Tag: lgbtqia

astrangetypeofchemistry:

sometimes i just. forget how big of a deal it is that i can wake up in the morning to say “i’m so aroace” and smile.

because three years ago i definitely wasn’t smiling. i hated just the thought of it so much and i spent two years denying it vehemently, cycling through labels. it was such a negative thought to me and i don’t know if it was societal emphasis on romance, my own self-image, or a mixture of both.

so here’s to the aroaces who are still figuring themselves out. to the aroaces who spent years fighting with themselves over their identity. the aroaces who didn’t have the words for how they felt until recently. to the aroaces who have struggled and continue to struggle with their identity and self-image. to the aroaces who have known for years but still occasionally struggle.

it’s a never ending cycle of acceptance. there will always be people who don’t understand or don’t want to. but that won’t matter in the end, because we’re all so fucking aroace, and i love you all so much.

But just cause Enj does not interested in women it does not make him gay? I always imagined him as an asexual…

revenjolras:

butts-of-the-barricade:

the only argument i have against ace enjolras is that hugo chose to compare him to more than one gay figure from classical antiquity. to me thats a clear indicator that enjolras is at the very least leaning towards being gay. 

Also like… Ace people can be gay?

But… at the time, when Hugo wrote it, he wouldn’t have had the same understanding of what asexuality is, so he probably wouldn’t have written a character specifically believing them to be asexual… or at least, knowing what it meant.

I think it’s a perfectly valid interpretation to have nowadays – especially given that it’s canon he has not so much as kissed another person – but I think at the time, Hugo was coding him as gay very explicitly, so even if you regard him as Ace as well, you can’t just ignore that. Enjolras is gay. 

on aromantic role models

aro-soulmate-project:

The thing about being aromantic is that there aren’t really any role models out there, no one in the spotlight who we can point to and say, “look, they did it, they made a life for themselves as an aromantic person.” There’s no clear picture of what the future of an aromantic person might look like. There’s really no one in the spotlight who’s been living as a proud aromantic for YEARS to provide advice or guidance.

Because it’s a fairly new label compared to many others, and we’re a fairly small and invisible community of people, we don’t really have any representation and so it can be hard to look forward to a future of being aromantic. In fact, it can be kind of scary, especially when people around you begin to couple up and you don’t, and today can be an awful reminder of that.

But try to think of it this way: you can shape your future into whatever you want it to be. Just because the possibilities may seem murky, scary, or out of reach, doesn’t mean they aren’t endless. You, as an arospec person, deserve a fulfilling life, and you get to decide what that means for you. People who try to tell you that a romantic relationship is crucial to that fulfillment are lying to you and they don’t get to decide how your life is going to turn out.

Don’t give up hope. Some day, we all have the power to become those role models. So persevere, with the hopes that even if the future for us is unclear, you can provide guidance for future aromantics years down the line.

Keep moving forward!

alluringwaters:

alluringwaters:

Leaving the shipping wars behind for a moment, I’d like to talk about people who headcanon Enjolras as asexual for being “chaste” and “virgin” (two things that are not even close to what asexuality means so is very disrespectful to a lot of people in the ace spectrum) but then mistake it with being aromantic and say rude things about Enjoltaire shippers shaming NSFW fan works and being homophobic. If you headcanon Enjolras as asexual and/or aromantic, aknowledge that:

  • asexual people can still show affection/love, enjoy physical contact and even have sex/enjoy sex with their partners (it all depends on the person, remember, there’s a whole spectrum with different people and experiences);
  • sexual relationships with mutual consent aren’t dirty and being gay isn’t dirty;
  • romantic love isn’t a bad thing or a disgusting feeling and not experiencing romantic love isn’t a bad thing either;
  • love and sexual attraction are different things!
  • being asexual and being aromantic are different things, sometimes you’re both, sometimes you’re just one of them and sometimes you’re neither!

When you shame NSFW/romantic fan works, you’re telling your fellow romantic aces, other romantic people in general and aro people who enjoy sex that they’re doing something wrong and that’s prejudice and totally a bad attitude to keep in a fandom. So, be careful what you say when you make your own headcanons about a character. 

“But my headcanon is that he’s aro ace”

It’s ok, valid, BUT it’s still rude to come at people who you know that headcanon him as mlm to tell them they’re wrong or that they “have no proof he’s gay”, just… Don’t. Do. That. And just a friendly reminder that being aro ace isn’t a virtue or something that would make him superior to others, like I’ve seen some people trying to imply. Can’t you see that not only you’re being homophobic but you’re also offending aro ace people in the fandom with this ridiculous behavior? This character is important for aro aces, for romantic aces and for lots of gay people in general, we can all have our headcanons and still respect other people for having different ones that also make sense.

elderbrighamyoung:

I want LGBT+ representation in works that aren’t about LGBT+ people. Don’t get me wrong, I love Falsettos-type representation, where the piece of media is about queer people and lives and experiences. But I think that media where one of the characters just happens to be queer is just as important. Book of Mormon (the musical not the actual religious scripture) is a great example of this. It’s not a gay musical, per se. Elder McKinley just happens to be gay and have a huge fuckn crush on Elder Price but thats another post for another time. I love that kind of thing. LGBT+ people don’t just cease to exist when the focus isn’t on us, so why aren’t we in many stories that aren’t about us?