Toronto-based disabled and LGBTQ advocate Spencer West, 44, is a motivational speaker with the goods to back that title up.
He’s been everything from a high school cheerleader to a climber of Mount Kilimanjaro to a Demi Lovato opening act.
Born in Rock Springs, Wyo., with a genetic diseases called sacral agenesis, which caused his spine and legs to not work properly, West had his legs amputated to the knees when he was three years old.
After prosthetics did not work, doctors removed his legs below his pelvis at age five and West learned to move around using his hands and a wheelchair.
“My parents didn’t treat me any differently,” said West, who is the Thursday night keynote speaker at March of Dimes Canada’s Changemakers Supper Club at the Liberty Grand at Toronto Exhibition Place.
“My mom was like, ‘No, you’re going to wash the dishes and clean your room.’ Part of (my motivation) was that. But on the flipside, I don’t have a choice. It’s adapt or I don’t survive. (My resilience) comes from no other option.”
West moved to Toronto 20 years ago and is both an American and Canadian citizen.
He came to Canada for a job with a non-profit organization (the now defunct ME to WE) before starting his own business as a speaker-content creator five years ago.
“Before I just thought my disability was something that happened to me and now, in hindsight, it’s like, ‘It’s a part of my identity and I can use it to advocate for other queer, disabled folks, but also I can use it to hopefully empower people.”
For West, that included being a male cheerleader in high school who won first place at the state championship with his cheerleading team.
“We had the megaphones so we could use our voices,” he said. “And in basketball, we’d do what we called floor cheers so we’d often sit on the ground. I could tumble. I could do cartwheels and back extension rolls which is a backward summersault into a handstand.”
CLIMBED A MOUNTAIN
He also climbed the almost 20,000 foot-Mount Kilimanjaro during his work with ME to WE (2008-2020) raising over $500,000 to bring clean water to East African communities.
For part of his climb, he used a specially designed wheelchair, and at other times he walked with his hands or was carried by his friends or porters.
“It took us about eight and a half days,” said West. “I did it with my two best friends. It was awful. I don’t ever want to do it again. And it was also incredible.”
West was also chosen as an opening act for a couple of months on Demi Lovato’s 2014 world tour after meeting the singer at a charity event where she was a celebrity ambassador and they became friends.
“It was so fun,” he said. “The first night I was super nervous, though. I’m used to speaking to social justice kids. So I remember saying to her, ‘I’m terrified. They don’t care about me, they’re here to see you.’ And she was like, ‘I love you so they’ll love you.’ And she was right.”
West, who didn’t come out until age 21 given his conservative surroundings despite a supportive family, currently lives with his partner Mario, who has his own IT business, and their Shih Tzu dog Celine in Toronto.
He has four million followers on TikTok and a half-million followers on Instagram. He just finished writing his second book, Breaking Free: Stop Following Expectations and Learn to Follow Yourself , due next May “about lessons I’ve learned through out my life.”
To learn more about Spencer West, visit spencer2thewest.com .
