Oscar E. Hughes started his career as a teacher of transition-age students with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Now, he partners with LGBTQ+ researchers with intellectual and developmental disabilities to conduct participatory action research to support gender and sexual self-expression. He works in the Paul V. Sherlock Center on Disabilities coordinating the Dual Sensory Impairment Project and is director of the Severe Intellectual Disabilities Program in the Special Education Department at Rhode Island College.