According to the ⁠Human Rights Campaign (HRC)⁠, About one-quarter (24%) of cisgender LGBQ+ adults, and a third (35%) of transgender adults reported cognitive disabilities, compared to less than one in ten (9%) non-LGBTQ+ adults. However, it is important to raise awareness about the LGBT-disabled community issues and understand how to employ effective strategies for living in a forever-changing world.

Phenomenal Disabilities with Tree Lowe's guests, Liz Prichard and Sam Lasher, are LGTQIA partners and have been inseparable for quite a while. Each has navigated similar experiences in the neurodivergent community, previous dating journeys, chat about their careers, ableism, and current life together. With a quarter of the United States having some form of disability, Liz and Sam educate the world about solutions, and navigations encountering non-disabled and non-LGBTQIA communities with ableist responses. Liz and Sam express that there is more to life by rising above negative experiences while mentoring others to live their authentic selves within the disabled/LGBTQIA communities.

For auditory listeners on the go, check out Phenomenal Disabilities with Tree Lowe on ⁠Apple Podcast⁠⁠, Amazon, Spotify, iHeart, and many more.

According to CDC.gov CP was significantly more common among Black children than white children and (82.9%) of the children identified with CP had spastic CP. Well, Dr. D’Arcee Neal is no newbie to the disability and others (Spastic Cerebral Palsy and onset fluency). Neal was born with CP and navigated his other disabilities throughout his life. As a proud LGBTQIA and BIPOC community member, Neal has fought over the years for advocacy rights. Aside from his community and health background, Neal is a professor, writer, singer, advocate, activist, and many more.

According to a CAP20 2022 survey, community members reports of experiencing some form of discrimination in the past year were elevated among LGBTQI+ respondents of color (45 percent), LGBTQI+ individuals with disabilities (47 percent), and transgender or nonbinary individuals (56 percent), as well as people with intersex traits (67 percent).

Neal discusses various topics on the show (career, advocacy, family, friends, and hurdles with dating). Many of the topics discuss global issues among many disabled individuals, especially, when it includes racial and sexual identity. However, raising awareness about these key topics is extremely important for other communities to be knowledgeable about avoiding ableist and discriminative responses.

On another note, the Dateability dating app services, founded by Alexa Child and Jacqueline Child, provide space for the disabled community to establish dating connections. However, this is just a tiny fix to addressing dating, among other issues (discrimination against career, housing, etc.), which is still an ongoing issue in the communities (disabled, LGBTQIA, BIPOC, seniors, etc.) navigate daily.

Neal believes it’s time to make significant improvements and change under turbulent political election times, considering the outcome for many communities affected by bureaucratic and selfishly constructed policies that are designed to protect white, male, extremist fanatics’ objectives of dismantling so many communities in the United States.

Melody Doyle is a singer from the music group Sounds of Blackness. She's had her own experience navigating addiction, dealing with in and out of jail correctional facilities, sobriety, her neurodivergent disabilities, family, and so much more. She is a mother of two children, recently engaged, a peer coach, and her collaborative role with Sounds of Blackness helped win the group numerous awards. Melody encourages everyone never to give up and find more in their life. This show episode is not only about Melody's journey, it provides insight into an ongoing issue that affects so many people who navigate mental disabilities, addiction, and deal with a lack of resources. Many involve inadequate rehabilitation in correctional facilities, lack of schooling, housing availability after leaving prison, etc.). Stay TUNED for Melody's live performance on Phenomenal Disabilities with Tree Lowe.