WHY CISHET ASPECS ARE LGBT - A THREAD
tw // aphobia , homophobia , ableism , sex mention , conversion therapy mention

it's perfectly normal to be apprehensive about letting cishets in any capacity into the community, but i can explain pretty well why cishet aspecs are lgbt. sorry if i sound like a teacher/therapist during this it's just how i collect my thoughts the best

so obviously cishets are the oppressive class, right? but the wrench is thrown in when we're talking about alloromantic/allosexual vs aromantic/asexual. +

+ this creates a new axis of oppression, and it's tied really heavily with society's perception of mental illness, trauma, neurodivergency, and the heavy focus on romance, sex, and reproduction.

just like with most of the lgbt+ community, aspec individuals go completely against the supremacist narrative of falling in love, getting married, and having kids. in a fascist society like the one we live in, it is considered unnatural to go against that narrative, and +

+ those that do are outcasts and dangerous to the "normal" way of life. a cishet allo's first thought upon hearing someone is asexual/aromantic may be "what's wrong with them?" or "what made them this way?" which is the exact same narrative they use against other lgbt+ people.

there's also an extreme level of ableism tied in, as aromantic people are often seen as loveless monsters, sociopaths/psychopaths, or generally harmful to others. +

+ ace people can be seen as traumatized when they may not be, anxious, inexperienced, or naive/childish (which plays heavily into ableism against neurodivergent people). both are seen as "correctable".

there is a staggering amount of aspec people that are put through aroace specific conversion therapy, because being aroace is "unnatural". whether an aspec's identity stems from trauma or not is entirely irrelevant, and they are still valid and real for identifying as such.

people on the aroace spectrum, like demi, are often seen as confused or inexperienced. our attraction, and the label behind it, is often chalked up to being something everyone experiences, due to a severe lack of understanding and/or aphobia.

cishet aces may seem like just cishets that don't want to have sex, but unfortunately sex and ultimately reproduction is so focused on in our society that it's inevitable someone, especially family members, will think there's something wrong with you and you need to be fixed.

aspecs experience romantic and sexual attraction differently from the norm that cishet allos set, and that's what makes the lgbt+ community what it is. we experience differently from what society has deemed acceptable.

end of thread!! here's some cats to make you feel better that was kinda heavy. feel free to add anything and ask questions in the replies or dm me with any :3