Thread by @NeuroArchie

Idk who needs to hear this this #Pride but disability rights is an #LGBT issue and LGBT rights is a disability issue.

They overlap. ALOT. But yet I rarely see them brought up at the same time or the connections mentioned.

So as an LGBT disabled guy let me clue yall in

🧵

Sorry in addvance if this is all over the place. Not good at structuring my points. But i just wanted to bring members from both my communities together to see the similarities. Abled queers and cishet disabled ppl may not have been aware of eachothers issues.

Throughout history being queer has been seen as a mental condition, as a disability. It isn't of course, but it was and still is treated such.

It may shock cishet disabled people, but abled queers still do face *some* form of ableism, to this day.

This being ofc because cishets do not see queers as sound of mind.

They see us as defective, delusional, insane, not mentally right, not able to make our own medical decisions, something that must be cured, etc.

Sound familiar? I bet it does.

Ppl still see queerness as a mental illness of sorts. Even though it isnt they treat us like it is. Hence, some ableism.

As an autistic whenever i see ppl calling trans ppl mentally ill, only to then proceed to bully and harass them for said "mental illness"... i feel that

Because as an autistic i too am bullied and harassed for a nurological difference that i cannot fucking control.

Cishets treat trans people the same way theyntreat neurodivergent and mentally ill people. Zero compassion zero understanding. Just bullying.

If cishets think being trans is a mental illness y do they bully em for something they cant control? wouldnt they listen to professionals who say best treatement for better quality of life with this "illness" is to transition?🤔🤔🤔

They dont care abt trans ppl or disabled ppl

Cishets dont care about the quality of life of LGBT people.

And ableds dont care about the quality of life of disabled ppl.

What they care about is fixing us. Both of us. So we fit to their standards. Or getting rid of us.

A famous example of this would be gay/trans conversion therapay. Which is without a doubt abuse and DOES NOT WORK.

But how many of you abled queers knew that lgbt conversion therapy ISNT the only kind to exist, and that theres autistic conversion therapy too?

Thats right. Conversion therapy isnt only aimed at LGBT ppl. As a matter of fact the man considered to be one of the key figures of lgbt conversiom therapay, George Rekers, studied under Ivar Lovaas who is the key figure in autistic conversion therapy.

Lovaas and Rekers worked together on the Feminine Boy Project. Which was an early study of LGBT conversion therapy aimednat making boys more masculine so they wouldnt turn out gay.

Due to great influence of these two monsters, it would later evolve into the conversion therapay we know today where lgbt people are punished for displaying homosexual & transgender behaviours until they eventually hide that part of themselves and pretend they are cishet

Ofc they are not cishet. Theyre still LGBT. But they cannot show it due to fear of punishment. Punishments may differ. It could be hitting, yelling, taking away toys and comfort items, food, time out / solitary, forced prayer, or even elecrrocution. Etc.

Its the same in autistic conversion therpay. Because Lovaas used many of the same methodology in both. And being Lovaas student, Rekers learned this methodology from him.

Autistic conversion therapy is known now as Applied Behavioral Analysis, also called ABA.

The purpose of which is to control the behavior of autistic kids so they do not display certain autistic traits but rather adhere to allistic (non autistic) standards of behavior.

So what's typically included in ABA?
Forced eye contact, forced speech (google: "Oralism"), preventing child from stimming which is a necessary self regulatory behavior, teaching to abide by allistic (non autistic) standards of communication and socialization, forced compliance,

And forced exposure to painful sensory input and punishing the child for showing pain as a result of the forced exposure until they learn to hide the pain.

This is what autistics call "masking". And it is actually a trauma response. And it's the entire goal of ABA.

This used to be done with punishments like those in LGBT conversion. Beating, yelling, solitary, restraint, taking food, taking comfort items, etc.

Nowadays it's done primarily with "positive reinforcement". But it's still abusive.

Positive reinforcement or punishment, doesn't matter when you're forcing someone to denounce their identity that they can't control for your own comfort. It still causes great psychological trauma.

No wonder most of us develop ptsd.
emerald.com/insight/conten…

Also please note I said its PRIMARILY positive reinforcement nowadays. Not all.

Electrocution is still used and federally legal to punish autistic children.
#StopTheShock

autisticadvocacy.org/actioncenter/i…(JRC,attached%20to%20the%20student's%20body.

So whilst LGBT conversion therapy is banned in most places... autistic conversion therapy is legal everywhere, covered by insurance, considered necessary "treatment" by medical professionals, is the most well known "treatment", and utilizes electroshock torture legally.

So when fellow LGBT advocate to ban conversion therapy, please don't leave your autistic siblings out of your advocacy. It affects us too. Help us #EndABA

Especially considering autistic people are more likely to be LGBT than allistic people!

cam.ac.uk/research/news/…

Another article on the queer history of ABA

catalystjournal.org/index.php/cata…

There's also the issue of bodily autonomy. That is a big issue trans and disabled people share.

cambridge.org/core/journals/…

Disabled people, particularly neurodivergent people, are seen as not capable of making decisions for ourselves. We are infanticide and spoken over constantly. We are seen as unable to consent, confused, easily influenced, etc. Which is all false.

Trans ppl are treated the same

Trans people, particularly youth, are seen as unable to make decisions about our own bodies and lives. We are seen as confused, easily influenced,and unable to consent to certain treatments, etc

Hence why there's alot of trans Healthcare bans going on.
them.us/story/the-hars…

The claim is:
Transgender prebubescent youth are confused and easily influenced cannot consent to using puberty blockers incase they detransition. (Because fools don't understand that puberty blockers are not permanent at all and think its hrt)

People went as far as to say that since most autistics tend to be LGBT, clearly the oh so mentally vaunerable autistics are being groomed by transgender people into transitioning 🙄

Most notably, the joke that is JK Rowling stated so
themighty.com/2020/06/jk-row…

Really wish the JK stood for Just Kidding

Yet another overlapping issue is marriage equality

The LGBT community fought long and hard to get marriage rights in the USA and have gained it in 2010. And many other countries are following suit.

But this does not marriage equality make.

Some LGBT people still don't have marriage equality.

Like polyamorous people. We don't have marriage equality. Its still illegal. If I were to get legally married I'd have to pick one partner over the other. Not cool.

Disabled ppl also don't have marriage equality.

Disabled people receiving gov services currently cannot get legally married or they risk having necessary services stripped from them as their partner is then seen as their "caregiver". Which is highly ableist. It keeps us dependant on our partners which opens the door for abuse

advocacymonitor.com/marriage-equal…

This actually ties in with my next point: having kids.

LGBT ppl struggle with discrimination in adopting. And are seen as pedos, groomers, and unfit to raise kids,

Disabled ppl are also seen as unfit to raise kids. And are seen as unfit to reproduce. Eugenics is alive and well

Many disabled people with disabilities that are harmless and do not impact quality of life such as autistics, are still banned from donating genetic material, and criticized for having children for fear it may pass on the genetics.

As a learning disabled and autistic man I personally have been told that I and people like me should not have kids because we'd be incapable of caring for them and should not bring more autistic and learning disabled people into the world.

Eugenics.

It is still legal to force sterilize disabled people too. It used to be more common back in the day with the "ugly laws" but it still happens today

rewirenewsgroup.com/article/2022/0…

Side note for those who don't know the Ugly Laws: basically in the 1800s and 1900s disabled people could not be seen in public or go to school as it was illegal. Also illegal to marry and reproduce if you were disabled.

eugenicsarchive.ca/discover/tree/…

Trans people deal with something similar. In many places it is required for trans people to become sterilized if they want to legally change gender. For no reason. Literally no reason. hrw.org/news/2019/03/1…

"In the early 1970s Sweden became the first country in the world to allow transgender people to reassign their sex legally. It enforced a strict sterilisation policy though, on the grounds that such people were mentally ill and unfit to care for a child."

economist.com/the-economist-…

I'm a bit tired from hyperfocusing on this thread all day so I'm taking a wee break. May continue to update it throughout pride month,who knows