Morning Chorus

Morning Chorus: Why straight asexuals can't join the queer club

cinnamonwheel:

lillianjessica:

morningchorus:

I feel like I’m jumping into this late, especially when so many of my fellow LGBT bloggers have discussed this issue so well and clearly. However the issue is still being discussed and we still have heteroromantic asexuals insisting they are queer, appropriating a term meant specifically for…

You know what bothers me?

That someone who is LGBT, who knows what it is like to have your identity be rejected and denied, is posting this.

Queer does not mean and has never meant “attracted to the same sex”. What about genderqueers? What if they are straight? Are they suddenly not part of the queer community? Because, after all, they must have no idea what gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and pansexuals go through, right? Right?

Oh, good grief. Queer does and has for a long time meant “attracted to the same sex”. It has also been directed at trans*/gender variant people. But when het asexuals are insisting they are queer, they’re insisting it on the basis of orientation, not gender identity, so for the sake of brevity some people have been skipping over that part.

Did I use enough words or do I need to talk about more things that aren’t central to the argument at hand?

Queer means anything outside of the norm (norm being cis-gendered heterosexuality. Yes, the suffix matters).

NO. THAT IS NOT WHAT QUEER MEANS. THAT IS NOT WHAT HETEROSEXUAL MEANS.

How much ace wank would we cut out if the term “homophile” had never been replaced? If we were talking about homophiles and heterophiles (and biphiles and panphiles and omniphiles), would the major wank be 19-year-old tumblr martyrs complaining about how ~oppressive~ it is that people think “aphile” means they don’t like anything?

And next time you want to police identities and tell people what they are, think about what you have gone through. Now think about how you are doing the same thing to others.

That’s right, go to your room and think about what you’ve done!

Oh, wait… you’re not anyone here’s parent. Well then.

Emphasis mine, thank you for responding to that point. I didn’t feel the need to bring up gender identity because it’s simply not what’s being discussed.