Unicorn March is all about pride for the most forgotten and endangered parts of the community.
Sometimes, pride means knowing more about the struggles that people like you face. Pride from within, from knowing what you’re surviving. Pride from other community members and outsiders, supporting you and loving you for what you are, not just what you overcome.
This infographic collects all the current data on ace-spec oppression into one thread. (It exceeds Tumblr’s image limit, so if you’re only seeing the first post, check the notes for the rest.) Feel free to save any of these images to share. Tag @unicorn-march if you can, when you use these in a reply or your own posts; it would be great to see how this info helps people. Image descriptions are in the alt tags.
Links to all the sources, in the order that they appear:
The Williams Institute. (2016) LGB Within the T. This paper crunches the data from the 2011 National Transgender Discrimination Survey, which did in-depth interviews of 6,450 trans people of all orientations.
Bauer et al (2018). The 2016 Asexual Community Survey Summary Report. This is an ongoing annual online survey of major asexual communities; the 2016 survey received a total of 9,869 responses (Ace = 9331 and Non-Ace= 538). As it’s not a peer-reviewed published study, it’s used even more sparingly here; the only data used here from this report is the percentage of cis aces who had considered suicide.
Forewarning. This will probably get rambly. Expect it. I’m tired as hell and I got shit I want to say. It might not be worded as poetically as you assholes want, but at this point I’m done caring.
Anyway.
You know. I love how exclusionists automatically assume just because, yeah, aspecs actually HAVE gone through some shit and we’ve been harmed for being associated with the queer community, that we’re trying to push the idea that it’s been to the same extent. Yeah. Most of the backlash against us from straight people has come from the thought that “not being het” = “gay”. You’re right there.
And we know. What we go through is not the same extent. A lot of times (though there are things, and I’ll get to that) it’s not just because we’re aspec. We’ve said that.
Hear me out here before you start squawking. And for the love of all that’s good left in the world, don’t start up with the slur thing. There’s a dozen other posts on that. You don’t want to be called it? Great. My bi ass will. Cause we fought for that shitty word when there wasn’t anything to call ourselves, and you’ll give it back to those bigots after you pry it from my cold, dead, fingers.
Anyway. There’s this thing that’s called “generalized prejudice”. AKA, the notion that bigotry can be generalized across similar groups. Anything with any suffix of sexual besides hetero is automatically Wrong and Gay and Unnatural and Dangerous. You’re not straight? You’re not normal.
Parents who would send their gay, bi, pan, and trans kids send their ace kids to conversation therapy as well. Corrective rape is a BIG thing. That it does happen shows that there’s something in the mindset. Due to this, aspecs are, in fact, harmed and submitted to violence.
I know for myself I certainly didn’t get the best reception when I told my family. Luckily it wasn’t violent for me, but you know that thing you guys do with the “I’m sure Christians love you”.
Yeah. No. Because, and I quote here “God made man for women, and expected them to be with each other. And in marriage be open to each other’s needs. If you can’t give that to someone you shouldn’t marry. Because that’d be a sin.”
(First off, asexuality doesn’t mean you can’t have sex, even though I personally don’t want to have it. It’s just a lack of attraction (not libido. That’s something else.) Second of all, thanks for letting me know not to tell you about the bi thing. Don’t worry. Not opening up about this shit again.)
And there are others who’ve gotten worse. You’re right. Mine wasn’t as bad as a lot of you get, but can we all just agree it really hurts and sucks to be told you’re shit for your sexuality? Can we all agree that attitudes like this tend to cause bigger, more violent problems? Especially as more people become aware of it being a thing? That this has been a big issue and fucked up a lot of people?
“You weren’t there like we were in the start. You don’t deserve to be here after all the shit we went through. It’s because they think you’re gay, like you said! It’s homophobia, not aphobia!”
First of all we were here. We just weren’t under our own name, because we didn’t have it. Pansexuals were here as well, and so were nonbianary people. Most of us, knowing we weren’t straight but only having a select number of things to align ourselves with, dispersed under other groups. Lots of us ended up under the bisexual umbrella. Hell. A lot of us still do before we realize this is a thing.
“Well, I don’t like the opposite gender. So maybe I’m gay?”
“Okay, I don’t seem interested in any, but that would mean…maybe I’m interested in others equally? Am I bisexual or pan?”
Like. Shit. Just the sheer amount of it happening today where the aspec identities ARE a thing that’s known should give a hint of how common it would be earlier when it WASN’T known. Plus, we know we were around, because we were described. Even by some prominent leaders in the community.
A few overall examples. From the article for those who don’t want to wade through it:
“The earliest use of the word ‘asexual’ which I have been able to find (up to now), is in a 1896 pamphlet called “Sappho und Sokrates” by Magnus Hirschfeld, an influential German sexologist and activist for LGBT emancipation.”
“Ralph Werther – Jennie June was an outspoken transgender person who wrote extensively about his life and the New York LGBT scene at the turn of the century. He uses the word ‘anaphrodite‘ to describe people who are “not suffused with adoration for any type of human” and who “shudder violently at the very thought of any kind of association grounded on sex differences”
“Researchers like Magnus Hirschfeld and Alfred Kinsey did notice and describe asexuality. It is rather remarkable that some of the most well-known sexologists make mention of asexuality, and yet we have been woefully understudied over the course of the last 150 years.”
“We are present in the works of LGBT pioneers like Magnus Hirschfeld and Ralph Werther – Jennie June (see above). It’s worth investigating how we fit into their circles: turn-of-the-century Berlin and New York. Then there are phenomena like the Boston marriages – relationships of which the main features are not just lesbian, but also asexual – and the description of asexuality as a subcategory of homosexuality in the 1978 study ‘Homosexualities’.”
We were there then. At the start. Right from the beginning. All of us who knew we weren’t straight, but didn’t have a name. Maybe we’d label ourselves as gay. Or bi. Or trans. But we were there, even if we weren’t properly labeled. We fought too. We fought alongside you and died alongside you, but we didn’t have a group to call our own. We were scattered and unseen. And because of this we don’t know a lot of our history, or figures in the movement who could be asexual. We may never know beyond speculation. But I assure you we were there.
Since then our community keeps growing. Why? If y'all really knew your history you’d know why, and you’d know just how much this community has evolved just in the past TEN years. Even less. History isn’t static. Growth happens. Change happens. It is happening. That’s not a bad thing.
Anyway, why?
Because these groups that were looked over or lumped into others are finding each other when before it wasn’t really possible like it is today, with the internet helping us connect. Because even if things aren’t as bad, there’s issues and as a community we’re striving towards equality and getting rid of violence towards non straight sexualities. This community was founded for resistance. For sanctuary. For solidarity against violence that we faced every day.
And this opening up has grown the community and our movement. It’s provided more voices to speak and more information to spread. We’ve had gatekeeping throughout our history, and every time it’s proved detrimental. To all of us. Gatekeeping in our community was why and is why many trans activists have taken longer to be recognized. Why bisexuals are still EXTREMELY underrepresented in this movement’s history.
Anyway, that article? There’s another for the 21st century. And a few more quotes to make my point, because anyone who knows me can tell you how much I love my quotes. Examples make it a lot easier to get my thoughts together. Very useful…
You say we should get our own community? We have. It still gets invaded, and we haven’t even had it long. Again. We hadn’t been able to.
“The time the first asexual communities appeared was around the start of this century. As the very beginning, you could take the article called “My Life as a Human Amoeba” by Zoe O’Reilly, which was published in 1997. Over the years, the comment section of that article filled with comments of other asexuals, telling their life stories and connection with eachother over their shared asexual experiences for – as far as we know – the very first time.2 From that article and its comment section, we have an extraordinary development into a self-assured, worldwide community that’s present on multiple online platforms as well as offline meeting groups. We are hosting conferences, marching in pride parades and we have successfully lobbied for the depathologization of asexuality in the DSM, one of the leading psychiatric manuals.3
The way we think and talk about asexuality has changed as well. Our identity and the concepts that come with it didn’t plop out of thin air. We come from a place where we had little to no concepts or words to describe our experiences. Aces have done some large-scale worthsmithing and we have come up with new words so we can name our experiences. On top of that we have created a lively discourse to make sense of ourselves and our experiences.4″
I do have to let out a chuckle at that last sentence.
“Oh, but what if they’re heterosexual aros or heteroromantic aces??? I don’t want our oppressors in this community!”
Tough shit. For many of us we’re already sharing a community with our oppressors.
Black women put up with all kinds of shit from white women. Especially when it came to queer feminists.
Transgender have to share a space with us cis people when, again, they got walked repeatedly over.
(TERFs, I’m not dealing with your shit today. Also, has anyone else noticed how many ace exclusionists are TERFs, and how many nonTERF exclusionists get uncomfortable when this gets pointed out? Yeah. I have too. And it’s bullshit.)
I, a woman, have to share a space with dudes. I, disabled, have to share a space with the abled who I’ve lived quite a bit of my life being looked down on from.
Anyone remember that “A stands for Ally” fiasco? I do. People were wanting straight allies over us. The excuse?
“Well, you see, that’s ACTUALLY there for closeted individuals to be in the community without outing themselves. ╮(╯▽╰)╭”
Sure. Okay. Yeah. Here’s where I found that funny. Even if the A didn’t stand for Ally, they could still say they’re allies and, should they be going to pride or something, say they’re supporting a friend. Or, if it’s so delicate, not say anything to anyone if they feel unsafe. Because it’s likely a family that’s bigoted towards the community would hate them giving their support as well.
“Well…they’re questioning! ╮(╯▽╰)╭”
Great. The Q is for questioning and queer.
“They’re taking our resources! (*´>д
What resources are in such limited supplies that you have to worry about this shit???????
Asexuals aren’t harming you. The only reason they’re “in the spotlight” is because you stir up all this shit and put them there.
“But here’s some aces being homophobic and gross and they’re all horrible people who somehow support pedophilia!
Here’s links to MORE being cringy and acting like they’re better and pure and shit!
IF WE LET THEM IN EVERYONE WHO’S ~~QUIRKY~~ WILL WANT IN TOO! KINKS AND FURRIES AND PEDOPHILES!!!! ヽ(｀Д´)ﾉ”
What. Even. The fuck. And yes. I heard this. More than once.
Addressing this in chunks:
Okay. Don’t know where that pedophile thing comes from. At all. I don’t understand it, and I kinda am scared to. I might lose my last shred of faith in humanity. I THINK, since I’ve heard this much at least, it has something to do with that:
“We can’t talk to kids about asexuality because then we’d have to talk to them about SEX. With the others we can just talk about the romantic aspect, but oh my goodness. The kids will be so messed up!”
Am I the only one seeing the irony in this? First off. A lot of kids can feel sexual attraction by the age of eight. Most by the age of ten to eleven. I’m twenty and I’m still getting that “well, maybe you’re a late bloomer” shit. I’m TWENTY. Almost TWENTY-ONE. Shit. If I realized this wasn’t normal sooner…well. That would have been really nice.
Homophobic: Most of what I see here are young teens and preteens screwing up their wording and getting attacked. Or relying on misinformation, because they’re young. But really. Many of you are grown adults. Stop attacking kids who clearly misspoke or are ignorant. Shit. Most of us have been there. Getting death threats in your ask doesn’t help.
And not everyone is nice. Yeah. There’s gonna be some shitty ace people. Just like there’s transphobic community members. And biphobic. And so on and so on and so on. Because sucky people exist everywhere. What a concept.
And no. That’s not comparable to that “gay people can be heterophobic” shit. Please. Stop. Aces are not straight. Heterophobia does not exist. And straight pride month should not be a thing. Did I get that covered? Great.
Also, the asexual community has a high percentage of autistics, myself included. You know what one common thing is with autistics? We tend to have trouble getting across our meanings. If you all could just ask “Hey, is this what you really meant by this? If so that’s kinda messed up. If not, can you explain?” that’d take out a whole lotta drama. Cause then we can go “Actually, no. I meant X. Let me make that more clear. Thanks for pointing that out to me!”
So much easier. So. So much easier.
Most of the other offensive shit seems to stem from tweens in their cringe phase (really. Most of us were there. Stop sending hate mail to ignorant middle schoolers), parody blogs, or, *gasp*, other exclusionists making fake blogs to purposefully stir up trouble. Geez. The sheer amount of those blogs. Find better things to do, damn it.
Then again. These are the same people who flood the Ace tag with dozens of hate posts about how shitty we are and how the community doesn’t want us, and do that:
“Boo hoo. Aren’t I so discriminatory? We get killed, bitch. Stop you’re whining. SOME of us have more to worry about then claiming to get bullied on Tumblr. Stop being a snowflake.”
It really shouldn’t be that surprising at this point. And yes, that too is something that’s almost word for word of another post. Because the discourse is shitty.
Okay. You see, kinks aren’t a sexuality. Pedophilia isn’t a sexuality and phedos actively pray on children and children can’t give consent, so they’re fucked up. Furries…yeah. Why? What logic would lead you to believe letting in asexuals is a gateway for furries?
Please. Stop. I’m tired. This month is supposed to be about celebrating our history and the people who fought to bring us where we are. Just for one month can we stop being petty assholes to each other? Just one month? I mean. I’d LOVE to say forever, but I realize that’s just not realistic.
A few last notes to cover my ass and make my thoughts clear about the normal shit storms that usually follow these kinds of posts.
First off. If one more person starts whining about “having their identity” used as a tactic by inclusionists, I’m gonna lose it. It’s not a cheap tactic. Inclusionists come from all backgrounds you assholes.
I’m not harboring some inner biphobia for connecting events from one part of my identity to another. The trans women inclusionist isn’t transphobic for talking about it. The lesbian inclusionist isn’t a “traitor” for pointing out how ridiculous you’re being. Stop being assholes. It’s not just your identity. It’s the identity of people on both sides and you need to stop trying to shit on people. Yeah, I spoke about more than just bisexual. Because I’m not the only one saying this. In fact, most of those points I got from others. Who were trans, and pan, and lesbians. I got followers who talk about it. It’s not just me talking here and they need to be respected for the points they’ve made as well.
Two. If I hear anyone talking about that ridiculous “corrective rape is a lesbian term” you’re going to get a real history lesson on its origins. Because you’re 100% wrong and I’m tired of uninformed bullshit.
I’m tired of this shitty discourse. Aspecs are not hurting you. Aspecs are not hurting you. Aspecs are not hurting you. Inclusion does not harm the community. Inclusion does give resources to kids who could be in harmful situations.
For one month. Just take a break from being hateful assholes. One month. Just…just one freaking month.
Anyway. Happy pride.
To my lesbians. Your flag looks great. Sorry Tumblr staff forgot you guys. There also isn’t much on Google. Tried to find some variety. :(
To my gay bros. Remember the meaning your colors represent.
To all you pans. Keep being punny, and spread the love. You’re all great.
To my trans friends. Don’t let the TERFs get you down. Trans women are women. Trans men are men. You are not predators. You are not dangerous. You are fully yourself.
To my bi peeps. We’re amazing. You’re not “half straight” or “Half gay”. Doesn’t matter if you’re in a same or opposite sex relationship. You’re still full on bi. Don’t take shit.
To my aces. You’re not straight. You’re not broken. You’re not less. You are always welcome. Exclusionists on Tumblr do not represent the wider belief.
To my aros, I’m sorry people forget about you so much. And remember that there’s many different types of love. You’re not gross for not feeling romantic love. You’re not cold. You’re not predatory for those of you wanting sexual relationships without romance.
For those who are both aro and ace, you’re not devoid of emotion. You’re not subhuman. You’re individuals and love can be expressed in so many ways. If you’re in the grey area, that’s fine too.
I love all of you. I couldn’t really find much for nonbianary and genderfluid, but you all rock as well.
We are a community, and we need to hold each other up if we want to continue moving forward. Division hurts us all.
Also, for my friends who are also black, muslim, disabled, female, Native American, Hispanic and in other groups that are struggling with additional fear this year with all the shit going on. Keep your head up. Keep fighting.
Holy shit @shadowkat678, I officially dub this the most awesome and prideful pride 2017 post I’ve seen yet!! What an amazing and well written journey, thank you so much.
Everyone, please signal boost this far and wide!!
I just wanna add that as I was reading this I was literally chatting with OP and sending them my thoughts and opinions about nearly each paragraph. It was a serious emotional journey because I can identify with almost all of it. However, I don’t have it in me to repeat all those thoughts and I don’t think you all wanna read it anyway bc this is a long enough post as it is.
But as a phd student and criminologist (& cis, panromantic, demisexual), I would like to just provide a short-ish quote that explains fairly well how “generalized prejudice” works, and does in fact lead to aphobia:
Our findings are in keeping with Herek’s (2010) “differences as deficits” model of sexual orientation, where sexual minorities deviating from the norm are considered substandard and deserving of negativity by the majority. This model is gradually becoming less applicable to homosexuals and bisexuals with changes in societal norms (Herek, 2010), consistent with our findings that homosexuals (and in some cases bisexuals) were viewed as equally or more human than the heterosexual ingroup. However, we posit that asexuals fit well within the “differences as deficits” framework. Asexuals are the sexual minority that is most clearly considered “deficient” by heterosexuals. In keeping with this interpretation, themes relevant to maintaining the status quo and group dominance (RWA and SDO, respectively) proved consistently important in predicting antiasexual attitudes, whereas concerns with positive ingroup identity and religious fundamentalism were less uniquely important.
Although antiasexual bias is a clear component of sexual minority prejudice, it is also unique in that it was repeatedly stronger than bias toward other sexual minorities. Most disturbingly, asexuals are viewed as less human, especially lacking in terms of human nature. This confirms that sexual desire is considered a key component of human nature, and those lacking it are viewed as relatively deficient, less human, and disliked. It appears that asexuals do not “fit” the typical definition of human and as such are viewed as less human or even nonhuman, rendering them an extreme sexual orientation outgroup and very strong targets of bias. Future research can address the mechanisms underlying this tendency. [emphasis mine]
And while this study definitely has its problems (e.g., it compares asexuality & sapiosexuality and defines asexuality wrong, which i argue is more evidence of anti-ace bias bc society and those studying us can’t even get a handle on “what” we are…) it’s still important bc it shows us that there is in FACT a systematically enforced anti-ace bias. Bc if it wasn’t systemic it wouldn’t be an identifiable & measurable social pattern!!!
Plus, ppl willing to discriminate is literally a large part of how discrimination and oppression work. When people literally say how and why they would hypothetically discriminate against a whole category of “different” people, you need to take that clearly stated BIGOTRY seriously and stop talking down to & over us, and telling us to just shut up about it.
![[Dark purple background with large white text that says 'Unicorn March presents: What Aces Face,' followed by a small ace flag.]](https://64.media.tumblr.com/b299ab08ac40f0706ae9ef8fc5d6a404/3a248b3cb03605cb-59/s540x810/db2dd515bef1c57ae5bbac1ea13b817c60ac0804.png)
![[Dark purple background with large white text that says 'First, a few quick definitions.' Smaller white text below it says, 'The 'unicorns' of the LGBTQIPA+ community are groups that are rarely seen, and rarely supported. Asexuals, or 'aces,' aren't sexually attracted to men. Or women. Or any other genders. Some aces can get turned on by the idea of enjoyable sex; some just don't enjoy it, or are repulsed by it. But they don't get turned on by people. The ace spectrum also includes people who are demisexual and grey-ace. Demis don't experience sexual attraction without deep emotional intimacy. Most people go on first dates to see if they feel attraction; demis don't know if they'll ever feel it for a given person.']](https://64.media.tumblr.com/a403a10ecdf86296c292986911491320/3a248b3cb03605cb-2a/s540x810/9d3e987953ca8ccc1d90476c8aa5809abd0177de.png)
![[White text here continues from the previous image: 'Like many grey areas, 'grey-ace' covers a lot of territory. Grey-aces identify with the experiences shared overall by the ace community. But they might feel unsure about whether they sometimes experience sexual attraction. They may experience it only vaguely, conditionally, or, like many demis, very, very rarely. Or they may experience some sort of sexual attraction, but not any particular drive or interest in sex. The beauty of the grey-ace label is that people can connect to the ace-spec community without having to put their reasons into words. If that sounds confusing, try assuming you're experiencing attraction, when really you just want, very much, to date someone. Or thinking you must be bi or pan, because you experience the same amount of (or lack of) attraction to all genders. Or distinguishing between sexual attraction to people, and free-floating sexual arousal in general. Most of us assume that if we have any sex drive at all, it must mean we're attracted to people. But there's a difference... and even when we don't notice the difference, it has an impact on our lives.']](https://64.media.tumblr.com/6923e1c64acf73d7297ccb5ca2d90b21/3a248b3cb03605cb-10/s540x810/695d3172f0037b654892192c5744ccd55209f607.png)
![[Black text on a grey background says In The WorkplACE. The letters ACE are in the rest of the ace pride flag colors: white, grey, and purple. Below this header is an explanation of the bar graph following it: 'The white columns show the percent of each group, at work, that experiences verbal harassment, exclusion from activities, being nonconsensually outed, the threat or act of physical or sexual harassment or violence, or other inappropriate comments or conduct. In order to avoid counting sexual minorities who are harassed for being trans, these numbers are only for cis sexual minorities. Transgender responses were consistently higher: a full third of heterosexual trans people reported similar experiences.' The chart shows that 19.3% of gay people were harassed at work, 23.3% of bisexuals, 28.6% of pansexuals, 29% of aces, and 27.1% of queer people. Additional dark and light purple bars alongside the white bars show stats for cis and trans people living in poverty. Among cis people, 37.7% of gay people in the UK are living in poverty; 59% of bisexuals; 65.2% of pansexuals; 64% of aces; and 57.3% of queer people. Among trans people, 57.9% of gay people live in poverty; 60.5% of bisexuals; 66.2% of pansexuals; 64.8% of aces; and 64.7% of queer people. Black text below this chart gives the source of the data as 'Government Equalities Office, 2017, National LGBT Survey.']](https://64.media.tumblr.com/f6dafec3a32d0792d6972309bac6e820/3a248b3cb03605cb-b8/s540x810/300f9969ec625fa78b49525e7ad1a0892e855bba.png)
![[This page features a purple background and a central white square with the text, 'Barriers To Education: In 2015, the Association of American Universities surveyed more than 150,000 students nationwide about some of the challenges they might have been experiencing. These statistics are from their time in college and graduate school only.' Around this are four sections, with greyscale squares in different sizes showing the statistics for each group. From the top of the page, proceeding clockwise around it: 60.4% of gay/lesbians, 64% of aces, and 69.1% of bisexuals experience harassment during college and graduate school. 10.8% of straight students, 13.7% of gay/lesbian, 18.3% of ace, and 25.6% of bi students experience violent assault. 3.7% of straight, 5.9% of gay, 9.5% of ace, and 9.9% of bi students experience stalking. and 5.2% of straight, 8.7% of gay, 13.5% of ace, and 14.4% of bi students experience nonconsensual touch. The bottom of the page gives the following source: Cantor, David, et al. 2015. AAU Climate Survey on Sexual Assault and Sexual Misconduct.]](https://64.media.tumblr.com/614860c9b928478aa751de18582f0c85/3a248b3cb03605cb-8c/s540x810/d0312046aa67bb4a9494062888d66d6b64cddafd.png)
![[A light grey background, decorated with dots and circles in purple and white, with a white bar graph. Purple text reads, 'HOME SWEET HOME: The white columns show the percent of each group that at home, in the past year, experienced verbal harassment, insults, or other hurtful comments; coercive or controlling behavior; being nonconsensually outed; the threat or act of physical or sexual harassment or violence; or other inappropriate comments or conduct. In order to avoid counting sexual minorities who are abused for being trans, these numbers are only for cis sexual minorities. Transgender responses were consistently higher, but followed a similar pattern, ranging from 36.8% for heterosexuals to 58.9% for pansexuals.' Below this, the bar chart shows the percentages: 22.5% of gay people, 34.8% of bisexuals, 39.3% of pansexuals, 32.1% of queer people, 35.6% of aces, and 36.6% of people identifying in some other way. These stats are once again from the UK's national LGBT Survey in 2017.]](https://64.media.tumblr.com/c9bff5a3836fd8461023a7d57c908cbe/3a248b3cb03605cb-55/s540x810/0a6b941669c70ee639a27cac6ba47dab621075cc.png)
![[A large, purple-edged, white speech bubble against a black background says, 'So-called conversion therapies, sometimes also referred to as cure, aversion or reparative therapies, are techniques intended to change someone’s sexual orientation or gender identity... commonly ranging from pseudo-psychological treatments to spiritual counselling. In extreme cases, they may also include surgical and hormonal interventions, or so-called ‘corrective’ rape.' The quote is attributed to 'The Rt. Hon. Penny Mordaunt and the Government Equalities Office. (2017) National LGBT Survey: Research Report.']](https://64.media.tumblr.com/4d4a835706fbb8e026d6c73d9d8f2501/3a248b3cb03605cb-5e/s540x810/6333fbcadc8d9c239c4d46d57fcf897447468aad.png)
![[A cherry-red megaphone against a purple background illustrates the stats for 'CONVERSION THERAPY.' A smaller subheader says, 'The least- studied asexual experience by far is also one of the most damaging -- and most common.' The page goes on to explain, 'In 2017, the UK's Government Equalities Office conducted the National LGBT Survey, which included more than 108,000 LGBTQIPA+ people. Their findings finally validated what aces had been saying for years: a wide swath of the world treats their sexual orientation as a disease to be 'cured.' By force, if necessary.' The megaphone is lined with bold black statistics: Bi, 5.2%. Pan, 6.6%. Gay, 7.6%. Ace, 10.2%. At the bottom, a smaller note says that 'Percentages are of cis people who have had, or been directed to, conversion therapy for their orientation. Trans responses are omitted here for clarity, as they could have been targeted for gender, orientation, or both.']](https://64.media.tumblr.com/bfcaf8680bc24d8be2fbc089453d0c59/3a248b3cb03605cb-89/s540x810/8eb05239120a9db69e37de31e16a607c2edea8de.png)
![[White text on a black background says, 'HOMELESSNESS IS NOT AN EVENT: '...For LGBTQA youth, while disclosures of stigmatized sexual or gender identities typically did not instantly result in getting kicked out, it often arrived in the context of already stressed parent-child relationships and other parental and family struggles that were years in the making. 'Many of these youth eventually left in order to escape the stigma and discrimination they had endured within their families for quite some time. [They reported] some of the highest rates of adversity scores in our survey, often while stably housed.' Samuels, Gina E. Miranda, et al. (2019) Voices of Youth Count In-Depth Interviews: Technical Report.]](https://64.media.tumblr.com/c435bb7d5ec7627313d18a080be06960/e1a0de38c01b1afa-73/s540x810/64266ef0a5ea43eb36c28ebe99ef26a839bb4df4.png)
![[White text on a purple background says, 'HOMELESSNESS: A higher likelihood of becoming homeless is one of the most socially visible effects of oppression. According to the national 2016-17 Voices Of Youth Count survey, 114% more homeless youth are on the ace spectrum than youth in the general population. 41% more are gay/lesbian; 50% more are bi; and 83% more are trans.' Below that, a grey bar chart on a white background shows these statistics, as well as showing that cis hetero youth are disproportionately less likely to become homeless.' Source: Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago. (2017) Youth Homelessness in San Diego County, California: Findings from the youth count, brief youth survey, and provider survey.]](https://64.media.tumblr.com/35d414ba931da4f566224c613619f51d/e1a0de38c01b1afa-1f/s540x810/86733d985bc84a975cb7d4223a1a463b4f3c023d.png)
![[White text on a purple background says, 'In 2011, the National Transgender Discrimination Survey spoke with 6,450 trans people, creating a detailed portrait of transgender life. We all know the trans community struggles with very high homelessness rates. So high that even heterosexual trans people have the same likelihood of having been homeless at some point as their gay and bi transgender peers: around 19%. But if you're trans and ace? 27%.' Source: 'LGB Within the T,' The Williams Institute A grey bar chart on the right, against a white background, illustrates the statistics: 19% each for straight and gay trans people, 17% for bi trans people, and 27% for ace trans people.]](https://64.media.tumblr.com/db83d75b585d3e8edba444c0dd78abe1/e1a0de38c01b1afa-22/s540x810/95f3f4ff57966f61bd104cbba82cda8f21ab32a3.png)
![[Large white text on a black background says, 'If asexual people feel similar pressure to other sexual minorities to conform to heterosexual norms, then it is possible that they too may have elevated rates of mental health problems.' From Morag A. Yulea, Lori A. Brottob and Boris B. Gorzalkaa's 2011 paper, 'Mental Health and Interpersonal Functioning in Self-Identified Asexual Men and Women.']](https://64.media.tumblr.com/3171c7159d0623cfe041798fbfab519f/e1a0de38c01b1afa-b3/s540x810/6a94dd192d15145ae0fd8e85320e8ab776bb7d2c.png)
![[The header says, 'MENTAL HEALTH PROBLEMS: These are each group's mean scores on clinical assessments for depression and generalized anxiety disorder. GAD is diagnosed at scores of 10 or higher. Scores of 10-14 on the PHQ-9 indicate moderate depression.' Below this are greyscale stripes going from off-white to black. Each stripe has the name of a sexual orientation, followed by two emoji illustrating their average scores for clinical depression and anxiety disorders. Heterosexuals are illustrated with two smiley faces and the scores 6.15 anxiety, 6.99 depression. Gay Men and Lesbians have upside-down smiley faces, in the classic 'ha ha I'm screwed' emoji, and the scores 7.50 anxiety, 8.83 depression. The other four orientations have sad faces, illustrating scores approaching or above the clinical cutoff for these mood disorders: Bisexuals, 9.92 anxiety, 10.73 depression. Asexuals, 9.24 anxiety, 11.80 depression. Pansexuals, 10.13 anxiety, 12.37 depression. And demisexuals, 11.56 anxiety, 13.47 depression. A purple circle on the right contains the text 'Source: Borgogna, N. C., et al. 2018. Anxiety and Depression Across Gender and Sexual Minorities: Implications for Transgender, Gender Nonconforming, Pansexual, Demisexual, Asexual, Queer, and Questioning Individuals.']](https://64.media.tumblr.com/b8678cc090567d1b203f96f5b87420e5/e1a0de38c01b1afa-59/s540x810/b7adc310a0ba30504674f899c05b758296acca5a.png)
![[A black header against a broad purple background says, 'SUICIDALITY'. Below, in large white text, the number '26% of cis aces' stands out. It continues in smaller text, 'in a 2011 study had suicidal thoughts/feelings in the two weeks prior to the study, compared to 24% of cis LGB and 12% of cis straight subjects.' Source: 'Mental Health and Interpersonal Functioning in Self-Identified Asexual Men and Women,' Yulea, Brotto, & Gorzalska, 2011.]](https://64.media.tumblr.com/5e21684f66d0e7c811764665c60bdf80/e1a0de38c01b1afa-15/s540x810/e0dfca294d31ed1ce7a6d50de8dd1121606bca45.png)
![[White text on a gray background says, 'Have you ever seriously considered suicide? 11% of cis straight people have thought about it at some point in their lives. So have 34% of cis gay and lesbian people, and 38% of cis bisexuals. 'In the cis ace community, that number jumps to 43.4%.' A purple bar graph to the right illustrates these numbers. Sources: Salway et al (2019). A Systematic Review and Meta‑Analysis of Disparities in the Prevalence of Suicide Ideation and Attempts Among Bisexual Populations, and Bauer et al (2016). The 2016 Asexual Community Survey Summary Report.]](https://64.media.tumblr.com/e9502a46142b8d34bb4e4fefc189ab79/e1a0de38c01b1afa-f4/s540x810/91d65df7b540d17019e1c5944c540d4214db9583.png)
![[White text on a black background says, 'Asexual trans people have the highest rate of attempted suicide of all sexual orientations: a shocking 46%.' The number 46% is in large italic purple text. Smaller white italics continue, 'Remember, that statistic only measures those who attempted it. In one study of nearly 2,000 trans people aged 14-30, 95.5% of subjects reported having had suicidal thoughts and feelings at some point in their lives.' A purple bar chart to the right illustrates the statistics: 36% of hetero trans people, 40% of gay/lesbian trans people, 40% of bi+ trans people, and 46% of aces.' Sources: Grant, Jaime M. et al (2011). Injustice at every turn: A report of the National Transgender Discrimination Survey; and Kuper et al (2018). Exploring Cross-Sectional Predictors of Suicide Ideation, Attempt, and Risk in a Large Online Sample of Transgender and Gender Nonconforming Youth and Young Adults.]](https://64.media.tumblr.com/458e664c74511ba2ab97d4a5d3a7f530/e1a0de38c01b1afa-82/s540x810/0e978572e4734ce5f76806488d1451fa12edb3bb.png)
