happy asexual awareness week to all you ace pans and demi pans and grey-a pans and any and all aspec pans!!!! your identities are valid, you are valid, you are inherently part of the community, and you are so, so wonderful I love you all so much and hope you have an amazing week and get the love and support and acceptance that you deserve!

a note on aro/ace inclusion

Listen:

As both a cultural mandate and a social institution, heteronormativity isn’t just about cis straightness as some general, abstract thing. It’s about a deeply encoded notion of what a ‘normal’ person is - someone who views marriage between one man and one woman as the only possible basis for a stable society; someone who views celibacy as either a temporary precursor to marriage or as a devotional, holy marriage to god, because anyone who genuinely doesn’t want sex is broken; someone for whom the romantic union between men and women is the ultimate emotional ideal; someone who thinks children can only be raised by one man and one woman, and that childless women in particular are doomed to an unfulfilling life - and why any and every deviation from that norm is, well, deviant. 

Corrective rape has been used against asexuals, just as it’s been used against other queer folks. The idea that love can only ever be romantic, between a man and a woman, with marriage as its ultimate expression, and that anyone who doesn’t want that is heartless or wrong or broken, is as coercive and toxic to aromantics as to every other member of the queer community. We talk about how the lack of queer representation to queer youth in particular is damaging, which it is - why on Earth would that assessment not encompass aro/ace kids who grow up in a culture that defines both emotional and sexual normalcy as the presence of something they lack, or which they express differently? 

A heteroromantic asexual woman, raised to believe that her dislike of sex just makes her frigid, that it’s normal for men to want sex more, and that denying her partner want he wants is selfishness, is being actively harmed by heteronormativity. An heterosexual aromantic man, raised to believe that his dislike of romance just makes him more masculine, that it’s normal for women to want romance more, and that feeling dissatisfied, trapped and unhappy is a normal part of married life for men, is being actively harmed by heteronormativity. The fact that many aro/ace folks are also queer along other axes doesn’t mean that those who are “only” aro/ace have no place in the queer community. The entire institution of heteronormativity is predicated, not just on straightness as normative default, but on the active performance of straightness through specific sexual and romantic roles. 

Though certain sexist social institutions make a fetish of asexuality (purity, celibacy), these same institutions also view actual asexuality as a myth, or a sign that something is seriously wrong. Likewise, though certain misogynistic social institutions make a fetish of male aromanticism in particular (players, bro culture), what they’re praising isn’t actual aromanticism, but the idea that women are superfluous and unimportant, with bonus hostility to the idea of platonic love and respect for women. In both cases, the problem isn’t being ace or aro; it’s with toxic masculinity and heteronormativity trying to trademark the idea that not wanting sex or romantic love is only contextually acceptable under certain strict  conditions - otherwise, you’re broken.    

Stop trying to exclude aromantics and asexuals from the queer community. Now of all times, with the world as messy and violent as it is, we need to have each other’s backs. And to all you ace and aro peeps: you are not broken, and you do belong. We are the last ones who should be hurting you, and I’m deeply sorry that it’s happening. 

anyways..,,…, ace people are part of the LGBTQIA+ community

if any of you would ever like to talk, my messages are always open 💚💛💜

ace and aro people are beautiful rays of sunshine that deserve everything good this world has to offer

please?

text: support ace kids / support aro kids

ok but consider… soulmates who are just platonic and not dating

*aggressively supports asexuals*

ok but shout out to ace + aro mlm.

you guys deserve recognition too. if you’re afraid you’ll never find love (romantic or sexual) because of your identity: you will, i promise you. youre just as deserving of love as everyone else. and if youre comfortable not finding love or simply dont want to find love of a certain kind: you’re still just as valid and your identity as mlm shouldnt be erased. 

If you don’t believe Aces and Aros belong in the LGBT+ Community, please UNFOLLOW me.

I’m talking asexuals, aromantics, demi-sexuals, demi-romantics, cishet aros, cishet aces, cishet aroaces, trans aces, trans aros, trans aroaces, nb aces, nb aros, nb aroaces, poc aces, poc aros, poc aroaces, goddamn EVERY ARO AND ACE NO MATTER THEIR INTERSECTIONALITY.

It doesn’t matter.

If you’re Asexual.

If you’re Aromantic.

It doesn’t matter, you don’t need additional qualifiers to be LGBT+.

You belong here.

I'M DOING AN EXPERIMENT

To prove something to a friend, please

REBLOG IF YOU THINK ASEXUALS BELONG IN LGBTQ+ SPACES

LIKE IF YOU THINK ASEXUALS DON’T BELONG IN LGBTQ+ SPACES

:)

rarely do you  see a post with so many reblogs and so few likes :O

(image shows a bunch of likes and reblogs. currently it’s at 4,358 likes and 98,165 reblogs.)

Literally unfollow me if you think ace/aro people aren't lgbt

[other lgbt+ works]

Fact: asexuality is a choice.  As with any other sexuality, we selected it when drawing up our character sheets.  Asexuality is a lesser known choice but popular amongst min-maxers because of its Stealth bonuses, which increase to allow the Invisibility power at higher levels.  (Note: very high level characters may acquire the Change Shape power.)

Fact: when people tell family members that they are aromantic spectrum, the family members tend to mysteriously forget.  Apparently, beings on the aromantic spectrum possess low-level telepathic abilities, which they use as a defense mechanism by causing others to forget their presence.  This is also why people’s eyes appear glazed after an aro person leaves the room, and why aros do not have to wear masks when performing bank heists.

friendly reminder for aces and aros

Just a reminder that you don’t have to hate romance with a burning passion to be aromantic! You can enjoy reading romance books or watching romance movies and still be aro! You can fantasize about romance and want to be in a relationship and still be aro! Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise because you are a fantastic human being who just happens to like romance while still being aromantic!