identity by educating others and welcoming a new age of inclusive conversation.

In RespectAbility’s recent event titled, “Celebrating Representation and Inclusion of Disabled AAPI in Media,” a virtual panel hosted by diversity advocate and entertainment thought leader, Vanni Le, Heringer offered her nuanced narrative. [continue reading…]

Los Angeles, CA, May 27 – Depression is a silent epidemic in America: according to the community-based nonprofit, Mental Health America, 13% of youth battle depressive episodes. MTV’s new investigative documentary on mental illness, Each and Every Day, offers powerful visibility to the survivors behind these statistics. Though nonvisible disabilities often can be overlooked in media, MTV is using their production platform to authentically shed light on the many ways depression affects the youth of America across every demographic. Each and Every Day is a must-watch to have a better understanding of the disparities that exist when people attempt to get help in managing their mental health conditions.

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