#asexual manifesto

[creative-aces]

SURPRISE!  - A manifesto for manifesting radical asexuality.

Looking back fifty years after Lisa Orlando published "The Asexual Manifesto," Asexual Manifesto 2022 names what asexual community has learned and what society must still learn to achieve liberation. 

Asexual Manifesto 2022 encourages all people fighting for freedom to practice five principles of radical asexuality. This new zine edition of Asexual Manifesto 2022 gives readers another way to share a message of action and empowerment with their communities.

The physical copy is now available on our website and it already got accepted into a zine selling bookstore so super excited to share more photos soon! 

[aromantisk-fagforening]

I just read the asexual manifesto (8 pages), and I think it's kinda interesting. It is a political text, feminist, and it doesn't speak of queer identities like we do today (at least to my eyes).

It talks about (against) aphobia (towards women). And arguably, talks about sex averse/repulsed asexuals. Possibly, possibly not non-partnering.

It seems anti-fetish/anti-kink? Idk if it's that or that it's using it to mean something different than what I'm familiar with. (it says something about them no longer having fetishes after they became feminists, and that society is filled with "fetish-worshippers")

It sounds like they're saying asexuality is the most feminist (best) sexuality, which seems weird. I don't know if that's some like.. reactionary thinking, a belief that sexuality is a choice or if it's just self acceptance.

excerpts under the cut.

So this is why I'm saying it's non-partnering, sex averse/repulsed aroace, maybe alloace:

politics against acephobia, amatonormativity and misogyny/sexism:

on fetish, misogyny/sexism and allonormativity:

[saucy-mesothelioma]

Yo, Happy International Asexuality Day to my fellow aces!!!! Remember that no matter the label, y'all are valid and anyone who says otherwise will be subject to the wrath of the Nebby

[hushpuppy5-blog]

I found this document called "The Asexual Manifesto" and thought it was interesting in how it addressed asexuality amongst women in some 1970s feminist groups:

The Asexual Manifesto (1972) was recently found by Caoimhe Harlock on Twitter.  It is available as a pdf.  I have transcribed it below for better accessibility.  The format mimics the original, except for the placement of the footnote on the first page. The Asexual Manifesto was also excerpted in Shere Hite’s book, Sexual Honesty (1974); I have separately transcribed the excerpt and noted what was left out.  Feel free to use this in any way.

--Siggy, 6/22/2019

I wrote an article explaining some of the context of the Manifesto. --Siggy, 8/9/2019

The Asexual Manifesto

Lisa Orlando, Asexual Caucus, NYRF *

* In September 1972, the Co-ordinating Council of New York Radical Feminists formed caucuses based on similarity of sexual orientation.  Each caucus was to explore its members' personal and political attitudes about their sexuality and communicate these views to the larger group.  Barbie Hunter Getz and I realized that we would not feel comfortable in any of the proposed caucuses (heterosexual, Lesbian, bisexual) and formed our own.  Out of this caucus came a paper of which the “Asexual Manifesto” is a revision.  That the paper’s plural form has been retained does not imply that all the views expressed in this final version necessarily reflect the views of both the original co-authors.

I. Origin and Definition.

Our experiences with sexuality have not been congruent with our feminist values.  As our consciousness became raised on this issue we began to see how sex had permeated our lives and the lives of others.  We categorized our relationships in terms of sex ----- either friends or lovers.  We engaged in a "sizing up" process, however subtle or subconscious, with each new person, accepting or rejecting her/him as a possible sexual partner even if we never intended to become sexually involved.  We arbitrarily rejected whole groups of people as unsuitable for intimate relationships because we assumed that such relationships, by definition, necessarily included sex.  Often we chose to spend time with people simply on the basis of their sexual availability (the “bar scene”).  As we became aware of this in ourselves, we became painfully aware of how we were being objectified by others.

Asexuality is an outgrowth of this consciousness.  It is a concept we have come to employ out of the wish to communicate ----- not merely through being but also through language ----- our struggle to rid ourselves of sexism in our personal lives.

In this paper we have used the terms “sex” and “sexual” to describe any activity one goal of which is genital excitation or orgasm.  Physical affection and sensuality (including kissing) are not, by this definition, sexual unless they are directed towards the goal of genital excitation.

We chose the term “asexual” to describe ourselves because both “celibate” and “anti-sexual” have connotations we wished to avoid: the first implies that one has sacrificed sexuality for some higher good, the second that sexuality is degrading or somehow inherently bad.  “Asexual”, as we use it, does not mean “without sex” but “relating sexually to no one”.  This does not, of course, exclude masturbation but implies that if one has sexual feelings they do not require another person for their expression.  Asexuality is, simply, self-contained sexuality.

II. Philosophy

Our philosophy of asexuality grew out of our personal ethics, which have been reshaped by our feminist consciousness.  To us, as to many other women, feminism means more than the fight against sexism.  It means "sisterhood" ----- a new way of relating, perhaps a new way of life.  Feminist morality, at this stage in history, can only be defined as antithetical to the oppressive values of our society (e.g., competition, objectification).  On a personal level, it is reflected in our beliefs that: we should attempt to relate to others in their totality as much as possible and not view them as objects existing for the gratification of our needs; we must not exploit others ----- that is, use them “unjustly or improperly” ----- nor allow ourselves to be exploited; we must not be dishonest with ourselves or those we respect.  In addition, we believe that we each have the responsibility for examining our behavior, determining how it has been affected by sexist conditioning, and changing it if it does not meet our standards.

As feminists we had decried the sexual exploitation of women by men without seeing that we too had used others “unjustly and improperly”.  Interpersonal sex is not an instinctive behavior pattern; it is behavior we have learned to use for the satisfaction of a need (for orgasm) which we can easily satisfy for ourselves.  We came to see this use of others as exploitative and realized that in allowing others to use us in this way we were acquiesing in our own exploitation.

In our attempt to be honest with ourselves, we tried to determine what our real needs are.  We saw that we have needs for affection, warmth, skin contact, which we had been taught to satisfy through interpersonal sex.  As we began to satisfy these needs in our "friendships," our need for and interest in sex diminished.  We also realized that we had a need for intimacy, a state we had always seen as "completed" by sex.  In retrospect, we realized that we, and others, had used sex as a means of self-deception, as a way of avoiding real closeness rather than achieving it.

We had struggled against our conditioning in many ways, especially in terms of roles, but we had avoided examining the basic conditioning which had shaped our sexuality.  It is difficult even to speculate on the nature of "ideal sexuality" (uninfluenced by sexism) but we are certain that it would not occupy as much of our lives as it does in this society.  We live in a culture of "fetish-worshippers" who regard sex with an extreme and irrational amount of attention.  Just as many of us were conditioned to direct our energy into the preparation of lavish meals, creating a fetish out of a simple need to avoid confrontation with the emptiness of our lives as women, so we were conditioned to seek sexual satisfaction in convoluted and circuitous ways.  Since our involvement with feminism, our lives have been increasingly meaningful and we no longer feel the need for fetishes.

In examining our experiences relative to our values, we have come to asexuality as a stand and a state of being concurrently.  Interpersonal sex is no longer important to us, no longer worth the distorted and often destructive role it has played in relationships.  It no longer defines our relationships or in any way constitutes our identities.  As asexual women, we do not (1) seek, initiate, or continue relationships in order to experience interpersonal sex, (2)use others for the satisfaction of our sexual needs or allow ourselves to be so used, (3) attempt to satisfy other needs (e.g. for affection, warmth, intimacy) through interpersonal sex, or (4) perceive others according to their potential, or lack of it, as sex partners.  In essence then, our asexuality reflects a rejection of interpersonal sex as long as it cannot meet our conditions: that it be both congruent with our values and totally incidental and unimportant to our relationship.

III Politics

Basic to the liberation of women is the destruction of sexism, one manifestation of which is the sexual exploitation of women by men.  Asexuality is a step towards achieving this goal at the personal level, as it eliminates one means by which men oppress us.  Through our asexuality, we have excluded sex as a goal and, essentially, even as a possibility in any relationships we may happen to have with men.

Because of the patriarchal culture which has resulted from institutionalized sexism, the exploitative behavior, standard in such a culture, has made it extremely difficult for women to realize their own independent, more humane style of relating.  Most women consequently reflect, in their relationships with each other, some of the exploitative behavior patterns characteristic of our male oppressors.  One area where the oppression of women by women may occur is, again, the sexual; this oppression too must end before we can be truly free. Through asexuality, we have rejected sex as a goal in our relationships with women, thus avoiding the sexual objectification, exploitation, and oppression of our sisters.  Here too, we reject any possibility of sex unless our conditions are met, and we thereby prevent ourselves from being sexually exploited and oppressed.

To destroy a particular culture’s basic myths is to undermine its very foundations.  Patriarchal culture, based as it is on sex differentiation, has constructed some of its strongest myths around sexuality.  We believe it is of prime importance that feminism direct itself to the exposure and destruction of the current patriarchal mythology which, through deception, reinforces our oppression.  Those myths most responsible for the distorted role sex plays in women's lives are:

Interpersonal sex is essential since the sex drive is a powerful force in human life and, if unsatisfied (through interpersonal sex), tends to produce unhappiness or possibly illness,

It is important that any sexual excitation always and/or immediately be satisfied,

Sex is essential for closeness in a relationship, no relationship being complete without it,

The ultimate closeness in a relationship occurs during sex and/or orgasm,

The needs for physical affection and sex are basically the same,

It is almost impossible satisfactorily to express affection physically without sexual excitation also occurring,

Women who have little interest in interpersonal sex, or who rarely if ever reach orgasm, are somehow inadequate.

While all these myths may not be credible to all women, some women believe some of them some of the time.

Finally, we see a conflict between, on the one hand, the time and energy necessary to our struggle as feminists, and, on the other hand, the time and energy necessary to develop and maintain relationships in which sex is a goal.  If we would use our energy efficiently, a choice seems indicated: to struggle against sexism or to struggle for satisfactory sex.  Although it may be said that to turn one’s back on a problem is not to solve it, we think the truth of this statement is relative to the importance one places on the problem.  If we saw interpersonal sex as important, asexuality would be a cop-out; since we do not, it is instead a means of withdrawing our energy from an area in which we feel it is being wasted.  

We see asexuality as an efficient "alternative life-style" for revolutionary women but we do not claim that “asexuality is revolution.”  We call ourselves “self-identified women” but we do not demand that all feminists adopt this title.  Our statement is simply this: as a result of examining the nature of our sexuality and reclaiming it from the sexist misconceptions surrounding it, we are able to form and maintain relationships in a way which both reflects our values and is effective in our liberation struggle.  For us, asexuality is a committment to defy and ultimately to destroy the baseless concepts, surrounding both sex and relationships, which support and perpetuate the patriarchy.

[subliminalacethetic]

at this point not factoring asexuality into your belief system is just embarrassing like damn bitch how do you function in society with a 70-million-people-sized hole in your worldview

[a-gay-a-day]

The Asexual Manifesto

The first misconception that many people have is that the asexual manifesto discussed asexuality as we might today. This is not so.  During the late 1960s- early 1970s, the feminist community was experiencing the rise of radical feminism and political lesbianism, and the asexual manifesto was tied closely to the emergence of these philosophies. While radical feminists at that time believed that having sex with men was degrading, and thus they would choose to be lesbians (political lesbianism), another school of thought emerged, from which the asexual manifesto was born. 

In the asexual manifesto (Which you can read here, and I would greatly encourage reading, as it is fairly short) Lisa Orlando, the writer, says that “interpersonal sex is not an instinctive behavior pattern; it is a behavior pattern we have learned to use for the satisfaction of a need...,” which speaks of sex with anyone the same way that radical feminists were speaking of men in that time period.

The most commonly quoted line from the asexual manifesto is “ We chose the term “asexual” to describe ourselves because both “celibate” and “anti-sexual” have connotations we wished to avoid: the first implies that one has sacrificed sexuality for some higher good, the second that sexuality is degrading or somehow inherently bad.” 

Though this is a longer post, I want to get across the idea that the asexual manifesto is complicated. It may have been written by an asexual person who was attempting to understand herself, or it may have been written by a political asexual, similar to political lesbians. Furthermore, it is important to note that this cannot be dismissed due to the fact that it was written by a radical feminist. A radical feminist in the 1960s had different views than a TERF does now, and though some of those views are still ones we would consider outdated today, they are nonetheless an important part of queer history. (There will be another post later on about political queerness and second wave feminism, as well as a post centering on Lisa Orlando.) 

Regardless of whether the asexual manifesto was intended to be wholly political or if it represented the thoughts of an asexual woman, it struck a chord with many people. Greg Turner, a gay rights activist, read it and reported that it shed light on his own feelings about sexuality- he considered himself “gay, but not homosexual.” 

For a nuanced view of asexual history, I would recommend this episode by @queerasfact​ . They do a much better job of delving into the nuance of the asexual manifesto, presumably because they have an hour and not six paragraphs, which is already twice as long as most of my posts. This post is also less sourced, because the academic sphere is woefully devoid of asexual history.

[ltfad]

Hello! I like how you write all the clones as aroace. I have a question about it: How did you figure out/come to the conclusion that the clones were aroace? I have my own thoughts, but I'm curious to hear yours!

The shortest most genuine answer is: because we're aroace spectrum and they just gave us a vibe, and we wanted to. A whole army of representation!! It made us really happy.

And then from that feeling and that desire to make them aroace we also thought it made sense rationally within the story. Because the clones have their own culture. They were raised outside of human norms! And they have been created to be perfect soldiers which means limiting their physical distractions, and there'd be no reason to make them have a reproductive instinct or ability (bad for business in multiple ways from the Kaminoan perspective). [Disclaimer that aroace ppl can have sex drive but that's not the point here].

There have been so many characters that were aroace coded in other works of fiction we loved, particularly A.I. or alien characters, who the writers then forced an allonormative "awakening" on as a part of their "becoming more human" storyline, and it always felt like such a painful thing to us. A betrayal. A way of the world saying yet again that aroace people are less human. So the fact that the clones are so absolutely human (in the sense of being complete, feeling beings with individuality and a complete and brightly shining soul), and don't need to BECOME more human, but are incredible people as they are... us letting them be aroace as I feel they are shown to be in the show... us stubbornly and audaciously being like "yes ALL OF THEM"... it's because of that. It's because we want to celebrate the fact that just like how the clones are such incredibly human people despite every bit of their circumstances trying to say they are not, them being aroace is something they can claim for themselves (though not in those exact words) as a part of their identity without it making them less-than. It's a so-what, just like being grown in a tank. So what? Why does that mean I'm not fully a person? Why does that mean my life is any less meaningful than anyone else's?

[cruelsister-moved2]

i dont understand straight womens struggle </3 but it kind of annoys me when criticism of political lesbians has this underlying edge that like its bad for them to Deny Their Straightness or some other such thing and i mean some people get blatantly dismissive of their autonomy and you can tell theyre almost on a subconscious level thinking that its the natural and normal thing for women to be with men and and you shouldnt try and do anything else unless you have to or something. like its actually fine for two straight women to decide they want to spend their lives in partnership together the problem with political lesbians is/was the wider issues with the ideas of second wave radical feminism and political lesbians are just a reflection of that like can we focus on that pleaase

[thisloveforyourmom]

Yall this woman is sooo fuckin mad at me for calling her out 😭 she reblogged that last one three separate times just to 1. make sure i knew sHe WaS dOiNg HeR pHd At CaMbRiDgE 2. to call me a whore (her only other insults are bitch and cunt and considering she's angry at me for going to a historically womens college and butch lesbians for existing that checks out) and 3. make absolutey clear that me posting a magazine photoshoot was THE MOST ENTITLED THING EVER and she was actually SOOO OPPRESSED for daring to be a girly cis girl who held hands with boys at smith. And ofc she hit me with the tried and true "hows your gEnDeR sTuDiEs degree" i would like all of you to know hampshire has a birdwatching major

Like this is the kind of thing i expect from 15 year olds but she was in college in 2000 so shes like 40 😭 that said this is all exactly the kind of shit i expected her to say and since its still boring i waurnt reply unless i think of a really funny way to make fun of her. Thanks for reading

[papier-ciseaux]

IT IS ACE WEEK!

So let's talk about asexuality! This is an introduction trying to cover as much as possible in a little format, so its mostly surface level stuff. You're gonna have to dig on your own :P

For more information, I recommend checking out aceweek.org or acesandaros.org ! You can also read up on ace history through the Asexual Manifesto by Lisa Orlando !

Edit: Here are some links for more information:

Aceweek

AcesAndAros

An article about the Asexual Manifesto that links you to a transcript

An article about Asexuality's history

[creative-aces]

Would you LOVE to have a full book of gorgeous ace art?

Discover the vibrant and expressive world of the asexual community in “What You See,” the first-ever art book dedicated to be for aces and by aces. This collection of full-color pages showcases the diverse and heartfelt perspectives of asexual artists, celebrating pride in all its forms. From bold and powerful statements to cute and whimsical illustrations, these pages capture the spirit of the asexual community in a truly unique way.

This collection serves as a time capsule from the inaugural #AceDay on May 8th, 2015 founded by Fuck Yeah Asexual and The Asexual Blog. “What You See” is both a celebration of the past and a vision for the future, inviting readers to explore the rich and dynamic world of asexual identity and creativity.

The physical collection is available for sale here, however Amazon was refusing to update any of the metadata so I got annoyed with that so now there’s a free digital version here with updated to include Asexual Manifesto 2022: Radical Asexual Politics, 50 Years On.

[arowitharrows]

These are some links to recourses on different topics, mostly things I want to be able to find again so I'm collecting them here. Please be aware that many of these articles include discussions of queerphobia, racism or abuse. I can't put warnings on every link, so proceed with caution. This is not meant to be a complete or final list, I will most likely be editing it as time goes by.

Aspec terminology / Flags

Queerplatonic coining post on dreamwidth (x)

Sunset aroace flag original post (x)

A History Of Words Used To Describe People That Are Not Asexual (x)

Discussions of aphobia

Note: I am still waiting for the day when aphobia can be discussed without aromanticism being treated as a subcategory of asexuality.

Stonewall report on asexual discrimination, UK 2023 (x)

Scientific America article on medical stigma against asexuality, USA 2023 (x)

Article about the religious right attacking sexless marriage, USA (x)

Podcast about the religious right attacking platonic marriages and general analysis about why the religious right hate asexuality (and aromanticism), USA part 1 part 2 part 3 part 4

Amatonormativity

Website of Elizabeth Brake, the coiner of the term Amatonormativity (x)

Amatonormativity in the law: an introduction, USA 2022 (x)

Opinion: I grew up in a culture that embraced physical touch. Then I came to America, Ethiopia 2023(x)

'I Dont Want To be a Playa No More': An Exploration of the Denigrating effects of 'Player' as a Stereotype Against African American Polyamorous Men (x)

Romance is not the only type of Black love that matters by Sherronda J. Brown, USA 2018 (x)

Relationship Anarchy

Relationship Anarchy, Occupy intimacy!, Spain 2020 (x) also available in Spanish and catalan

The short instructional manifesto for relationship anarchy (x)

Tumblr post with multiple links about relationship anarchy (x)

Marriage and being Single

Ted talk: how romance and capitalism could destroy our future, 2014 (x)

The escalating costs of being single in America, USA 2021 (x)

Unmarried equality, many articles about discrimination against single people. USA focused (x)

No Shelter for Singles: The Perceived Legitimacy of Marital Status Discrimination, USA 2011 (x)

Loveless Aro

I Am Not Voldemort: An Essay on Love and Amatonormativity (x)

Aroworlds loveless Aro friendly fiction collection (x)

Loveless Aro experiences and explanations (post0 aurea article post 1 post 2 post 3 post 4 post 5 post 6)

[rowanellis]

video essay: the chronically online state of asexual discourse

"In fact, I have a lot of thoughts - but it’s taken me until now to feel ready to talk about them. I guess this video is a classic video essay with a side of mini asexual discourse manifesto by Rowan. I have been worried about being quoted out of context, or misconstrued, or actively even harassed. But I feel like we’re at a point of asexual history where we need to have having more nuanced discussions, and I just keep thinking about how both “sides” in this Discourse have the potential to harm some of the most vulnerable people within that spectrum of identity and community."

watch here

[grison-in-space]

Reading Men Who Hate Women (Laura Bates, 2020) at the moment. She's talking about the manosphere: the massive online communities of men who congregate to talk misogyny, ranging from PUAs to MRAs, incels and MGTOW. These aren't new topics to me—I've been following this off and on since watching Gamergate kick off—but Bates handles them well and I think this book could serve as an introduction if this is a movement with which you're not familar. By the way, it's been a decade since Gamergate this year. Isn't that a kicker?

(Incidentally, I first ran into the concept of incels way before I think many people did: when I was still on AVEN, c. 2006-2007ish, I remember a few occasions where users ran into incel communities and brought them to our forums to ask: is this like what we're doing? Is this like us? Consensus quickly solidified on the direction of "no," each time, not least because asexuality dialog at the time was extremely clear about divorcing desire from action, and it was very clear that the desires centered in that community were very different than the ones people in asexuality spaces were untangling.)

Bates handles the topic with grace, compassion, and a deep understanding that I really wish more writing on radicalization or terroristic networks used: people in real pain, who are struggling in pitiable circumstances to do their best and clearly need more support, can also in their pain be truly dangerous to others. Hurt people hurt people. Compassion for pain suffered is important—you can't understand recruitment without understanding that—but you also have to understand that pain, fermented in darkness, can create deadly poisons. Pain isn't essentially holy or cleansing or cauterizing. It doesn't accomplish anything good by existing. If we can relieve it, we should—but we should follow harm reduction principles as we do so, lest pain be allowed to multiply and fester.

What gets me is that in 2017, in the wake of the Google bro "manifesto," I spent a feverish week writing what wound up being a 20,000 word rebuttal studded with what eventually totaled 100+ peer reviewed citations. It got quite a bit of reach and covered ground ranging from effects of testosterone on behavior, the concept of effect size in sex differences, basic statistics, the ways that humans treat people differently based on their perception of gender, intersex trauma, and whether feminists care about men's problems (yeah, actually, and they should).

I released that piece, changed up my name and fannish presence—my long time pseud was tangled all over the piece's genesis—and hunkered down for the reprisals. I expected harassment and vitriol. It never really came: I ignored the comments on the post, after a bit, and I held boundaries on what I was willing to pay attention to. But by and large, I had no direct consequences from the Manosphere.

Perhaps the piece was too long (although I got many comments from people who read it and found it useful, and I included an index). Perhaps it was simply that I included a headshot of myself, with uncharacteristic red lipstick and characteristically buzzed hair, and cheerfully discussed throughout that I was butch and queer: sometimes I confuse people who are very focused on bioessentialist sex differences, because I don't fit their paradigms in the slightest.

About six months later, James Damore attempted to frame his incredibly poor decisions in light of his Asperger's, and I did get a couple dudes on social media presenting me with this information apparently in the hope that it would shock or embarrass me. I immediately pointed out, acerbically, that I'm equally autistic and that he was making us look bad, and they melted away again into the background. It wasn't really the well of terrifying anger and obliterative fury I was expecting.

I find myself reading these stories in Bates' book and thinking about the internet I grew up on: AVEN by 2005, WrongPlanet the same year, listening to people on the margins talk about their fears and hopes and dreams and theories about themselves. I find myself thinking about narratives and meaning, the stories we tell ourselves about who we are and why.

I'm certainly not the first person to worry about radicalization of young autistic people, especially autistic men. Not even close. Paradoxically, it's a group of people for whom an understanding of intersectionality is crucial: young disabled men often alienated deliberately from conceptualizing themselves as disabled, without the tools to understand why life is hard and painful and never seems to reflect their experiences, trying to construct understanding beyond one's singular, isolated defective wrongness—which is what's left, if you take community off the table.

(Have I mentioned how grateful I am that so many autistics are trans spectrum? Imagine if we weren't, and if I didn't have so many transfeminine sisters funneled along those same currents and drifting closely enough alongside to understand. My sisters, so many of whom are out there living and modeling better ways to understand and participate in gender as a social activity: by figuring out what is most comfortable for you, understanding that comfort for one might be agony for another, and taking steps to shape your own life into a fashion that wells forth the most peace and joy. It's a message we all need to hear, but that is a group of people I hear singing so loudly from my place in a different wing of the choir, and I love them for it.)

I don't have answers. As is, so often, the case these days, I have only grief and love, and the determination to build better structures where my own hands reach. I had intended to direct my career, once, to undermining the entire concept of "good genes" models of evolution and explaining how their convoluted connections to natural phenomena are better explained by other, more direct motives. Since 2020, I've been moving in a new direction—but what precisely it is, I'm not sure.

Sex differences is certainly a piece of it, though. Even if I find myself often enough writing that it's not enough to know a sex difference in one species to assume that another will reflect a similar relationship: we should study sex differences in animals, but we really shouldn't assume that humans will have the same ones or work the same way. I suspect this won't be the first time I tangle with that community. I suppose it depends how much authority I can accrue as protection first.

[a-gay-a-day]

re: your post on the Asexual Manifesto, the author Lisa Orlando is very much a "political asexual" who still views Asexuality as “a choice, and an experience, not an identity.” (despite currently identifying as an Asexual Bisexual)

I'd recommend "The Asexual Agenda"s blogspot post going over it and it's history (especially because there's a screenreader friendly transcript of the Manifesto included, as someone with low vision I couldn't really comfortably read parts of the PDF)

link : asexualagenda (dot) wordpress (dot) com/2019/08/01/lisa-orlando-author-of-the-asexual-manifesto-1972/

This is great to know!

[islandoforder]

a lil 'binxhera is SO important to me' manifesto so i can think about anything else today:

first of all people often have misconceptions about asexuality and whether ace people can be in relationships, and to see andhera and binx so thoroughly romance each other, to promise each other a home, to kiss, all while andhera is canonically and openly ace meant so much!!

is there anything more poignant than being what a paladin devotes themself to???

it's finding comfort and stability in each other but still staying with their original courts, sharing their domains

it's the eternal promise of a home and affection and devotion from someone who lost all of that to someone who never had it

it's the eternal promise of a friend at your back and a protector in the dark from someone who never had that either

it's the regency hand touch and darcy flex

it's knowing andhera in the dark from the scent of storms alone, it's recognising binx immediately from her eyes

it's binx's only request when andhera joined their court was to remove the shard/help them to be free

it's two people who showed up to the bloom alone finding their friends, their courts, an eternal companion

it's kneeling to each other, a gentle kiss in the rain, walking hand in ungloved hand into the mortal realm to explore their new world together

what i'm really saying is give it up for surena and omar bc i will be verklempt about these two for a WHILE