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Article

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

by
Amani Karisa
1,*,
Mchungwani Rashid
1,
Zakayo Wanjihia
1,
Fridah Kiambati
1,
Lydia Namatende-Sakwa
1,
Emmy Kageha Igonya
2,
Anthony Idowu Ajayi
2,
Benta Abuya
1,
Caroline W. Kabiru
2 and
Moses Ngware
1
1
Human Development Theme, African Population and Health Research Center, Nairobi 00100, Kenya
2
Health and Wellbeing Theme, African Population and Health Research Center, Nairobi 00100, Kenya
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Disabilities 2025, 5(3), 69; https://doi.org/10.3390/disabilities5030069
Submission received: 1 June 2025 / Revised: 26 July 2025 / Accepted: 28 July 2025 / Published: 31 July 2025
Versions Notes

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 comprehensive sexuality education; disability; discrimination; health; intersectionality; LGBT; LGBTQIA+; minority

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MDPI and ACS Style

Karisa, A.; Rashid, M.; Wanjihia, Z.; Kiambati, F.; Namatende-Sakwa, L.; Igonya, E.K.; Ajayi, A.I.; Abuya, B.; Kabiru, C.W.; Ngware, M. Making the Invisible Visible: Addressing the Sexuality Education Needs of Persons with Disabilities Who Identify as Queer in Kenya. Disabilities 2025, 5, 69. https://doi.org/10.3390/disabilities5030069

AMA Style

Karisa A, Rashid M, Wanjihia Z, Kiambati F, Namatende-Sakwa L, Igonya EK, Ajayi AI, Abuya B, Kabiru CW, Ngware M. Making the Invisible Visible: Addressing the Sexuality Education Needs of Persons with Disabilities Who Identify as Queer in Kenya. Disabilities. 2025; 5(3):69. https://doi.org/10.3390/disabilities5030069

Chicago/Turabian Style

Karisa, Amani, Mchungwani Rashid, Zakayo Wanjihia, Fridah Kiambati, Lydia Namatende-Sakwa, Emmy Kageha Igonya, Anthony Idowu Ajayi, Benta Abuya, Caroline W. Kabiru, and Moses Ngware. 2025. "Making the Invisible Visible: Addressing the Sexuality Education Needs of Persons with Disabilities Who Identify as Queer in Kenya" Disabilities 5, no. 3: 69. https://doi.org/10.3390/disabilities5030069

APA Style

Karisa, A., Rashid, M., Wanjihia, Z., Kiambati, F., Namatende-Sakwa, L., Igonya, E. K., Ajayi, A. I., Abuya, B., Kabiru, C. W., & Ngware, M. (2025). Making the Invisible Visible: Addressing the Sexuality Education Needs of Persons with Disabilities Who Identify as Queer in Kenya. Disabilities, 5(3), 69. https://doi.org/10.3390/disabilities5030069

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