Dis/Enabled Queerness: Cripping “Coming Out” and Resisting Heteronormative Ableism in Taiwan

Abstract

This chapter examines disabled queer activism in Taiwan and its shift from visibility politics to intimate citizenship. Although scholarship on disabled queer life in Asia remains sparse, Taiwan’s activism has expanded—especially since marriage equality in 2019. Building on the long-standing presence of Disabled+Queer at Taipei Pride since 2008 and the emergence of Hand Angel, the authors analyze how disabled LGBTQ+ people contest ableism and heteronormativity across public and private spheres. Drawing on life-story interviews (n = 3), participant observation, and organizational first-person texts (2019–early 2025), the authors use a public–private × LGBTQ–disability matrix to trace crip-queer and queer-crip moves. Findings show that visibility is scaffolded—necessary but insufficient—and is paired with, for instance, strategic coming out/passing, coalition work with other advocacy groups, and accessibility interventions that have reshaped Pride organizing. In families, acceptance is often negotiated through care practices and partner assistance, illuminating kinship dynamics specific to Taiwan’s sociocultural context. Hand Angel further advances sexual autonomy, consent, and support infrastructures, addressing gaps left by service-oriented disability provision. Centering Taiwan’s disabled queer community, the authors integrate disability studies, queer studies, and Taiwan studies to push intersectionality beyond identity description and toward practices that enable desire, intimacy, and collective agency.