i feel like lately there's been a rise in people saying that even though het aro/ace people are definitely lgbtq they shouldn't be able to reclaim the qu*er slur because they're still technically "straight" or whatever and tbh as a bi ace i feel slightly :// about that but yeah
growing up i had a lot of internalized acephobia; even when i identified as ace — and to be clear, i still do identify as ace — at one point i identified as a heteroromantic asexual and i didn’t count myself as part of the lgbt+ community because no one else did, no one thought i belonged there so i was just an ally for the longest time and i’d almost completely forgotten until i read that post
i still had a lot of it actually, like a while back i read a post that was like “would you consider a heteroromantic bisexual straight? heterosexual homoromantic?? how about an aromantic pansexual? [edit: sorry, i meant to write heteroromantic pansexual not aromantic pansexual my brain is so mixed up] no? so why isn’t an heteroromantic ace/aromantic heterosexual one?” and i was like ah fuck because i’d honestly never considered that idea at all but my immediate answer to the first three was “yeah” which. speaks volumes about how aro &/or ace people are thought of tbh
and as an aro ace, i still feel “less queer” than other lgbt+ people who aren’t aro &/or ace
when i identified as bi ace (right after identifying as het ace), i was happier because now i felt like i had a valid reason to belong in an lgbt+ space
also on the q slur — i don’t like how generalized it’s become?? not mainstream, exactly, bc that’s ridiculous, but “queer people” “the queer community” etc. reclaiming it, you’re 100% free to describe yourself that way but you’re also applying it to other people who may or may not be comfortable with that, and it’s gotten to the point where it’s strange that you wouldn’t want to reclaim this slur that has been used to insult you and your identity for ages
(not what you were talking about but i just really wanted to get my feelings out on it sorry)