This Pride month we're celebrating LGBTQIA+ people with sight conditions. From rising stars to one of the world's greatest musical icons, these personalities personify intersectionality and deserve to be better known (yes, even the last one on our list if that is humanly possible).
Ellie Wallwork
Ellie is a 26-year-old actor and writer who has been blind since birth and has known "I wasn’t straight since I was about 14". She's best known for her performances on Doctor Who (where she was the first blind actor to appear, in the 2018 episode It Takes You Away) and Call the Midwife, but she also co-wrote and appeared in Picturesque – a short film about a blind woman and her girlfriend learning to trust, letting go of resentment, and embracing love and disability in all its forms.
While fundraising to make the film, Ellie said, "Being able to help write something so close to my heart means more than anything; I’ve always strived to represent parts of the communities that mean the most to me. For the first time, I’m able to give voice – in some way – to those of us who are VI and queer.
"Previously, I’ve acted in both Doctor Who and Call the Midwife. For those productions, casting an authentically blind actor was a huge step in the right direction and I’m so grateful that I got to be part of it. Intersectionality, though, is just as important: there are other parts to us aside from being VI and for those of us who don’t fit the straight mold society might try to put us in, it’s even more important that we’re represented as we are. Now, I want to make a small step towards showing that it’s not just possible to be a visually impaired LGBTQ+ person; it’s something that should inspire pride within yourself and others. Coming out takes a lot of strength and when you’re also disabled, it can lead to feelings of isolation but it also provides us with a really unique way of looking at the world. Normalising our existence on-screen not only allows those different from us to understand but it also gives us a way to express ourselves that feels right.
"Everyone should feel represented. That includes all of us."
You can learn more about Ellie on her website.
Jack Birkett
Jack was a dancer, mime artist, actor and singer who was often billed as Orlando, or The Incredible Orlando. He began to lose his sight aged 32 and despite attempting a variety of cures ranging from surgery to bee-stings (according to his friend and collaborator Lindsay Kemp) he became totally blind.
He was best known for his stage work as a member of the Lindsay Kemp Dance Mime Company, and most of his best-known work was done after he lost his sight.
Born in Leeds in 1934, he developed a passion for ballet at the age of 14. He went on to work as a model for David Hockney and other artists before finding work backstage at the Grand Theatre in Leeds aged 16. He moved to London shortly afterwards and worked as a dance and singer in touring shows and musicals.
Jack met Lindsay Kemp in 1956 when they were attending Marie Rambert's ballet classes, and the pair became firm friends. Described as 'flamboyant', the two gay men scraped a living in their early days, working as stage hands, cooks and cleaners, occasionally hitchhiking from venue to venue carrying costumes and props.
Kemp later wrote: "Jack was Judy to my Mr Punch, Harlequin to my Pierrot, Titania to my Puck, Herodias to my Salomé, Queen of Hearts to my Lewis Carroll. We shared flats, dressing rooms, boyfriends, bills, good times and bad times, success and failure; a couple of extravagant young dreamers, a couple of aching elders, always entertainers."
His work wasn't confined to the stage, and he made a number of TV and film appearances, including as Caliban in Derek Jarman's version of The Tempest and as Thersites in Jonathan Miller's Troilus and Cressida.
Jack died in London in 2010 at the age of 75.
Skyler Davenport
Skyler is best known for their voice acting, voicing Karen Jinryo, March 7th, and Azusa Aizawa, and their role in the thriller See for Me (2021) as Sophie, a blind former skier.
Skyler is non-binary and asexual, and experienced sight loss as the result of a stroke caused by a hemiplegic migraine. They are also autistic.
The 31-year-old actor was born in Madison, Winconsin, and has also had roles in NCIS: Los Angeles, Murder Made Me Famous, and Salem.
In discussing their role as Sophie in See For Me with Advocate in 2022, Skyler addressed the issue of casting disabled performers for disabled roles, “It’s not that you can’t be a good actor, and you can’t portray it accurately. But I think people that come into this world, and for whatever reason, their beingness has decided to experience a disability...there’s something so special about that. It brings this little indescribable spark to the role that you’re just not going to get with someone that doesn’t live in that day-to-day.”
Paul Church
Paul writes and illustrates children's books and has built up a loyal following on social media with his husband Matthew (or MATTHEW! as he's better known to their followers.)
The couple share videos on TikTok and YouTube, many of which discuss Paul's experiences of retinitis pigmentosa or feature his guide dog Mr Maple. (Many more feature Matthew pranking him, generally ending with a delighted howl of "MATTHEW!".)
Paul has self-published five children's picture books, three featuring Pringle and Finn, two male penguins who get married and go on to become parents. His books are available from Paul Castle Studio.
In 2022 he told the Los Angeles Blade that the US political climate, with its LGBTQ+ book bans and "Don't Say Gay" bill has helped to fuel his creative work, saying, “My interest in storytelling usually comes from a place of advocacy, whether it’s LGBTQ or advocating for the disabled community.”
Jake Sawyer / Venetia Blind
Jake is a Cardiff-based actor working across film, television and stage – and also Wales's first drag queen with sight loss.
Since graduating from the University of Wales Trinity Saint David with a First Class BA (Hons) in Acting, Jake has been busy on screens, in theatres and in digital performances. You may even have caught him narrating in RNIB Talking Books' special 90th anniversary production of Pride and Prejudice alongside Adjoa Andoh, Mark Bonnar, Phil Dunster, and Ben Willbond.
He also creates his own work, writing and performing original projects, and says, "I’m drawn to work that values honesty, curiosity and collaboration, and I bring a strong work ethic and openness to every project I’m part of."
Talking to the BBC in 2022, he said that being blind is not his "entire personality", but it does influence every single thing he does.
Born with Norie Syndrome and Nystagmus Jake is completely blind in the left eye and has limited sight in the right, and as Venetia Blind he entertains and educates people on what life is like as a disabled person, "There is just a massive misconception around what disabled people can and cannot do," he told the BBC.
Jake started performing in drag in 2019 after falling in love with Cardiff's drag scene and taking the plunge at a drag scratch night at Wales Millennium Centre. "I wrote some songs about the lived experiences of being blind to perform, and 'dragged up' as Venetia Blind, had an absolute ball – and have just done it ever since really."
Jake credits his partner Taylor Martin with his inspired drag name, "it just fit perfectly for who I am and my performance" he said.
Sir Elton John
Last, but never least, is superstar singer/songwriter Sir Elton John. You could fill a book about the life of the shy boy, born Reginald Dwight, who grew up to become one of Britain's biggest musical stars. And he did… You can read his 2019 autobiography, Me, in braille or as a Talking Book, narrated by Taron Egerton (who played Sir Elton in Rocketman). (You'll need to be signed up to RNIB's free Library service.)
He's very open about his relationships and drug addiction, but he's just as transparent about finding love with David Furnish and becoming a father.
In 2024 he shared the news that he had lost the sight in his right eye as the result of a severe eye infection and had limited vision in his left eye.
In November 2025 he talked about the impact of this sight loss, saying, “It’s been devastating,” he said. “Because I lost my right eye and my left eye’s not so good, the last 15 months have been challenging for me because I haven’t been able to see anything, watch anything, read anything.” The musical icon has been undergoing treatment and has started to see “some improvements” in his left eye, but admitted progress has been slow.
