Honoring Intersectionality: LGBTQIA+ and Disability Inclusion in Schools

Amanda Darrow — Director of Youth, Family, and Education at the Utah Pride Center. She holds an M.Ed. and a B.S. in Clinical & Counseling Psychology from Westminster College (Salt Lake City). Her work focuses on helping homes, schools, and community spaces become more inclusive for LGBTQIA+ youth and families, and educating current and future generations about the community.

Shamby Polychronis, Ph.D. — Assistant Professor of Special Education at the University of Utah. A long‑time disability rights advocate, her passions include intersectionality, alternatives to guardianship, full inclusion in school and community, eliminating aversive interventions, and meaningful employment. She prepares special‑education teacher candidates and continues research and advocacy across these issues.

Host Tim Villegas talks with Amanda Darrow and Shamby Polychronis about honoring intersectionality between disability and LGBTQIA+ identities—what it looks like in classrooms, why language matters, and how policies and everyday practices can either harm or protect students. They unpack the “Genderbread Person” framework (identity, expression, sex, and attraction), discuss pronouns and the life‑saving impact of respectful language, share data on overlap between LGBTQIA+ and disability communities, and offer practical tips administrators and teachers can implement now—along with legal angles (ADA, FAPE/IDEA, Title IX) for creating safer, more equitable schools.

Complete show notes and transcript: https://mcie.org/think-inclusive/amanda-darrow-and-shamby-polychronis-honoring-intersectionality/