Andrew Gurza shows us how hot disabled sex is
Provocatively titled “F– Disabled People,” the 2022 reboot of Queer As Folk centered it’s fourth episode around a disabled sex party. The idea wasn’t pure entertainment. That sex party actually happened.
It was called the “Deliciously Disabled” sex night, and was organized by the disabled community in Toronto at a local theatre back in 2015. Andrew Gurza, a local native, lives with cerebral palsy and helped organize the disability community to offer an inclusive, accessible event. As a sexually active gay man, Andrew constantly battles the ableism that exists in the LGBTQ community. “If you don’t look a certain way, you’re easily overlooked and undervalued,” he said.
“Too many people think that because I’m in a wheelchair, somehow I am not a sexual being.” He’s proud to have been a part of something that encouraged disabled people to just be their sexiest, most empowered selves. “I want to remind everyone that disabled bodies have value and we deserve sexual spaces to be accessible to us, too,” he said.
As a self-eponymous Disability Awareness Consultant, Andrew works across various mediums to break down the ableist social and institutional structures that our society upholds. His podcast Disability After Dark has been consistently ranked as one of the top 100 sexuality podcasts in North America, and anyone can book him for a keynote or panel discussion, or a workshop.
Andrew’s contemporary, Ryan O’Connell, who is also a writer and activist living with cerebral palsy and is known for Special (2019) and Awkward (2010), joined the writing team of Queer As Folk. The reboot reimagines the early 2000’s show which originally centered an all-white, all-cisgender cast. Back then, it was some of the only gay TV content available. With queer content easily available these days, however, the show has modernized to match the times to show more of the queer universe–and that’s made it even better.
Ryan’s not the only person living with cerebral palsy working to bring better representation to the show — also Andrew Gurza is pictured on screen in S1:E4 and is a production consultant across other episodes. Queer As Folk very well may be a fantasy, soapy world of escapism, but now it also validates that trans people and disabled people exist in this world, too. “While our bodies may look different than what we usually see on screen and they deserve the same acknowledgement,” Andrew says.
“When we think about disability, we usually talk about access and stop there,” Andrew says. “I want to use my voice to tell people how disability feels. That includes talking about sex.” Andrew continues, “After all, a wheelchair can just become a big sex toy.”
Speaking of sex toys–Andrew created one. It’s called the Bump’n Joystick. Designed with a disabled body in mind, it can bend easily for different positions, body types, and kinks. No need for fine motor skills–the Bump’n Joystick is advertised as one of the most easy to use toys on the market. Andrew’s looking for non-disabled people to donate to Bump’n Joystick so they can give this experience to more disabled people. The invitation specifically is to fund an orgasm.
Because Andrew speaks so openly about sex, I had to ask him about his own kinks.
“I love when a guy tells me ‘I’ve never been with a disabled guy’ before,” he exclaimed. Too many guys say that him being in a wheelchair is “too much” for them to handle. They lack the creativity and imagination to be sexually intimate with him. That can feel life-alienating. On the other hand, it’s sexually empowering to be with someone who hasn’t had that experience and he gets to be the one to show them how hot disabled sex is. It may feel different. It may look different. “But it’s really hot,” Andrew says.
