Roger Armstrong
Roger is a 30-year-old man who has progressive Emery-Dreifuss muscular dystrophy. He uses an electric wheelchair. Roger lives with his parents in a large city, and he plans to move to Quebec for his Ph.D. on romantic love & disability. Roger was bullied in school, and his sexual education made no mention of disability or pleasure. His Evangelical Christian parents have had a large impact on his sexuality, making him feel ashamed for having sex, and instilling many values he now rejects. Roger met his first and only girlfriend online, and her friends and family tried to dissuade her from dating somebody with disabilities. In part this had to do with disablist norms of hegemonic masculinity, which Roger was trying to rework or reject. Their relationship was further complicated by Roger’s parents, because he had to argue with them to let him have sex, and needed to plan sexual encounters for nights they were not around. The break-up was very hard on Roger, and he used counselling to restore his self-esteem. Afterwards, Roger negotiated online to have sex with a sex worker at the apartment he lived in at the time. He felt unsatisfied with the business-like exchange, and would prefer to have sex with someone whom he is comfortable and familiar with. Roger says it is difficult to find dates that are critical of disablist social attitudes, and states that the onus to alleviate social isolation should not be solely placed on people with disabilities.