Thread by @charisloke

I wish all aces an excellent #InternationalAsexualityDay! 🖤♠️🤍💜 @IADofficial

What does the A in LGBTQIA+ mean? In true Malaysian fashion, let's talk about it with food. Thread 🧵:

Some people want sambal.

Some people don't want sambal.

Some want a little, and others want a lot.

There's a whole spectrum of preferences for sambal. Some people like it sweet, others like it spicy. Some people will only have sambal from their favourite stall, while others have sambal from more than one place.

Some people don't have sambal because it hurts them physically.

Some people don't have sambal because it repulses them mentally.

Some choose not to have sambal because of their beliefs, cultural or religious, even though they may like or want it.

And some people just don't feel the desire for sambal at all. They might have it to make another person happy, they might not. They don't feel a need for sambal.

They can have other things to go with their nasi: eggs, ikan bilis, fish, timun, chicken, curry, crackers, papadam...

The absence of sambal doesn't mean their nasi is incomplete or lacking, even if people who like sambal may find it strange and incomprehensible.

In a world where almost everyone else likes or needs sambal, this can be difficult to understand.

But it is okay to not have sambal.

It is okay to not like sambal.

It is okay to not want sambal.

Some of the time. All of the time.

People who don't want sambal are still people, after all.

And though they may be different, they are every bit as human as people who have sambal.

First published on @QueerLapis; writing and art by me. Feel free to share this thread or charisloke.com/sambal if it was helpful!