hi! um, i want to send u this about ur q slur post but i really dont want u to read it in a mean way bc i mean it kindly and im a lil bit confused. i really respect u!! i just. ok. so, in ur opinion, are aro and/or ace people not queer ...? ive always included aro and/or ace people as queer bc its a sexuality other than straight, but i understand if u have a different opinion. i just wanted to clarify what the q slur meant to u personally bc idk i dont want to upset anyone!!
(disclaimer before we begin: I am asexual, though I am neither cis or heteromantic)
The first thing you need to get is that q**er is a slur. An actual, hateful word that people use against trans and same-gender attracted people even in this day and age. It’s definitely not some cutesy umbrella term like some factions of tumblr would like you to believe.
Like, aro/ace cishet people have simply not experienced the same level of targeting that trans and/or same-gender attracted people have. Just for being aro/ace, they can’t lose their jobs, or be denied a marriage. It’s never been illegal to be ace and/or aro. But it’s definitely been illegal to be “gay”. It still is in a whole lot of places.
I mean sure ace/aro cishet people do face a level of unfair treatment from society as a whole (and even in the lgbt community), but it really isn’t the same thing as what most of the rest of the lgbt community experience.
So, it really is unfair for those cis het aro/ace people to try and reclaim a word that was not designed to be used against them.
And yeah, I do believe ace/aro cishet people do deserve a space in the lgbt community, but they can’t use that slur in the same way trans and/or same-gender attracted people can.