LGBT and queerness

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i feel more part of the queer movement because i'm transgendered rather than because i'm asexual, and also because my relationships are very atypical for several reasons beyond gender. i'm in a queer relationship in many ways. polyamorous, lesbian-ish with medusa (in the biological sense, but neither of us feel fully female) and lesbian-ish with kimana (in the sense i don't feel fully female), etc. and to add to it all i'm in an interracial relationship with medusa and a deaf-blind relationship with kimana. suffice it to say we get a LOT of stares.

i don't think asexuality discounts one from the queer movement. however i don't think being part of the movement has to do with whether you are an L, G, B, or T. after all there are lesbians/gays/bisexuals/transsexuals that don't really feel part of the movement either. and there are allies who are you average heterosexual who feel very much part of the movement. i think it's just as much a personal choice, where you place your values, at it is whether or not you identify as queer.

[Jazmin]

I do support the issues of the GLBT community, but I don't feel that asexuality is welcomed as part of it. Some of the groups/persons give lip-service to asexuality but when it comes down to it, asexuals are viewed by the gay community in the same way they are by the straight community: with a lot of disbelief and questions as to why someone says they are asexual. Unlike being gay/lesbian, asexuality is viewed with more of a cause/effect relationship. Either the person who is asexual had an event in their past that has damaged their view of sexuality, or they cannot come to terms with their homosexuality (or something along those lines).

The GLBT movement is fundamentally about equal rights for individuals who are attracted to, and choose to have sex with same-sex partners, which IMHO is at-odds with asexuality in that the asexual movement would be about respecting individuals who were for practical purposes, celibate. Is it possible to promote the idea of sexual freedoms while promoting the idea of freedom from sexuality? I think that rather than attaching asexuals to the GLBT movement as a matter of convenience, and for the purposes of sheer numbers of members, it may be a better idea for the asexual movement to instead promote the acceptance of people who, for whatever reason, do not enter into sexual relationships.

All just my opinion, of course.

...

That's how I feel about things too. I don't really think asexuality really belongs with the GLBT community and movement. It seems rather tacked on. There are members of the GLBT community who, like a lot of heterosexuals, don't even see asexuality as valid. I think, as you said, it would be better to have something separate for raisng awareness about asexuality.

[evie_love]

I identify as bi, but I don't like the community very much. I don't think it's bad that they don't want to be discriminated against, but like somebody said earlier I think people have the right to believe any way they want, and from my perspective groups like that, including anti-gay movements, tend to try to push their beliefs on people. I also don't think the kind of activism they use is always the most effective way to bring about changes in some situations. I don't know all the ins and outs though.

As far as asexuality, I don't think it has a place in the community either, mostly because there are many different reasons a person might be asexual. I always thought sexual orientation was whichever gender the asexual person was romantically attracted to, where as with an aromantic person it would be more of a sexual orientation, or lack of it.

Let me know what you think. :)

[square peg]

Don't feel part of the LGBT community so don't really care whether they include us or not, I see it as up to them. It's nice that some choose to, nice when anyone raises awareness for us and it makes sense for LGBT groups to know about and mention asexuality as a possibility when people approach them very confused about their sexuality, but I don't think they should feel obliged to count as us as members or give us equal time (hence I selected 'no' for that question) because our current priorities and common challenges are so different to those of the established LGBT community.

(I say current because who knows what will happen when certain sections of society come to hear about us. It doesn't seem too unlikely that some might accuse asexuals who marry of insulting the rite of marriage or something like that. If that happened I'd see it as entirely appropriate for us to be fully included.)

[LimeTreeArbour]

asexuality should be a movement of its own - we have as little in common with them as we do with anyone else

[squiggle]

Every year the LGBT acronym thingo seems to get longer and longer. I've heard people say LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer) a lot recently -but the longest one I've come across was LGBTTSQQIAP (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Two Spirited, Queer, Questioning, Intersex, Asexual, Pansexual -I think - but I could be wrong about a few of those)