runaeveena replied to your post: it’s been 84 years & i still do not understand ace...i know for me that in the very early years of tumblr being ace was just considered to be part of the community and i grew up thinking i was but then suddenly all these posts and discourse happened saying we werent and i feel like a lot of people got scared that they were being attacked and thrown out of the community they felt connected to, a lot of ace kids scared about gatekeeping and a lot of lgbt kids scared of outsiders, tumblr is just full of bad miscommunication
ok, so. i get this, i do. no one wants to feel like they’re being kicked out of a community they thought of as theirs! i will say i’m reeeeeeeally iffy with the word “gatekeeping” used in this context though bc i just don’t think it applies
for what it’s worth, i’ve been on tumblr for like...an ungodly number of years (7) now so i also remember when aces were more widely considered to be under the lgbt+ umbrella. extremely eric bana nero from star trek voice: “i saw it happen! i watched it happen!”
but the thing is, i don’t remember lgbt people freaking out & ‘throwing anyone out,’ as it were. what i remember is a shift & sudden onslaught of truly horrific posts from ace tumblr involving a) weird gross ‘we’re better than you for not having sex’ commentary, or b) we’re just as oppressed as you, lgbt people who are actually, y’know, being killed for being who you are commentary, or, a fun mixture of the two!
i would not want people saying those things in my community, either. & again, i’m really not trying to argue this point!! i’m not going to be swayed on this & i’m not trying to change anyone’s mind! i’m just genuinely like, so tired of the argument and wish we could move on from it, ya feel
