And I don't necessarily feel comfortable replying to individual posts by strangers on tumblr, but I do want to write up my general thoughts.
The main issue I was encountering was the idea that asexuals are not LGBT and shouldn't be foisting themselves into LGBT spaces. Which I certainly agree with as I am neither Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, nor Transgender.
(However, if someone is using one of the longer alphabet soups, like LGBTQIA, I am going to assume I'm included because the 'A' does stand for 'Asexual' and not 'Ally'.)
Another point of contention was the split attraction model, which on the one hand, I am not inclined to disparage because obviously a lot of people find it helpful, but on the otherevil hand, it would be kind of nice to have asexual be defined the same way the other prefix-sexual words are, which is to say encompassing sexual and romantic attraction.
(It's not that it's some big imposition to say aromantic asexual, so much as that it doesn't follow the established rules for what a prefix-sexuality is, and that makes things more confusing and potentially more difficult to mainstream?)
And then the above concerns kind of dovetail into a repeated assertion that I saw multiple people express that if you're not an LGBT ace, you are therefore a cishet ace. And I feel the need for like, a stage-whispered, "AHEM, There Is An Option You Are Forgetting." Because I may not be LGBT, and I am cis, but I'm not hetero-anything.
(And probably part of my frustration with this is that at one point in my life I defaulted myself into the heteronormativity category because despite my reasonably liberal upbringing, I was not exposed to not-being-attracted-to-anyone-of-any-gender-at-all-ever as an option.)
The main issue I was encountering was the idea that asexuals are not LGBT and shouldn't be foisting themselves into LGBT spaces. Which I certainly agree with as I am neither Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, nor Transgender.
(However, if someone is using one of the longer alphabet soups, like LGBTQIA, I am going to assume I'm included because the 'A' does stand for 'Asexual' and not 'Ally'.)
Another point of contention was the split attraction model, which on the one hand, I am not inclined to disparage because obviously a lot of people find it helpful, but on the other
(It's not that it's some big imposition to say aromantic asexual, so much as that it doesn't follow the established rules for what a prefix-sexuality is, and that makes things more confusing and potentially more difficult to mainstream?)
And then the above concerns kind of dovetail into a repeated assertion that I saw multiple people express that if you're not an LGBT ace, you are therefore a cishet ace. And I feel the need for like, a stage-whispered, "AHEM, There Is An Option You Are Forgetting." Because I may not be LGBT, and I am cis, but I'm not hetero-anything.
(And probably part of my frustration with this is that at one point in my life I defaulted myself into the heteronormativity category because despite my reasonably liberal upbringing, I was not exposed to not-being-attracted-to-anyone-of-any-gender-at-all-ever as an option.)