Disability justice, termed in 2005 by disabled queer women of color activists—including Patty Berne and Mia Mingus—seeks to address ableism and center people who experience intersectional oppression. As Berne writes, a disability justice framework understands that: “All bodies are unique and essential. All bodies have strengths and needs that must be met. We are powerful, not despite the complexities of our bodies, but because of them. All bodies are confined by ability, race, gender, sexuality, class, nation state, religion, and more, and we cannot separate them.”

The sexual freedom movement joins disability justice activists in affirming these truths. We are each unique and essential, and we each have needs (and desires!) to be met, including those for care, community, pleasure, and family. All people of all abilities deserve to access and enjoy their fundamental human right to sexual freedom.

Disability justice is paramount to a myriad of human rights, including the right to life, the right to health, and the right to safety.