Rainbow Rights and Advocacy is a self advocacy group for people with an intellectual disability in the LGBTIQA+ community.
A self advocacy group is for people who have a cause to gather together to have their voices heard in the community.
The group was formed out of an idea from Pride Vic, which is an organisation that works with LGBTIQA+ individuals with disabilities and the Self Advocacy Resource Unit (SARU).
Rainbow Rights is a unique group as it is the first self advocacy group for people with an intellectual disability in the LGBTIQA+ community.
We meet fortnightly to discuss issues, think of ways to take our message out into the community, and to plan events and activities.
We also try to find organisations that will give us some funding.
We Want People To Join Our Group Because:
There is strength in numbers and because individuals with an ID in the LGBTIQA+ community are very isolated, and being part of a group like Rainbow Rights provides them with a community of mutual support. It also gives people the opportunity to learn new skills and learn about their rights. It is important to be able to speak up and have a say about the things in our lives.
Our Projects
The Capacity Building project aims to help Rainbow Rights to identify the barriers to real inclusion for people with an intellectual disability who identify as LGBTIQA+, and to work with people with an intellectual disability and others, over time, to break down those barriers.
Our Issues
Rainbow Rights and Advocacy members are extremely isolated and don’t have a sense of belonging in the general community or the LGBTIQA+ community and face many barriers.
A lot of work has been done by governments and community organisations to break down the barriers facing people with a disability, but efforts to address the issues faced by people with a disability around sexuality, particularly LGBTIQA+, have been patchy.
Importantly for Rainbow Rights, people with an intellectual disability who identify as LGBTIQA+ have, in the main, remained invisible. There is little research, let alone any specific policy or programs, to deal with that invisibility.
Quotes
- We speak up for our rights
- We have the right to have a boyfriend
- We have the right to get married
- We should be able to love whoever we want
- I’m sexy
- We have they the right to live independently
Self Advocacy Matters
Because it gives us the chance to have our voices heard in the community and make things change for the better.
Contact People
- Cameron Bloomfield – 0490 825 094
rainbowrightsandadvocacy@gmail.com
Meeting Times
1 pm – 2.30 pm every Friday
Meeting Location
On Zoom and at Ross House,
247 Flinders Lane,
Melbourne