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Growing up in a rural town, Dan Searle was used to standing out, but not in the ways that felt safe.

At 16, life took a sharp turn when Dan lost most of his vision due to a genetic condition. Suddenly navigating the world as a blind teenager, he was forced to adapt quickly. But the real challenge wasn’t what everyone could see – it was the part of him he felt he had to keep hidden.

While he was trying to process a major change in his physical world, Dan was also quietly confronting questions about his sexuality. As school captain, expected to lead and represent others, he found himself internally overwhelmed, particularly around his identity in a community where he didn’t feel safe to be open.

“I was having a lot of struggles with my mental health; it was so much easier for me to relate that experience back to my vision loss,” he told SBS News.

“But in reality, that wasn’t the thing that was causing me a lot of distress. It was more about my sexuality and feeling like I didn’t fit in, but I just didn’t feel comfortable or safe to be able to talk about.”

His vision loss, ironically, became a kind of shield – something concrete he could talk about, while his deeper emotional pain went unnamed and unshared. For Dan, blindness came with its own set of challenges, but coming out felt far more daunting.

My disability is quite visible – I can’t hide that, but my sexuality still feels like some part of myself that I’ve got to protect.

Nearly two decades later, Dan was invited back to his high school to speak during a mental health and wellbeing event. With his guide dog at his side, the experience of returning stirred up a lot – memories, old emotions, and the weight of what he was about to share.

It wasn’t easy.

“My disability is quite visible – I can’t hide that, but my sexuality still feels like some part of myself that I’ve got to protect and I’ve got to be careful about who I am honest with,” Dan says.

Despite the fear, Dan knew the power of visibility. He remembered his younger self – isolated, unsure, and searching for signs he wasn’t alone. That memory drove him to speak up.

“I just kept sort of telling myself that it would have meant so much to me if I had someone come into the school and share their story and say that to make me feel less alone,” he said.

“If that helps one student, then that makes me happy and proud.”

Dan lives at the intersection of two communities – disability and LGBTQIA+ – a space where he sometimes feels invisible even within each.

“You might be able to find people on the same sexual spectrum as yourself, but they don’t understand what it’s like to have a disability,” he said.

“Or you might identify with people from the blindness and low-vision community, but they don’t understand the challenges of dealing with your sexuality as well.”

That sense of not quite fitting anywhere has become a key reason he continues to speak out.

There’s so much pressure around using apps and meeting up with someone that you’ve just spoken to online, and that’s really challenging as a person that can’t see.

“Where do you find people that exist within that cross-section? If I can be that person to someone else or to the younger me, then that’s nice,” Dan said.

There’s also a broader issue many people don’t consider: the barriers to connection and dating when you’re blind. Dan speaks openly about how difficult it is to navigate the visually-driven world of dating apps and online profiles, where appearance is often everything.

“It’s still very visual, and it’s very much based on people’s appearance. And now that things are online, I feel like it’s often even worse,” he said.

“There’s so much pressure around using apps and meeting up with someone that you’ve just spoken to online, and that’s really challenging as a person that can’t see.”

Dan’s story is a reminder that Pride isn’t only about rainbow flags and celebration – it’s also about truth-telling, representation, and making space for everyone’s journey, even when it follows a different narrative.

For Dan, losing his sight was life-altering, but coming out was life-defining.