How to spot anti-aspec propaganda and why fighting is important:
I give to you the exclusionists who like to dictate to aces (and aros, but this particular...person...was targeting aces, so that is what I have to work with) in the below capture:
The above is an example of a protest that appears to be reasonable on the surface. They even give a list of "acceptable" alternatives for us.
Why is this unreasonable? Well, for a start, the argument is nonsense! Most aces don't know about the black ring worn on the middle finger, so how is it impacting anyone else? Also, the black rings worn in protest about gay people being denied their marriage rights were worn on the ring fingers — as you might expect, seeing as it was about marriage.
So, what exactly is the aim of the above post?
1. Denying aces the confidence to create our own symbolism, as we apparently are forever "stealing" or else negatively impacting on someone else.
Note: Aces have also been accused of "stealing" the colour purple and the entire A-spec Community apparently stole "A-spec" (coined to mean ace and aro spectrum community) from the Autistic Community, even though the Autistic Community has never used it and have said countless times that applying it to Autism makes no sense.
If we are unable to agree upon anything together or even recognise each other, we stand divided. We are already a small minority; silencing and dividing us with "discourse" would be easy if we are unable to see and stop it from happening.
3. Villainising the A-spec Community.
"Here is a reasonable solution to a problem you've caused. Why won't you take part in this discussion?"
Have a look at those alternatives. Are they reasonable? Would you expect a gay person to get a tattoo or draw on themself, for example? And would you, if you are not gay, have the gall to tell a gay person what they can and cannot do in order to express themself?
Exclusionists love to say that aces like to —frequently — go to Pride and police how gay people behave. Maybe some do, but I have never seen it. On saying that, I have never been insulted or threatened for being there with an ace flag either, but I know some aces have.
What I have seen, however, are a vast number of posts online about what aces — and aros — shouldn't do. "Don't date", "don't have sex", "don't complain when 'dirty allo gays' have sex/talk about sex/date/talk about dating" (no A-spec I have ever spoken to says "dirty allo" and some even identify as allo themselves; this is another piece of exclusionist nonsense), "don't invade LGBT spaces you cishet" ("cishet" apparently means "ace/aro", now. It used to mean "neither trans nor straight" and it was a trans term; now, trans people who want to talk about trans experiences have to say "cisallohet" instead, so this is transphobic as well as aphobic).
