<p>The Paralympics can help change perceptions of LGBTQ people with disabilities, say two wheelchair basketballers who joke they are Britain's answer to US power couple Megan Rapinoe and Sue Bird.</p>.<p>Laurie Williams and Robyn Love, who have been in a relationship for more than six years and got engaged last year, helped lead the British team to a seventh-place finish at the Tokyo Games.</p>.<p>Media reports estimate there are over 30 openly LGBTQ athletes competing at the Tokyo Paralympics -- roughly three times the number at the 2016 Rio Games.</p>.<p>Williams thinks the popularity of social media has helped make LGBTQ athletes more visible, and hopes the Paralympics can accelerate that trend.</p>.<p>"We're just trying to show people that there are LGBT athletes, there are LGBT athletes with disabilities, and we are here trying to create a positive representation of that," she said.</p>.<p>"Just to know that sometimes being ourselves can make a little bit of a difference to someone else is a really positive thing."</p>.<p>Williams and Love first met as team-mates and soon began dating, and now live together with their labradoodle dog Whiskey.</p>.<p>They got engaged in February last year when Love proposed under the Eiffel Tower during a trip to Paris, although the pandemic has forced them to shelve their wedding plans.</p>.<p>Love jokes that they are not as high profile as US football star Rapinoe and her basketballer fiancee Bird, but they "like to think one day" they can be.</p>.<p>For now, they are happy to make a difference on the court and off, and Love thinks "sport is such a powerful vehicle to make that happen".</p>.<p>"We're no longer getting pushed just one type -- 'if you're a lesbian, you have to look like this'," she said.</p>.<p>"Back in the day, what was on TV was stereotypical. We represent not one but two minorities, in that we're trying to represent the disabled community as well."</p>.<p>Williams has paralysis in her legs as a result of a virus she contracted as a toddler, while Love has a lower leg development impairment.</p>.<p>Love does not use a wheelchair every day, and she says her relationship with Williams has opened her eyes to the discrimination people with disabilities face.</p>.<p>She says people in shops will automatically talk to her rather than her wheelchair-bound partner, and she hopes the Paralympics can help "empower people with disabilities".</p>.<p>"To me, the disabled movement is further behind the LGBT movement, the Black Lives Matter movement, because it hasn't been able to have an opportunity to find its voice," she said.</p>.<p>"But I feel like it's getting there."</p>.<p>Love and Williams say they are disappointed by their team's seventh-place finish in Tokyo, arguing that the lack of warm-up games due to the pandemic did not help.</p>.<p>Wheelchair basketball is the only all-female team representing Britain at the Paralympics, and Williams hopes the increased media coverage in Tokyo can send a powerful message.</p>.<p>"I think it's about time we had that level of exposure, because we're just athletes, at the end of the day. Our disabilities are on the back burner," she said.</p>.<p>Love says the pair's first goal after the Games is to "give our little doggie a kiss and a cuddle" when they return to Britain.</p>.<p>Then they will turn their thoughts towards the European championships in December, before Love represents Scotland in 3x3 basketball in next year's Commonwealth Games.</p>.<p>Love jokes that Williams is "scared" to play for England and face her at the competition, but the pair are serious about the impact sport has had on their lives.</p>.<p>"I think it's great that the Paralympics is about not just sport -- it's about changing the world for the positive," said Love.</p>
<p>The Paralympics can help change perceptions of LGBTQ people with disabilities, say two wheelchair basketballers who joke they are Britain's answer to US power couple Megan Rapinoe and Sue Bird.</p>.<p>Laurie Williams and Robyn Love, who have been in a relationship for more than six years and got engaged last year, helped lead the British team to a seventh-place finish at the Tokyo Games.</p>.<p>Media reports estimate there are over 30 openly LGBTQ athletes competing at the Tokyo Paralympics -- roughly three times the number at the 2016 Rio Games.</p>.<p>Williams thinks the popularity of social media has helped make LGBTQ athletes more visible, and hopes the Paralympics can accelerate that trend.</p>.<p>"We're just trying to show people that there are LGBT athletes, there are LGBT athletes with disabilities, and we are here trying to create a positive representation of that," she said.</p>.<p>"Just to know that sometimes being ourselves can make a little bit of a difference to someone else is a really positive thing."</p>.<p>Williams and Love first met as team-mates and soon began dating, and now live together with their labradoodle dog Whiskey.</p>.<p>They got engaged in February last year when Love proposed under the Eiffel Tower during a trip to Paris, although the pandemic has forced them to shelve their wedding plans.</p>.<p>Love jokes that they are not as high profile as US football star Rapinoe and her basketballer fiancee Bird, but they "like to think one day" they can be.</p>.<p>For now, they are happy to make a difference on the court and off, and Love thinks "sport is such a powerful vehicle to make that happen".</p>.<p>"We're no longer getting pushed just one type -- 'if you're a lesbian, you have to look like this'," she said.</p>.<p>"Back in the day, what was on TV was stereotypical. We represent not one but two minorities, in that we're trying to represent the disabled community as well."</p>.<p>Williams has paralysis in her legs as a result of a virus she contracted as a toddler, while Love has a lower leg development impairment.</p>.<p>Love does not use a wheelchair every day, and she says her relationship with Williams has opened her eyes to the discrimination people with disabilities face.</p>.<p>She says people in shops will automatically talk to her rather than her wheelchair-bound partner, and she hopes the Paralympics can help "empower people with disabilities".</p>.<p>"To me, the disabled movement is further behind the LGBT movement, the Black Lives Matter movement, because it hasn't been able to have an opportunity to find its voice," she said.</p>.<p>"But I feel like it's getting there."</p>.<p>Love and Williams say they are disappointed by their team's seventh-place finish in Tokyo, arguing that the lack of warm-up games due to the pandemic did not help.</p>.<p>Wheelchair basketball is the only all-female team representing Britain at the Paralympics, and Williams hopes the increased media coverage in Tokyo can send a powerful message.</p>.<p>"I think it's about time we had that level of exposure, because we're just athletes, at the end of the day. Our disabilities are on the back burner," she said.</p>.<p>Love says the pair's first goal after the Games is to "give our little doggie a kiss and a cuddle" when they return to Britain.</p>.<p>Then they will turn their thoughts towards the European championships in December, before Love represents Scotland in 3x3 basketball in next year's Commonwealth Games.</p>.<p>Love jokes that Williams is "scared" to play for England and face her at the competition, but the pair are serious about the impact sport has had on their lives.</p>.<p>"I think it's great that the Paralympics is about not just sport -- it's about changing the world for the positive," said Love.</p>