After studying Kimberlé Crenshaw’s theory of intersectionality, which highlights how different aspects of identity such as race, gender, disability, and class can overlap to create unique experiences of discrimination and privilege (Crenshaw, 1991), I found the video Intersectionality in Focus: Empowering Voices during UK Disability History Month 2023 particularly resonant.
In this video, Chay Brown shares his experience as a white, trans man with a mental health disability. Although his whiteness grants him certain privileges, he also faces complex challenges navigating hidden disabilities and decoding social cues within the LGBTQ+ community. His story powerfully shows that discrimination is not caused by a single aspect of identity, but by the collision and compounding of multiple identities.
Reflecting on Chay Brown’s Intersectionality
by Rebekah Guo, 2025
In the diagram I created, I mapped out different parts of Chay Brown’s identity: being white, living with a mental health disability, and being a trans mom. As a white man, Chay carries certain social privileges, especially compared to racial minorities. But at the same time, his lived experience is far from simple. Being a trans gay man with a hidden disability brings layered, often invisible challenges. Because his disability is not immediately visible, it can be harder for him to express his needs or gain recognition for the barriers he faces. There’s also the pressure to learn the subtle non-verbal communication often expected in male-dominated spaces, as he described, it’s adding another layer of anxiety.
Chay’s interview really resonated with me because it reminded me of my own intersectional identity. I am a Chinese woman, living with a mental health disability, and an immigrant. There are challenging situations I encounter sometimes without even fully realising they’re unfair. I’ve learned to fit in, to read hidden social cues, even when doing so feels uncomfortable or overwhelming. I am also neurodivergent, and I find it very stressful to stay in loud, chaotic social environments for extended periods. For a long time, I thought I simply disliked these spaces, but now I understand it as part of my disability experience, not a personal failing.
Reflecting on my own Intersectionality
by Rebekah Guo, 2025
According to UAL Active Dashboard data (University of the Arts London, 2024), around 2.94% of students declared mental health conditions in 2024/25, 656 individuals. While this may seem like a small proportion, it actually represents a significant number of people who are navigating invisible disabilities alongside the demands of academic life. Although UAL offers a wide range of mental health support services, not all students are aware of them, and many may feel hesitant or uncomfortable seeking help.
University of the Arts London (2024) UAL Active Dashboard: Student Profile: Characteristic 2024/25
This reality makes it even more critical to recognise that inclusion must happen inside the classroom itself, not just through external support channels. Hidden disabilities, like mental health challenges, are often overlooked in standard classroom practices. As a result, many students who are struggling silently end up feeling excluded, even when they are physically present.
Reflecting on intersectionality has made me realise that creating a genuinely inclusive learning environment means intentionally valuing and responding to invisible needs—not just visible ones. In my future practice, I want to make hidden disabilities visible in the sense of recognition and respect, without forcing disclosure. By embedding flexible ways to engage, express, and participate into everyday teaching, I hope to create spaces where students with diverse, often unseen, experiences can truly feel seen and supported.
In the third interview video, Christine Sun Kim’s words, “If you don’t see us, we have no place to be,” stayed with me deeply after watching her interview. It reminded me that visibility is not just about acknowledgement — it’s about expectation, about infrastructure, about creating spaces where people know they are anticipated, not just accommodated.
Reference:
Crenshaw, K. (1991) ‘Mapping the margins: Intersectionality, identity politics, and violence against women of color’, Stanford Law Review, 43(6), pp. 1241–1299.
University of the Arts London (2024) UAL Active Dashboard: Student Profile: Characteristic – Disability 2024/25, unpublished internal data. Accessed 29th April 2025
YouTube (2023) Intersectionality in Focus: Empowering Voices during UK Disability History Month 2023 . Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yID8_s5tjc (Accessed: 28 April 2025).
YouTube (2021) Christine Sun Kim: “Friends and Strangers” . Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqoDsQyqGpA (Accessed: 28 April 2025).
This blog post has been supported by grammar and expression checking using OpenAI’s ChatGPT 4o model.
OpenAI (2025) ChatGPT [online]. Available at: https://chat.openai.com/ (Accessed: 28 April 2025).
Hi Rebekah – below are my thoughts.
For the first paragraph, I wondered why you found this video particularly resonant? Why not the others? What was it about this one?
I love the diagrams. They really help to show the “intersectional” aspect of intersectionality. Going forward, I could try to make some images in my own blogs.
It was really great to hear about your own position and intersectionality too. I think this is missing from my own post and is something I could reflect on more deeply. I wonder from your own perspective, what things really helped you to reach an understanding classroom spaces as “part of my disability experience, [and] not a personal failing”. Are there any recommendations you could make which I could test with my own students? Or resources to signpost them to, or for me to explore further?
You wrote: “This reality makes it even more critical to recognize that inclusion must happen inside the classroom itself” – this is a great conclusion to draw from the data your present. I wonder where the boundrary is between what we support as lecturers and what requires signposting, as it goes outside of our expertise. At times I find that I often signpost students to relevant UAL services when I feel out of my depth or that I don’t understand the best way to deal with student issues. What do you think?
All the best,
Corey
Thank you so much for your thoughtful feedback. what resonated with me most from Chay Brown’s interview was the discussion around hidden disabilities. I deeply understand the exhaustion that comes with trying to read and learn non-verbal communication, constantly interpreting other people’s intentions. It’s an invisible labour that’s hard to explain.
Through many years of therapy and professional mental health supervision, I was able to gain a deeper understanding of neurodivergence and, in turn, myself. But this journey also made me realise that not everyone has the same access to support, which makes these challenges even greater for many students.
In terms of the boundary between lecturer support and signposting, I think what I aim to do is to create as inclusive an environment as possible without requiring students to disclose specific personal details. When deeper or more complex needs arise, it’s essential to signpost them to professional services. However, offering inclusive options, such as quiet spaces, flexible formats for presentations (like Kwame’s example of different ways to present) can already make a big difference in reducing stress and making sessions more accessible, and reduce stress level.
Mental health is often not something students feel ready to openly talk about, and trust needs to be built over time. By creating accessible, flexible classroom spaces and building authentic bonds with students, we can better notice when students may be struggling, even if they don’t tell us directly. I would say:”Based on what I have observed recently, I would recommend a conversation with our student support officers,here is the contact details.” without making assumptions, and always framing it as an offer of extra support rather than a judgment.I agree that this is an area we should keep exploring further together throughout this unit.
Thanks again for your thoughtful comments, Corey! I really appreciated them that lead me to think deeper.
Hello Rebekah and thank you for agreeing to be my blog buddy at the last workshop. Its really appreciated. I thought your blog was very insightful and demonstrated a level of empathy generally, as a practitioner, that I am sure your students already benefit from. Your identification with Chay Brown’s lived experience also demonstrates to me that you ‘get’ intersectionality and how those who have identities that make them vulnerable to discrimination inhabit the same platforms of complexity, albeit from different view points or points of view. My visual imagery of platforms was aided by your use of Venn diagrams. A really useful representation of overlaps and very apt when discussing disability as many of the students I work with identify as having a visual memory. Two major take-aways for me are; how exhausting it can be navigating and managing differences, never more so when these differences are invisible. The other is; access to support and support being an add on rather than embedded in the classroom. Having to ask for support surely means that people don’t feel catered for in the day to day experience of the learning environment, which is key to inclusive learning. Thanks you for this thoughtful piece.
Hi Frances,
Thank you so much for this lovely comment 🙂
You’ve picked up on one of the things I keep thinking about , how tiring it is to constantly adapt and decode unspoken norms, especially when your needs aren’t visible. When support feels like an “add-on,” it unintentionally signals that inclusion is conditional rather than embedded. I totally agreed what you mentioned and referenced in your blog:
Nyak (2025) and Phoenix (2018) , the idea that intersectionality should be a framework for practice, not just a topic of discussion. It speaks directly to how I’ve been trying to rethink inclusion in my own teaching, not just acknowledging difference, but actively designing for it.
Looking forward to continuing these conversations as we move through the unit.
Hi Rebekah,
I really enjoyed how you unpack your personal experiences of intersectionality. The diagram you included was especially effective — it made the complexity of these overlapping identities very tangible.
Your connection to Christine Sun Kim’s quote was incredibly moving. The idea that inclusion is not just about being seen but being expected is such a powerful shift in thinking, and you articulated it beautifully.
As a point of feedback, I wonder if you could explore further how systems — like education or healthcare — can unintentionally reinforce ableism, especially in relation to neurodivergent or mentally disabled students. You hint at this well with the UAL data and your point about the need for support within the classroom. It might be interesting to connect that more explicitly to the idea of structural change or institutional responsibility.
If you’re interested in expanding this reflection, the work of Rosemarie Garland-Thomson and Alison Kafer might be really insightful. Garland-Thomson’s writing on staring and normate culture could deepen your exploration of visibility and how disabled people are often either hyper-visible or rendered invisible in institutional settings. Her concept of the “normate” invites us to question who our environments are truly built for. Kafer’s Feminist, Queer, Crip also resonates with your thinking around inclusive education. She challenges us to move beyond accommodation and instead imagine futures where disability is anticipated, valued, and woven into collective life. Both offer powerful frameworks for rethinking how inclusion can be actively embedded, not just offered.
Loved reading your post and happy to continue the conversation when we meet in class.
Best,
Monika
Hi Monika,
Thank you so much for your generous comment .
I’m glad The Christine Sun Kim quote resonated with you too. That shift from “being seen” to “being expected” is something I want to keep in mind in my own practice.
Thank you for your recommendation to examine how systems perpetuate ableism. It resonated so much with me.
You’ve got a point I only touched on it briefly, but the more I’ve thought about it, the more I’ve come to see how structural barriers are so often framed as individual obstacles.
For instance, the assumption that students must advocate for themselves implies a degree of self-assuredness and comprehension that many neurodivergent groups may not possess, particularly if they have an invisible or undiagnosed condition.
I haven’t come across Garland-Thomson or Kafer before, but from how you describe their work, I can already tell they’ll offer me a deeper language and framework to explore these ideas. I love the idea of challenging the “normate” and imagining futures where inclusion isn’t an afterthought but part of the design from the beginning; that really aligns with what I’ve been reflecting on in my teaching.