Thread by @aceweek

The ace community has a real problem with ableism, and we NEED to talk about it. #asexuality #disability 1/23

Since the very beginning of ace advocacy, ace people have responded to questions about hormone levels, mental illness, and pathologization by insisting that asexuality is wholly unrelated to disability. 2/23

Activists routinely argue that asexuality is a legitimate orientation "because there's nothing wrong with our bodies"—that it should be recognized "because it isn't a result of disability, or autism, or trauma..." This is ableism at work! 3/23

The validity of asexuality as an identity must not come at the expense of further marginalizing disabled, neurodivergent, and mentally ill people. But all too often, that's exactly what happens. 4/23

Here's an important truth: disabled aces exist, neurodivergent aces exist, and mentally ill aces exist. And guess what? Community stats show some of these experiences are more likely for asexual people than for the general population. 5/23

Another important truth? For some of these people, asexuality can't be separated from their disability, neurodivergence, or mental illness. It doesn't hurt our community to recognize that! 6/23

Speaking as the author of these tweets (@BrianLangevin): I'm autistic. I cannot clearly separate my autism from my asexuality. I can't definitively know that I'd still be ace if I wasn't autistic. I'm still asexual. 7/23

At least 1 in 6 members of our community are autistic. For the general population, it's 1 in 66. Aces are at least ten times as likely to be autistic! asexualcensus.files.wordpress.com/2021/04/autism… 8/23

When you say that asexual people aren't disabled, when try to show how aces are "just like everyone else" (ie. normal), when you only prop up abled ace people, you're throwing so so many of us under the bus. 9/23

As a community, we need to be CENTERING the voices of disabled, neurodivergent, and mentally ill aces. They need to be at the forefront of our community, not some object that we step on to raise ourselves higher. 10/23

This is why shows like #EverythingsGonnaBeOkay are groundbreaking. Drea (played by @LillianCarrier0) is unapologetically asexual AND autistic, and it's incredible. 11/23

Do you think that the way we get doctors to take our concerns seriously is by teaching them that asexuality is valid because it isn't caused by hormone differences, disability, or mental illness? No! That won't work! 12/23

So what if someone doesn't want sex because of their disability? Should asexuality be reserved only for those whose asexuality can't be linked to some cause? No! That's ridiculous! 13/23

When you tell people that asexuality is completely separate from disability, you're saying that disabled people have to be sexual in order to be human. You're actively reinforcing the compulsory sexuality we're trying to fight. 14/23

The way we get doctors to take our concerns seriously is by teaching them that it's OKAY not to have sex. That there's nothing wrong with not having sex! That we shouldn't try to change people who don't want sex! 15/23

Until our society accepts that a sexless life is just as fulfilling and meaningful as one filled with sex, doctors are going to continue trying to change us – disabled or not. 16/23

Fighting for ace acceptance is useless if it doesn't also involve fighting against ableism. Ableism is the very reason society doesn't want to accept asexuality as a valid life experience. @autistichoya's fantastic article explains this: autistichoya.com/2020/09/reconn… 17/23

We can't keep pretending like asexuality is never related to or caused by disability, neurodivergence, mental illness, and trauma. These are real experiences in our community and they aren't uncommon. acesandaros.org/stories/on-exc… 18/23

Here's three ways you can fight ableism: 1) Educate yourself: start by reading the articles linked in this thread! 2) Boost disabled aces' voices and work! 3) Find ways to teach about asexuality that don't disavow disability. (Ask us how!) 19/23

For all of the disabled, neurodivergent, and mentally ill people reading this: we see you! And not just that: we ARE you. More than half of our leadership and volunteer teams are disabled, neurodivergent, or mentally ill. 20/23

There are spaces in the ace community that welcome you no matter what. Spaces that celebrate your disability and value it as an important part of who you are. Our organization is like that, and it's a wonderful place to be. 21/23

We can promise you this: our team is going to keep fighting like hell to end ableism, to uplift disabled aces, and to change the way our community talks about those things. We hope that you'll join in the fight too! 22/23

If you're asexual and disabled, mentally ill, or neurodivergent, respond to this thread so that our community can support you and boost your work! (You can also DM us to tell us other ways we can support you!) 23/23