Neurodivergent people had to endure discrimination by established society amid prejudices such as ‘strange people with poor social skills.’ With the interest in the intersectionality of identity now growing, I paid attention to those residing in Korea who are neurodivergent and LGBTQ+ as well. They have a history that has not been visibly represented in the intersectional minorities.
English Translation: 피웊
Translation review: Juyeon
Writer of the original text: Ana Lee
Review and amendments to the original text: Miguel, 희중
This post is contributed by Ana Lee at the invitation of LGBT News Korea. Lee is a member of 3Oceans. Lee’s main interests are in neurodiversity, LGBTQ+, and intersectional identities.
In recent years, there has been a growing number of people with the intersectionality of identities within the LGBTQ+ community in a generally accepting atmosphere. Such ‘intersectionality of different identities’ typically seems to be people with racial and cultural differences or people with different types of disabilities. To further elaborate on the latter, the stories of people who have ‘physical disabilities such as blindness, hearing impairment, and physical disabilities, and also who are LGBTQ+ have gone viral from time to time in online communities. On the other hand, it seems that the stories of people who have ‘mental disabilities’ and are LGBTQ+ are unknown, and such individuals did not want to open themselves on the internet. However, those people have begun to speak up about their stories, especially in online communities, and recently, many books have been published mainly by people with ADHD. People with ADHD or autistic spectrum disorder can be grouped into a single category named ‘neurodivergent’ (although neurodiversity includes more than the diagnostic name for those two). What is neurodiversity? And what do they have to do with the LGBTQ+ community? Let’s look further into it.
First, let me explain who neurodivergent people are. To put it simply, neurodivergent people are people with neurodiversity. Then the question of what the neurodiversity is follows. To understand the word literally, their neural structure is more diverse compared to typical people resulting in neurodivergent diagnostic names such as autistic spectrum disorder and ADHD. The neurodiversity movement is a movement in which neurodivergent people(or neurotypical people who support them) inform about neurodiversity and advocate for the rights and interests of neurodivergent people. Neurodiversity has a short history both at home and abroad, because it hasn’t been long since its concept was found. The representative of Korea’s neurodiversity movement organization is ‘3Oceans.’ Many people are members of this organization. ‘3Oceans’ has held workshops with other organizations, prepared a private report of the Convention of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities(CRPD), and held the 2nd Neurodiversity Forum in February 2023, following the 1st forum in 2022. 3Oceans held not only external activities, but also internally such as art gatherings and self-help gatherings.
Until recently, neurodivergent people have been many times excluded from the LGBTQ+ movement. It was excluded from other movements as well. Neurodivergent people were often viewed as strange or lacking in some way, and have been dismissed as having ‘lacking social skills.’ ‘Lacking social skills is indeed one of the characteristics that neurodivergent people have, but people have not viewed them from the perspective of human diversity. And if they do not meet the societal human image, they are disregarded as ‘strange people’ and have been excluded from society. They were also excluded from LGBTQ+ movements because neurodivergent people were not seen in terms of diversity. In the LGBTQ+ movement, when people of LGBTQ+ express themselves to non-LGBTQ+ people, they emphasize that being queer is not ‘strange’ as a result, following the definition of normalcy. In the process, so-called ‘strange’ neurodivergent people were seen as groups that LGBTQ+ groups avoid associating with and often exclude.
Despite the history, attempts to shed light on neurodivergent people can be found in various social movements today. The aforementioned ‘2nd Neurodiversity Forum’ is the site of such an attempt. The theme of the forum was ‘intersectionality and solidarity,’ and many overseas cases were being presented, but domestic cases also stood out. I too have presented at the event under the topic of ‘Neurodiversity and Sexuality.’ Under the title "The Status of LGBTQ+ Neurodivergent Living in Korea," I outlined how many neurodivergent and LGBTQ+ people exist and how their lives are. As interest in the intersectionality of identities increases, I have prepared a study that covers two minority groups, ‘neurodiversity’ and ‘LGBTQ+.’ Various neurodiversity and LGBTQ+ parties were recruited to conduct surveys on neurodiversity, gender, and sexual orientation, and many neurodiversity people responded that they fall into intersectionality.
The study I conducted has the significance of being the first case in Korea to briefly investigate the intersectionality of neurodiversity and LGBTQ+. The study observed various aspects of neurodivergent people. Contrary to initial assumptions, some responded that there were no difficulties resulting from intersectionality and others responded that even if they were identified as people with intersectionality, their lives would be the same nonetheless. Even though people under intersectionality are in the minority, they are not just a unified group, but a group with diversity within diversity. In addition, many respondents said that through identification of themselves, they learned to accept themselves, understood their rights such as self-determination, and were understood in their work, school, or family. Although Korean society is still hostile towards minorities, people in minority groups have gained the driving force to imagine and continue a better life of quality by support from themselves and those around the individual.
Though there is much room for improvement, I was able to expand studies on intersectionality by planning and presenting these studies. I hope that a study on intersectionality involving various people will be conducted in the future and that various ‘strange people’ will also be able to join solidarity in our daily lives.
If you are a neurodivergent yourself or a supporter, you can contact ‘3Oceans,’ neurodiversity movement organization, through the link below
English Translation: 피웊
Translation review: Juyeon
Writer of the original text: Ana Lee
Review and amendments to the original text: Miguel, 희중
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