Sarah Rainey- Smithback, PhD, CPT

Sarah Rainey-Smithback is an Associate Professor in the School of Cultural and Critical Studies and the Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Program at Bowling Green State University. She has her PhD in Women’s Studies, with an Interdisciplinary Specialization in Disability Studies, from The Ohio State University.  Her work focuses on the intimate and reproductive lives of sexually marginalized populations (LGBT people, people with disabilities, and people of color), and has appeared in Ms. Magazine, the Journal of Literary and Cultural Disability Studies, Sexualities, Lesbian and Gay Psychology Review, and AIDS Education and Prevention. Her first book, Love, Sex, and Disability: The Pleasures of Care, was published in 2011 with Lynne Rienner Publishers.  Her second book, Crip Love Onscreen: Representing Love, Sex, and Disability comes out with The Ohio State University Press in 2026.  Sarah is also a Certified Personal Trainer, Founder and CEO of Feminist Fitness. 

Sarah joined the Coalition to help make a difference in the community by connecting research and community.  Sarah helped our grassroots, community-based Coalition create an evidence-based (e.g., developed based on published, peer-reviewed research done by others) evaluation tool that we use in our Affirming Healthcare Program. Sarah now oversees the research we’re collecting on our Program’s effectiveness so we can always make it adapt to the changing needs of our LGBTQ+ communities.