Chris Smith has always had a passion for tennis.
Yet for much of his life, Smith's disability has meant getting out on court has been easier said than done.
Smith lives with a condition that affects the strength and elasticity of his connective tissue.
"When I was playing, I would dislocate my joints really easily," Smith said.
"I'd get major injuries really easily, and I couldn't play for very long."
And as a trans man, traditional sporting spaces haven't always felt safe.
But now, as a new wheelchair user entering the world of adaptive sport, playing the game he loves is more accessible than it has ever been.
"It's a lot easier to manage all of my conditions while in a wheelchair, because it's a space where I don't have to be completely upright, I don't have to be running around," Smith said.
Chris Smith had never played adaptive sport before Wheelchair Sports NSW/ACT Rolling Rainbow Sports Day. (ABC News: Geoff Kemp)
Smith's first taste of wheelchair tennis came at the Rolling Rainbow Sports Day, an annual event held by Wheelchair Sports NSW/ACT, in conjunction with grassroots LGBTQ+ sporting organisation Pride in Sport.
The demonstration day featured games of wheelchair AFL, wheelchair basketball, wheelchair tennis and wheelchair rugby, and is part of an increasing number of grassroots initiatives encouraging and celebrating LGBTQIA+ inclusion in adaptive sport.
"For them to be running this day, it means a lot to me, because it's somewhere I can go and know I'll be safe being everything that I am,"Smith said.
Creating safe spaces
One in 20 Australians are part of the LGBTQIA+ community, with higher rates amongst younger people, and around one in four Australians have a disability.
Members of both communities face significant hurdles when it comes to participation in sport, and for people at the intersection of these identities, such hurdles can be even more significant.
There are significant hurdles to accessing sport for people at the intersection of queer and disability communities. (ABC News: Geoff Kemp)
Kade Matthews is the community development officer at Proud 2 Play, a grassroots non-for-profit organisation that aims to create safe and welcoming sporting spaces for queer and gender diverse people.
His organisation recently established a formal partnership with Disability Sports Australia that will allow for the sharing of resources, road maps, and knowledge across clubs and communities.
"In our queer community, we have a relationship with sport which is sometimes traumatic, and sports clubs are the site of that trauma," Matthews said.
"People with a disability might think sport is not for them for different reasons. So they might look at their disability as a hindrance to being able to participate.
"Both of those things are very different issues, but I think that the core lesson is that clubs can work together and do better to show that they're welcoming and facilitate those journeys."
Some studies suggest that rates of queerness are higher amongst people with a disability than the general public. (ABC News: Geoff Kemp)
He also says that there is an appetite for adaptive sports amongst the queer community.
"A lot of our community wants modified sport because they've been redirected from mainstream sport already," Matthews said.
"So, some of our community might even not have a disability, but disability sports such as wheelchair basketball might be something different for them that they see an angle to engage in."
A more welcoming environment
Smith's entrance into the world of adaptive sport came through 19-year-old Aspen, who is something of a Rolling Rainbow veteran.
The pair met at this year's Mardi Gras parade.
19-year-old Aspen (centre-right) is a veteran of three Rolling Rainbow Sports Days. (ABC News, Geoff Kemp)
"I'm now bringing my friends to come play with us as well, who are recent wheelchair users and queer themselves," Aspen said.
But for Aspen, also a trans man and wheelchair user, sporting spaces haven't always felt so welcoming.
"I remember being younger and really struggling with regular sport," he said.
"I didn't always know I was disabled, and I was kept out of a lot of things, especially when I was found out I was queer.
"There's a lot of rules that prevent queer people from participating in a sport."
Rolling Rainbow veteran Aspen says adaptive sport is more inclusive than traditional sport. (ABC News: Geoff Kemp)
He says finding the adaptive sport community has drastically changed his relationship with sport.
"In the adaptive community, there are a lot less rules," Aspen said.
"Everyone just wants you to have fun, and we realise how important sport is for our disabilities and our mental health.
"So, it's definitely a lot more of an inclusive space, and no one's really turned away for being queer here."
A go for everyone
Wheelchair Sports NSW/ACT governs nine adaptive sports, and CEO Mick Garnett says a lot of its success is rooted in adaptive sport's ability to transcend disability.
"Not a lot of people know that adaptive sport is also absolutely for people not living with disabilities," Garnett said.
"I think part of our growth since 1961 has been people not living with disabilities jumping in chairs and having a roll with us.
"Whether that's brothers and sisters, mums and dads, aunties and uncles or friends and colleagues — people not living with disabilities help us make teams and leagues and competition to enable people with disabilities to play more often."
Adaptive sport encourages participation from people of all abilities and ages. (ABC News: Geoff Kemp)
And Garnett says that events like the Rolling Rainbow Sports Day are integral to the continued development of adaptive sport.
"A key message out of today really is if anyone wants to get involved in wheelchair sport, if they're from the rainbow community, if they're allies — everyone is welcome at our place."
Source: ABC