Godless asexual

Become a contributor to The Asexual Agenda

Fri, 17 May 2013 12:01:47 -0700

Become a contributor to The Asexual Agenda:

It’s that time again! The Asexual Agenda is looking for new bloggers.

The Asexual Agenda is not a 101 blog, and is not a visibility effort. It is a blog written by ace-spectrum people, for ace-spectrum people, at a level that is higher than what you find in the news. We talk about experiences, identity politics, intersectionality, academic research, asexual activism, and anything else you like.

Expectations:

If you become a contributor, I expect you to correspond with us by e-mail, and I expect you to write on occasion. You decide what to write about on your own.

How to apply:

To apply, please e-mail us at asexualagenda@gmail.com by May 31st. Briefly (in ~100 words) tell us about yourself, and why you’d like to contribute. Also include a writing sample (300-1000 words), something that would be suitable to publish on The Asexual Agenda.

The application process is not meant to be difficult or intimidating. In past experience, most rejections have been because applicants did not know what the blog was about. Please look at our site to get an idea.

Guest posts:

If you can’t contribute regularly, we are always open for guest posts. Please e-mail us at asexualagenda@gmail.com.

Pointless story

Tue, 14 May 2013 20:46:58 -0700

I drew this diagram on my GoodNotes app, which I also use for other things. On the next page I sketched the figures I thought I’d put in my next research paper, and I showed it to some coworkers at a meeting. A postdoc scrolled to the previous page and laughed at the Venn diagram, which he didn’t understand. People who like cake… people who like graphs… ????

If he had scrolled to the previous page, he would have seen a sketch of Dubstep Kitty. And then a picture of a sea bass next to a bass guitar.

Goodnotes: super practical.

This was inspired by Sciatrix’s post, “It’s...

Sun, 12 May 2013 11:38:00 -0700

This was inspired by Sciatrix’s post, “It’s Complicated, Let Me Draw You This Graph: Asexuality and Reductionism”.

Judgemental Derp

Wed, 08 May 2013 17:02:27 -0700

cirius-black:

equivamp:

metapianycist:

Every time I wonder if AVEN could get worse, I remember that this exists:

Avalanche. The forum of people who think AVEN is “too SJ-focused.”

ew gross why

You judge when you can’t even see past the front page? How could you possibly know what Avalanche stands for when you haven’t experienced the community?

I fully admit to prejudging Avalanche based on the fact that the two people I’ve seen advertising it have both been caught sockpuppetting recently. (See Ciri and PiF.) I’m really prejudiced against sockpuppetters, in a way that I am not prejudiced against people who dislike SJ. It’s possible that Avalanche itself is actually okay, but I’m not interested enough to register and verify.

Skeptic's Play: Why I don't trust you

Mon, 06 May 2013 12:09:45 -0700

Skeptic's Play: Why I don't trust you:

Godless Asexual is just a personal tumblr, not meant to explore godless/ace intersectionality at all. But I just started a new series exploring that intersectionality, in case any of my followers were interested.

TW: ableist slurs in post, sexual abuse

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 23:26:00 -0700

metapianycist:

godlessace:

…

Reblogging for Siggy’s unmasking of Ciri’s sockpuppetry (!)

Also, I hope that I have been more on the side of suggesting concrete solutions to improve AVEN (like this, and linking to this).

I know I’m one of the people who run icannotaven, but I view it as a place for venting, for people who have no desire to return to AVEN. (It runs primarily on submissions and on what I see people saying about AVEN while browsing.)

*nods*

Andrew’s impression was that the admods couldn’t take external criticisms very seriously. But there’s definitely a place for venting, independent of its ability to effect changes on AVEN.

Actually I’m very pessimistic that there is any solution to AVEN’s problems (as they are viewed by submitters to I Can’t AVEN). If Tumblr is indeed better than AVEN with respect to rape culture, ablism, racism, and transphobia, etc., it’s not because there is some top-down effort from moderators. It’s because there’s a critical mass of people who care about that stuff. And the reason there’s a critical mass is that many of the offending people have other places to hang out, like AVEN. It is possible to change things, but it is like moving a mountain.

Guest post: Is Feminism About Choice?

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 12:12:46 -0700

Guest post: Is Feminism About Choice?:

Possibly relevant to the “consent shaming debacle”.

It sort of seems like aces stepped into radical-feminist*-land. Apparently, in radical-feminist-land, it is deeply problematic for asexuals to ever choose to have sex. This may seem puzzling, since isn’t feminism all about choice and agency? No, not really, it isn’t.

I agree with the view of the linked post (which is by a non-radical feminist). Choice is important, sure, but feminism is more about wanting to equalize choices. For instance, it really is unfortunate when asexuals are expected to choose compromise sex (here I echo the sentiments expressed by some aces before the thread became about radfems).

But I deplore when some feminists decide this means they should actively oppose certain choices.

*For those who don’t know, “radical feminists” are not merely feminists who are radical, but rather, a specific feminist faction. By reputation, they’re the kind who oppose sex work, BDSM, and trans people, though maybe not every individual radfem feels this way.

Fighting the Derp on Tumblr and AVEN.

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 17:40:00 -0700

cirius-black:

equivamp:

decides to look in the AVEN forum about a person who was physically and psychologically upset by a sexual experience

decides to stop looking

Hi, on Aven my name is Ciri. Last year I was in an abusive relationship whereby my ex repeatedly raped and physically, emotionally and verbally abused me. The user you are quoting was very supportive and helped me find the courage to get myself out of that situation. In NO WAY does Ith support rape culture, you’re taking her post completely out of context just like all the other posts on here bashing aven based on the posts of few users. I’m not AVENs biggest fan purely because of the high contration levels of derp. Users claiming to be asexual when they are twisting the definition of asexuality to suit them Those accusing people who have and enjoy sex of not being asexual. Calling every fucking fictional character asexual with NO PROOF. And I’m only just getting started…

This is terrible. Not you, Ciri, at least not you in particular. Just… everything in this thread is terrible.

I don’t like how the criticism of AVEN is posed in such an unproductive way. It’s accusatory, as if one person were responsible for a whole rape culture. It presents, in black and white, just a snippet of what looks like a rather complicated situation. (Spoiler: the sex in question was consensual.) It is basically unimaginable to me that Ithaca or other AVEN admods would see this and say, “Huh, they have a point!”

I understand why Tumblr people just want to complain about AVEN without trying to make changes. Making changes is hard, and if you don’t frequent AVEN forums, you won’t personally get much benefit. That’s just sensible. But you can hardly expect people who do frequent AVEN forums to appreciate your efforts.

As for you, Ciri. I think we had a “hilarious” run-in on AVEN earlier where I accused PiF of sockpuppeting on The Asexual Agenda, and you thought I was accusing you of being PiF’s sockpuppet (when I intended no such thing). Actually, I’m sure it wasn’t hilarious at all for you, and I’m really sorry for that bit of miscommunication.

However, my contrition is somewhat mitigated by the discovery that… you are in fact engaging in sockpuppeting! Compare the language in these posts:

http://derptastic-internet.tumblr.com/post/49058580330/equivamp-decides-to-look-in-the-aven-forum-about
http://derptastic-internet.tumblr.com/post/49055134337/who-am-i
http://cirius-black.tumblr.com/post/49072891301/a-message-to-tumblr
http://cirius-black.tumblr.com/post/49043835806/fighting-the-derp-on-tumblr-and-aven

“Fighting the Derp” appears to be a tumblr that was created to respond to this one thread. It has lots of all-caps, invectives, and seems to want to stir controversy. The proliferation of sockpuppet troll blogs is one of the truly awful things about tumblr, and you’re contributing to it. (Insert joke about sockpuppet culture) If you start a new tumblr, you should either be clear about your identity, OR you should never respond to the same threads as your other tumblr.

It’s ironic to see a tumblr complaining about the problems with tumblr while also contributing to one of those problems. It’s also ironic to see someone basically say “I totally agree AVEN has problems! There’s not enough identity-policing!” I daresay we do not actually agree on this point.

Also awful: the related thread started by Next Step: Cake

Let me explain to you why cisgender, heteromantic asexuals are not queer.

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 22:19:40 -0700

nextstepcake:

metapianycist:

equivamp:

A cishet asexual’s relationships will largely function the same as a cisgender heterosexual:

Their ability to marry is not called into question

Their ability to adopt children will not be called into question due to their partner’s sex

They will not have to feel unsafe expressing affection (or even being seen with) their romantic partner

You will not be asked to not talk about your romantic partner

I could go on. Basically the only difference between the relationships is, a cishet asexual does not experience sexual attraction, and may or may not have sex (which is nobody’s business anyway).

This is all assuming that the cis heteroromantic asexual’s partner is also cis and also prob. heteroromantic. And that no one involved is poly (being poly involves marriage discrimination AND adoption discrimination).

Just give it up. This is a non-issue.

p.s. Your assumption that the cis heteroromantic ace’s partner is also cis seems cissexist as fuck.

…By this logic bisexual or trans* people in relationships with the opposite gender would not be queer either. Nor would any lesbian, gay, pan or trans* person not currently in a relationship. Making the gender of one’s partner the one and only metric for queerness is silly.

(plus, anyone who thinks that people don’t care about whether asexual couples are having sex lives in a wonderful fantasy world. One of the things I’ve realized in doing ace vis ed work is that while maybe in theory my sex life shouldn’t be anyone’s business, people like to make it their business.)

(Also, while adoption might not be called into question because of their partner’s sex, it could be questioned because of their asexuality itself - I haven’t been able to find more details but in one past study of asexuals one asexual couple reported being denied adoption because of their asexuality)

Thank you for this enlightening explanation of why I, as a gay man living in California, will no longer be queer in a few decades. Soon we’ll get marriage equality, adoption rights, and eliminate explicit expressions of homophobia. Then all the national LGBT orgs will dwindle, because there’s not much left to fight for (except maybe trans rights, but who cares about that?). In the meantime, we’ll all congratulate each other on how we eliminated homophobia, just like we did sexism and racism.

(This is a real scenario that activists worry about. For example.)

True Love Waits… and Waits… and Waits

Fri, 19 Apr 2013 09:18:59 -0700

True Love Waits… and Waits… and Waits:

Friendly Atheist posted a link to a satirical article about a Christian couple that thinks abstinence is so great, that they’re continuing the practice after their marriage.

I link to Friendly Atheist because some of the commenter reactions are… Interesting.

Bayesian reasoning and asexuality

Wed, 10 Apr 2013 19:53:04 -0700

Bayesian reasoning and asexuality:

For those interested, I wrote up my full analysis of the fact that most people first experience sexual attraction at age 10, and what that means, epistemically, for asexuality. Posted on my personal blog, and not The Asexual Agenda, because it’s, um, a lot of math.

greenchestnuts: Musings of an Ist: This seems like a good time to point out this blog post by...

Thu, 21 Mar 2013 05:01:05 -0700

greenchestnuts:

Musings of an Ist: This seems like a good time to point out this blog post by Sciatrix,…
centrumlumina:

greenchestnuts:

This seems like a good time to point out this blog post by Sciatrix, which discusses a paper that found that the average age of first sexual attraction, in heterosexuals and homosexuals, was 10. Standard deviation was about 3-4. I’ll quote her about the implications:

For the curious, that means that of the people who eventually go on to experience sexual attraction, 84% of them will have done so by age 13, and 97.6% of them will have done so by age 16. Those are some absurdly high numbers. What, given that, makes people think that teenagers are unlikely to be aware of what their sexual orientation is? If you’re not experiencing sexual attraction and 97% of your peers have done so, don’t you think that you’d notice that something was perhaps a little off?

I am now more than four standard deviations away from the mean. According to Wikipedia, 99.994% of the population generally falls within four standard deviations. The expected frequency outside of this range is 1 in 15,787. (Extrapolating is harder in the tails, of course, but it’s still interesting.) Why, exactly, should I be holding off on identifying my sexual orientation in case of an event that has a less than 1 in 15,000 chance of happening?

This is a very good point thinking about people who argue that asexuality can’t exist. I’m at about 3 standard deviations, and 99.73% of people lie within the 3-sigma range. However, assuming a Gaussian (which for obvious reasons won’t work exactly, but shh I’m an undergrad we always assume a Gaussian) half of that 0.27% fall on the very-early side of the scale, so only 0.14% of the non-asexual population will not have experienced sexual attraction by the time they are my age.

Considering that the standard figure for asexuality is about 1% of the population, that leaves an awful lot of people left to account for…

That’s a good point. I forgot to account for the other tail! i should have said “Why, exactly, should I be holding off on identifying my sexual orientation in case of an event that has a less than 1 in 30,000 chance of happening?”

(Though, honestly, maybe I just shouldn’t try to do math in the tails. I doubt the left tail looks like the right tail, because the left tail can’t extend more than ten years and I doubt very, very much that it extends that far. The point is! It’s improbable.)

A Gaussian distribution is actually a bad assumption here, since the main difference between that and other distributions is in the behavior of the tails. For example, the power law distribution falls off much more slowly. But I guess the reason power law distributions are so common in the real world is because there are more outliers than you’d expect (such as asexuals!!). My physicist intuition says the distribution should be a Gaussian on the bottom, exponential on the top. …I have some excessively math-y thoughts on this subject.

What is "the asexual community"?

Sat, 09 Mar 2013 08:24:00 -0800

ace-muslim:

This post is inspired by two different threads discussing the articles on asexuality from the Psychology & Sexuality special theme issue (1, 2), but I wanted to pull this issue into its own post.

When we talk about “the asexual community” I think most of us mean the online communities around AVEN and/or Tumblr.

These online communities are only a small and unrepresentative segment of the entire population of people who have an asexual orientation. They are disproportionately white* and middle-class, and mostly Anglo-American. These are all groups that have a really bad history of assuming that our experiences are universal when in fact they are specific to our race, class, nationality, and other factors.

Our narratives of asexuality are not the only ones and they are certainly not the only valid ones. People outside our group, including people who are not asexual, have every right to question our assumptions and to explore alternative viewpoints.

This is not a specific defense of any of the articles in the special theme issue. What I’m saying is that “but this doesn’t match my lived experience” is a limited rebuttal because our lived experiences are not universal to all asexuals. If we don’t like what these articles are saying (and there are any number of criticisms that can be made) then we need to come up with better arguments to rebut them.

*The fact that the AVEN sample in Yule et al was 88% white is, frankly, shameful, and we need to do a lot better. See also here.

I’m trying to think of analogues in other communities, and the first to come to mind is gay men vs MSM (men who have sex with men). I’m not really up on my literature here, but I think MSM is a much larger group, with most of them not identifying as gay or bisexual. I also believe that MSM has larger numbers of ethnic minorities.

I’ve heard multiple gay men express the attitude that talking about MSM is being too coy. We all know what they really mean. But MSM certainly has its place, especially in public health issues. If you’re doing AIDS outreach and you only target gay men, you’re basically missing most of the MSM group!

On the other hand… maybe I’m just swallowing all the homosexual propaganda, but I really do think MSM mostly consists of disempowered gay/bi/queer/whatever people. And fighting the radical queer fight is good for them, even if some of them believe otherwise.

I’m also part of the atheist community so I also have to mention the atheist analogue. There are lots of non-religious, religiously unaffiliated, “the nones”, etc. who would have reservations about, or even oppose, the goals of the atheist movement. But this isn’t an issue, since the atheist movement doesn’t care to represent every single non-religious person, and is unapologetic about opposing certain atheists.

My takeaway lesson: We as a community represent a very small slice of asexuals in general, but that shouldn’t stop us from advancing what we believe to be right.

Mental health and interpersonal functioning in self-identified asexual men and women

Fri, 08 Mar 2013 14:46:55 -0800

ace-muslim:

The latest issue of the Psychology & Sexuality journal focuses on asexuality as a special theme. The issue features eight articles about asexuality. For the benefit of the asexual community, I am providing brief summaries of each of these eight articles from copies I have obtained for private study.

The third article is called “Mental health and interpersonal functioning in self-identified asexual men and women” and is written by Morag A. Yule, Lori A. Brotto, and Boris B. Gorzalka.

The authors say that they are looking into this area, “Because asexual individuals may face similar social stigma to that experienced by homosexual and bisexual persons, in that they may also experience discrimination and/or marginalisation, it follows that asexual individuals might also experience higher rates of psychiatric disturbance.”

The article starts by briefly reviewing the definition of asexuality, then turns to a discussion of why people with non-heterosexual orientations may report higher levels of mental health issues or other psychiatric problems. It is now commonly accepted that this is not due to the sexual orientation itself but to the experience of negative reactions from others.

There is little research into mental health and interpersonal functioning among asexuals. Only one study has addressed this directly (Mental Health Implications of Sexual Orientation, by Paula Nurius in 1983) and only one other, broader, study of asexuality (Asexuality: A Mixed Methods Approach, by Brotto et al in 2010) discusses the question even briefly. (Brotto is one of the co-authors of this article.)

The authors conducted a study of asexual, other non-heterosexual (i.e., homosexual and bisexual), and heterosexual individuals, mostly drawn from a major city in Canada but with many asexual participants recruited from AVEN. They say that because the vast majority of the non-heterosexual participants were white (88% of asexual respondents, 71% of homosexual and bisexual respondents) and because non-white people living in majority white societies may also report higher levels of mental health issues (i.e., due to racism), the study focused on the white participants. The final sample featured 603 women and 203 men. 282 participants were asexual, 333 were heterosexual, 95 were homosexual, and 96 were bisexual (these are combined as “non-heterosexual” in the article).

Participants in the study completed an online questionnaire. They were asked directly if they had a mood or anxiety disorder and also answered a series of questions to measure psychological symptom status and interpersonal distress. Asexual men and women were both significantly more likely than heterosexual men and women to report mood and anxiety disorders and typically had similar rates of mood and anxiety disorders to non-heterosexual men and women. In general, the results of the symptom inventories followed the same pattern, which the article discusses in detail.

The authors then discuss various reasons why asexual individuals may experience greater mental health issues than heterosexual individuals such as feelings of isolation prior to finding an asexual community, pressure to conform to social norms about sexual desire, feeling different from peers who develop sexual attraction by or during puberty, stress caused by the invisibility of asexuality as an orientation (similar to bisexual individuals), and potential difficulties in finding or forming suitable intimate relationships. They note that asexual individuals, like other non-heterosexuals, show higher levels of suicidality than heterosexuals, and that further research needs to be done in this area in order to more effectively help such people.

Brotto et al’s 2010 study found that self-identified asexuals recruited from AVEN tended to display elevated levels of avoidant attachment styles and Schizoid Personality Disorder (you may find this discussion helpful). The interpersonal inventory in the current research shows a similar result and the authors discuss some possible reasons for this correlation.

After summarizing their findings, the authors conclude, “Clinical implications are considerable, and asexual individuals should be adequately assessed for mental health difficulties and provided with appropriate interventions that are sensitive to their asexual identity.”

Wait, wait, they measured suicidality? Ever since the SF human rights commission released that report on bisexuality, which highlighted higher suicidality rates among bisexual folk than among gay/lesbian folk, I’ve been worried about suicidality among asexuals as well. But I haven’t found reliable statistics on the question, until now:

Results from BSI Item 9 revealed that 26% of asexual individuals had some suicidal feel-ings in the past two weeks, compared to 24% of non-heterosexual individuals and 12% of heterosexual individuals.

:-(

And that’s just white asexuals, since they were worried about ethnicity as a confounding factor and removed non-white individuals from their sample.

In the discussion they credit it to “difficulty in finding a stable sexual identity”, because previous research shows that this is a factor in gay male youth.

[CW: demeaning language] Unified Inviolability: Because I don't like having an unnamed majority

Thu, 07 Mar 2013 16:15:00 -0800

[CW: demeaning language] Unified Inviolability: Because I don't like having an unnamed majority:

greenchestnuts:

sweetmagnass:

greenchestnuts:

sweetmagnass:

[Quote from HarmoniousSanctity:] If allosexuality is a sexual orientation, then why does it take priority over a person’s homosexuality or heterosexuality, to the point that, without it, these people are suddenly ~unnamed<
…
However if allosexuality is NOT a sexual orientation, then it would be logical to then say that asexuality is also not a sexual orientation.

Don’t some people in the bi/pan/poly communities use “monosexual” to refer to straight and gay people?

My understanding is because it’s not that they necessarily think straight and gay people have privilege over them, it’s because those other groups have different outcomes. And they just need a word to discuss how their experiences are different, to discuss their own particular issues.

Another fun example: “gentile”. A term used for non-Jewish people.

Q: Why does “gentile” take priority over people’s chosen religious identities (eg Christian, Muslim, Sikh, Hindu, Baha’i, etc.)?

A: It doesn’t. A Christian who is a gentile is still a Christian.

Q: If gentile isn’t a religion, doesn’t imply that Judaism also isn’t a religion?

A: No, that is a non sequitur.

heavanlupis: I’m staying out of this crap but: when we must assume that anyone saying “asexual...

Wed, 30 Jan 2013 22:51:48 -0800

heavanlupis:

I’m staying out of this crap but: when we must assume that anyone saying “asexual means doesn’t want sex” is a troll our community has lost its focus

ActuallyAsexual is insincere, as demonstrated by greenchestnuts beyond any reasonable doubt. I am willing to bet that ActualAce is a sockpuppet, since they seem to have made a tumblr for the sole purpose of joining the offending thread. Sockpuppetry is a bannable offense on all parts of the internet I control, but tumblr is essentially an unmoderated space at all times. This is one of the ways that tumblr, much like FOX news, can actually make you less informed about reality.

On the other hand, I do not assume you are a troll or that Sidneyia is a troll. Actually, Sidneyia has even said very reasonable things on the subject: check it out. There’s something to be said about the way sex-aversive and sex-negative asexuals are erased for political purposes. It’s something I try to be conscious of in my own politicking.

I don’t agree with the brief statements you’ve made about “asexual” meaning that you don’t want sex, but since you’ve expressed unwillingness to argue about it, I will go ahead and express my similar unwillingness.

Everyday Ignorance: Asexuality Panel at Creating Change Conference

Sat, 26 Jan 2013 21:28:00 -0800

Everyday Ignorance: Asexuality Panel at Creating Change Conference:

redbeardace:

swankivy:

Today I’m heading to Atlanta, Georgia for Creating Change, which is the National Conference on LGBT Equality, put on by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. It is the largest yearly gathering of of activists, organizers, and leaders in the LGBT movement. And I’m one of them!

I’m one of the…

Is anyone taking pictures of all the events so that those of us who didn’t go will get to see what went on?

Check out M.’s twitter for a few pictures.

https://mobile.twitter.com/mhypomnemata

update: check out this video too

http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=Av9BGTorLAg

Asexuality Panel at Creating Change Conference

Thu, 24 Jan 2013 11:33:18 -0800

swankivy:

Today I’m heading to Atlanta, Georgia for Creating Change, which is the National Conference on LGBT Equality, put on by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. It is the largest yearly gathering of of activists, organizers, and leaders in the LGBT movement. And I’m one of them!

I’m one of the speakers on the Asexual Voices Panel. With three other asexual speakers and a moderator, my co-panelists and I are providing discussion of asexual experiences and outreach, with a thirty-minute presentation and a sixty-minute question-and-answer session.

(We had a last-minute change and Christina couldn’t make it. Ashley LeClerc from Boston is our replacement.)

We are also having an asexual caucus immediately afterwards.

Last year Sara Beth and David went to this same conference and there was a really warm response, with a high demand for our materials and an avalanche of interest when they screened the documentary movie (A)sexual (which I was in). We hope to make even more connections, learn more about allying with the larger LGBTQ community, teach people about our community, and have a lot of fun.

People at the conference can come to our panel at 4:45 on Friday. People at home can follow our tweets (#cc13) or check out the Livestream.

(I’m also on the panel)

Outlawroad on aces iding as queer

Tue, 22 Jan 2013 22:29:57 -0800

Outlawroad on aces iding as queer:

outlawroad:

Aces who want to ID as queer because you’re trans or bi/homo/panromantic: you remember this fuckery because it’s being said of all asexuals, you included. You want to share space and break bread with outrageous douche bags like this? Think really long and hard about that.

[…]

If you join a group, you become responsible by association for their bullshit, and if you do nothing to combat anti-asexual sentiments, while bearing the “straight” or “queer” identity badge loudly and the “asexual” badge quietly or not at all, you are partaking in their assault against asexuality. If you don’t care about that assault, the asexual community can’t make you care, but you should at least be aware of the fact that you’re responsible for condoning the anti-asexual behavior of allosexuals.

I found Outlawroad’s argument so persuasive that I decided to stop IDing as asexual because that would make me responsible for condoning Outlawroad.

A Response To: "ASEXUALITY: THE PEOPLE'S CHOICE FOR PEOPLE WHO DON'T WANT ANYONE"

Mon, 14 Jan 2013 20:00:00 -0800

morningchorus:

No sense of context.

I was responding to an article that exclusively featured people who say they are not gay but consider themselves queer.

I suppose that’s fair.

FYI though, most of the asexuals quoted in the article are in fact queer even by your own definition. I don’t know about Minerva, but David Jay is some sort of bi/wtf/a- romantic mix. Sara Beth Brooks identifies as panromantic, and was an LGBT activist well before she was even aware of asexuality. It’s mostly incidental that two of the best-known asexual activists are strictly within LGBT, but also unsurprising given that this is true of most asexuals.

I’m not saying this subtracts from your point, since they do indeed argue that all asexuals may identify as queer, not just the 73% who are strictly LGBT, non-binary gendered (but not necessarily trans-identifying), or have uncategorizable romantic orientation. Just some fun facts from an ace demographics geek.

update: I met the third person in the article, the one referred to as Minerva. Apparently the article misgendered them, and used an incorrect name. Also they are panromantic.