Acing It Posted October 18, 2017 Share Posted October 18, 2017 I think this is significant. The NHS is apparently going to start collecting information on sexual orientation and guess what... asexuality is in the proverbial 'other' category again. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-41625402 Why I'm sad about this is that I expected the NHS at least to recognise asexuality in that way and this doesn't help when trying to talk to your GP about asexuality. Link to post Share on other sites
Rynn Posted October 18, 2017 Share Posted October 18, 2017 Yeah, it's sad they won't even mention asexuality. Link to post Share on other sites
mistfallen Posted October 18, 2017 Share Posted October 18, 2017 This is terrible to hear. Wtf. This crap combined with asexuality never being represented is the reason why so many people are lost, without a voice, and not counted for. "Asexuals make up .5- 6% of the population." ??? What kind of awful statistics??? I'm so upset. Link to post Share on other sites
Kururin Posted October 18, 2017 Share Posted October 18, 2017 Ugggghhh! How are people going to know about asexuality if they're not even gonna acknowledge it? We're just as valid like bi/gay/lesbian. This isn't as bad as Tumblr tho. Tumblr is worse Link to post Share on other sites
timewarp Posted October 18, 2017 Share Posted October 18, 2017 14 minutes ago, nemu_X said: This isn't as bad as Tumblr tho. Tumblr is worse Might be, but: Tumblr -> I've been ignoring it as long as it existed UK government -> they make decisions that affect every day of my life Link to post Share on other sites
gaogao Posted October 18, 2017 Share Posted October 18, 2017 I don't really understand why the NHS needs to know patients' sexual orientation - unless this is some kind of stats gathering exercise. Surely the more correct thing to ask in a medical context is about sexual activity instead? And only if it has any bearing on your healthcare? Link to post Share on other sites
Acing It Posted October 18, 2017 Author Share Posted October 18, 2017 6 hours ago, gaogao said: I don't really understand why the NHS needs to know patients' sexual orientation - unless this is some kind of stats gathering exercise. Surely the more correct thing to ask in a medical context is about sexual activity instead? And only if it has any bearing on your healthcare? It is apparently about gathering stats to 'make sure people of other sexual orientations are not disadvantaged'. Can anyone else see the irony in this? hahah. Link to post Share on other sites
Acing It Posted October 18, 2017 Author Share Posted October 18, 2017 9 hours ago, timewarp said: Might be, but: Tumblr -> I've been ignoring it as long as it existed UK government -> they make decisions that affect every day of my life I agree. And if event he NHS can't get this right, then what hope do we have with other institutions. I can see GPs who don't believe we exist ignoring our response and putting us under heterosexual. Not that that matters on a personal level, but it fails to represent both a true picture and us in the stats. Link to post Share on other sites
WinterWanderer Posted October 18, 2017 Share Posted October 18, 2017 I don't live in the UK, but I find this annoying as someone in the field of public health. When national health institutions recognize under-represented identities, they open the door for more acceptance, and most importantly, more understanding. More knowledge. More research. *sighs* Link to post Share on other sites
timewarp Posted October 18, 2017 Share Posted October 18, 2017 What I really don't get about minority representation in this country is that you need to be a big minority to even get acknowledged. Isn't that missing the whole point? Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted October 18, 2017 Share Posted October 18, 2017 I personally think it would be really hard to recognize asexuality in any official capacity when even in the asexual community, no one can agree on what asexuality actually is. The longer that everyone refuses to clearly define asexuality in favor of total inclusivity, the less chance asexuality will have at actually being recognized as an actual sexual orientation. I believe that the NHS decision to lump asexuality in with the 'other' category reflects this lack of any real seriousness (in the ace community) about actually defining asexuality in a way that applies to real human beings. Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted October 18, 2017 Share Posted October 18, 2017 12 hours ago, gaogao said: I don't really understand why the NHS needs to know patients' sexual orientation - unless this is some kind of stats gathering exercise. Surely the more correct thing to ask in a medical context is about sexual activity instead? And only if it has any bearing on your healthcare? Wouldn't it also be useful to assess STI rates? Like to see if for some reason bisexual people (as a random example) have a higher rate of STIs than, I don't know, lesbian women, and to work out what exactly the issue is there and how to fix it? Seems to make sense to me. Link to post Share on other sites
gaogao Posted October 19, 2017 Share Posted October 19, 2017 @FictoVore. yes, i suppose that would fall under 'a stats gathering exercise' ... but I literally didn't know what to say. After all - I identify as asexual but I'm in a relationship with a a bisexual woman - even if 'asexual' was an option, would I say 'lesbian' or 'asexual' ? Which is more medically relevant if I fall under both categories? How would my statistics contribute to any of these groups? In any case - I actually just got asked this question this morning because I'm being assessed for mental health support on the NHS, and I froze up and said I would prefer not to disclose. I don't see how my sexuality would affect this after all. shrugs Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted October 19, 2017 Share Posted October 19, 2017 9 hours ago, gaogao said: @FictoVore. yes, i suppose that would fall under 'a stats gathering exercise' ... but I literally didn't know what to say. After all - I identify as asexual but I'm in a relationship with a a bisexual woman - even if 'asexual' was an option, would I say 'lesbian' or 'asexual' ? Which is more medically relevant if I fall under both categories? How would my statistics contribute to any of these groups? In any case - I actually just got asked this question this morning because I'm being assessed for mental health support on the NHS, and I froze up and said I would prefer not to disclose. I don't see how my sexuality would affect this after all. shrugs Yeah I'm in a sexual relationship with a guy, but it's only online so no risk of STI haha, plus I don't really feel comfortable saying I'm 'hetero' or anything else. I'm not asexual, because I desire and enjoy sexual interaction under specific circumstances and actually could only enjoy that interaction with someone who has a penis, but I don't care if that person is for example a transwoman who looks exactly like a woman in every aspect other than having a penis, so it's not like I'm 'attracted to men'.. other than the penis I actually find most masculine traits (like muscles, lol) quite unappealing. And on top of that, I need to develop a bond with someone before I could ever be interested in sex with them so 'attracted to males' isn't really an accurate way to define what I feel, haha. What I'm getting at is that if I was asked that question I'd just say 'its irrelevant' or 'not applicable' or something because honestly, I'm not really anything.. that's how it feels anyway When I was a member on FetLife I'd just put 'not applicable' beside the 'sexual orientation' option, even though they list asexuality and practically everything else. Sometimes it's all just too complicated *shrug!* Okay that was a random ramble, now I'm going to the shop to buy butter so I can cook roast potatoes,mmmm. Link to post Share on other sites
ben8884 Posted October 20, 2017 Share Posted October 20, 2017 I don't like in the UK anymore but as a British citizen I find this appalling. I think that people can offer information but th i is ridiculous. Also, to be asked is one thing but to be asked amd then to not be given the option of giving the correct answer is another more insulting thing. Link to post Share on other sites
Acing It Posted October 20, 2017 Author Share Posted October 20, 2017 9 hours ago, ben8884 said: I don't like in the UK anymore but as a British citizen I find this appalling. I think that people can offer information but th i is ridiculous. Also, to be asked is one thing but to be asked amd then to not be given the option of giving the correct answer is another more insulting thing. You got out in time. It's getting more and more peculiar here, in many different ways. Link to post Share on other sites
scarletlatitude Posted October 24, 2017 Share Posted October 24, 2017 Moving to the asexual musings and rantings forum scarletlatitude World Watch mod Link to post Share on other sites
Skycaptain Posted October 24, 2017 Share Posted October 24, 2017 There's another angle to look at this from. The NHS is more aware of asexulity than many organisations. They actually suggested asexulity to me, for one, and some, if not all of their therapy /counselling services have AVEN as a suggested resource. Also they are a state funded organisation, and need to be able to to provide the best services they can for the greatest number of people. Knowing the proportion of people who could be expected to require certain services may enable them to optimise their use of resources Link to post Share on other sites
timewarp Posted October 24, 2017 Share Posted October 24, 2017 1 hour ago, Skycaptain said: There's another angle to look at this from. The NHS is more aware of asexulity than many organisations. They actually suggested asexulity to me, for one, and some, if not all of their therapy /counselling services have AVEN as a suggested resource. Also they are a state funded organisation, and need to be able to to provide the best services they can for the greatest number of people. Knowing the proportion of people who could be expected to require certain services may enable them to optimise their use of resources Fair point. But this is precisely why it only makes sense if they actually ask about asexuality. As it is now, asexuality is, according to the Equal Opportunities Act 2010, not a sexual orientation and therefore not included in all this. Link to post Share on other sites
ElijahH Posted October 24, 2017 Share Posted October 24, 2017 59 minutes ago, timewarp said: according to the Equal Opportunities Act 2010, not a sexual orientation and therefore not included in all this. I didn't know that. Does that mean that asexuals are not protected from discrimination on grounds of not having a sexual identity? Link to post Share on other sites
Member4445 Posted October 24, 2017 Share Posted October 24, 2017 56 minutes ago, ElijahH said: I didn't know that. Does that mean that asexuals are not protected from discrimination on grounds of not having a sexual identity? I asked this question to the LGBT+ spokesperson for a police department once. No, attacking a person due to their Asexuality would not be classed as a hate crime, but it would come under assault/GBH etc. This is uk only though. And I did ask the question back in 2012. (That was explained really badly. I can’t English right now) Link to post Share on other sites
ElijahH Posted October 24, 2017 Share Posted October 24, 2017 3 hours ago, Ciri said: come under assault/GBH etc. This is uk only though. And I did ask the question back in 2012. Huh. That's disturbing. I'll look into that Link to post Share on other sites
timewarp Posted October 24, 2017 Share Posted October 24, 2017 9 hours ago, ElijahH said: I didn't know that. Does that mean that asexuals are not protected from discrimination on grounds of not having a sexual identity? I think it's a tad bit more complicated than that. Some commentaries apparently mention asexuality, applying common law principles or something like that. Link to post Share on other sites
Acing It Posted October 24, 2017 Author Share Posted October 24, 2017 8 hours ago, Ciri said: I asked this question to the LGBT+ spokesperson for a police department once. No, attacking a person due to their Asexuality would not be classed as a hate crime, but it would come under assault/GBH etc. This is uk only though. And I did ask the question back in 2012. (That was explained really badly. I can’t English right now) I think you're right Ciri. I never found anything that suggests asexuality exists as we understand it in the legal sense in the UK, but that doesn't mean that the law is not on our side in an indirect way. Link to post Share on other sites
Acing It Posted October 24, 2017 Author Share Posted October 24, 2017 11 hours ago, Skycaptain said: There's another angle to look at this from. The NHS is more aware of asexulity than many organisations. They actually suggested asexulity to me, for one, and some, if not all of their therapy /counselling services have AVEN as a suggested resource. Also they are a state funded organisation, and need to be able to to provide the best services they can for the greatest number of people. Knowing the proportion of people who could be expected to require certain services may enable them to optimise their use of resources I agree with all of that. Not having asexuality on the list of options suggests that some bureaucrat has put this together rather than someone embedded in the NHS. [I inadvertedly seem to have taken the opposite view on pronouns to you! :-) I hadn't noticed this until now.] Link to post Share on other sites
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