Acephobia gone wild (part 3)

I have bad impulse control; that's why I can't stop browsing the (horrendously named) "ace discourse" on Tumblr. Not that I purposely seek out acephobic posts—I browse ace-supportive Tumblrs to witness epic takedowns and reaffirmations, but in the process I end up seeing a lot of acephobic crap. So, to keep my sanity, I've decided to compile the most common arguments I've seen, because acephobia is literally the most circular, nonsensical, facts-hating position I've ever seen (I might even say that acephobes are worse than misogynists in this regard).

Let me note that these are not direct quotes, but I've obviously kept the substance of what people are saying intact.

The utterly illogical arguments:

• "I don't understand what asexuality is, but let me explain why it's not a valid sexual orientation."


• "I'm not ace, but let me explain to you how aces do not face any sort of oppression."


• Alternatively: "I'm ace and I've personally never experienced negative reactions for being ace, therefore I can speak for all aces that no ace faces oppression/discrimination for being ace."


• "I have never asked a Straight [cisgender + heterosexual + heteroromantic] person what they think of asexuals, but I can say with 100% certainty that Straight people consider heteroromantic [and aromantic] aces Straight."


• "Aromantic aces are Straight because they don't experience attraction to anyone. What do you mean that's not what the definition of 'straight' is."


• "Aces are not discriminated against in the exact same way I, a cis gay/lesbian/bisexual, am discriminated against, therefore aces are not 'Oppressed Enough' to be part of the LGBT- community."


• "I once identified as ace and later realized it was only due to internalized homophobia; therefore no person can ever identify as asexual because they're WRONG and 'repressing' their 'true selves.' I cannot comprehend the idea that people may experience sexual attraction differently from how I do."


• "Aces don't feel suicidal because of their sexual orientation, because I personally cannot imagine that to be possible." [I am not kidding, this is something I had to read with my own two eyes.]


• "Asexuality is a horrible concept because it inherently sexualizes non-ace people by assuming non-ace people are banging every stranger they meet on the street. I refuse to listen to aces who try to explain to me that that's not what asexuality means or what aces assume about non-ace people."


• "Asexuality is a horrible concept to teach to children/teenagers because it inherently sexualizes children, despite the fact that most of the world recognizes that teenagers can and do have sex starting from 13/14/15 years old."


• "We need to keep heteroromantic and aromantic aces out of the LGBT community because they're actually Straight and will make our spaces unsafe! That's why A should stand for 'Ally'—we will let in all cis + heteroromantic + heterosexual people on the off-chance that some of them might be closeted!"


• "I'm a young cis gay/lesbian person who is angry because of the homophobia I've had to deal with from Straight people in real life. I hate Straight people. Let me vent my anger not at Actually Straight people, because there will be consequences for that, but at asexual people I've deemed to be 'basically Straight' and therefore my oppressors, despite the fact that asexuals constitute a minority of the population and don't have any institutional power to oppress me."

The "OP is clearly just a horrendous person" "arguments":

• "I've seen a few ace people say homophobic/racist/sexist/transphobic/ableist things, therefore the ENTIRE ace community is SIGNIFICANTLY MORE homophobic/racist/sexist/transphobic/ableist than any other community, therefore aces must be kept out of the LGBT- community to keep it safe. But TERFs can remain because they're cis lesbians who belong."


• "An ace person disagrees with me, a cis gay/lesbian, when I tell them that they don't face oppression. They are being homophobic."


• "I've just said a bunch of acephobic things but I am mentally ill, therefore an ace person who takes issue with what I'm saying is being an ableist Horrible Person." [I, a fellow mentally ill person, am disgusted people are using their mental illness as an excuse to avoid any kind of accountability for the things they're saying.]


• "No ace has ever been sexually assaulted for being ace [i.e., because their rapist was trying to 'make' them not ace]; aces are only sexually assaulted because of misogyny. Men and nonbinary people are never sexually assaulted. OR: Cis male aces are also sexually assaulted due to misogyny."


• "Asexuality is INHERENTLY homophobic. Gay aces and lesbian aces don't exist, or they're repressing their sexual attraction due to internalized homophobia. Conclusion: I don't give a damn about the gay and lesbian aces who force/will force themselves into sexual situations they don't want because they think they 'can't be ace,' or who are abused by their same-gender partners for being ace, or whose same-gender partners leave them for being ace." [Yes, this is kind of a repeat of another point above, but I had to reiterate it because of how abhorrent this "argument" is.]


• "Asexual people are telling me that my acephobic statements are hurting them emotionally/inciting them to self-harm or suicidal thoughts. I don't care because acephobia doesn't exist."


• "Asexuals are not hated by people for being ace!" *acephobes proceed to loudly proclaim that they hate aces, to say they wish aces would die/suicide-bait aces, and to create entire blogs solely dedicated to hating and mocking aces*


• "How dare aces use the term 'come out.' That is appropriating language from gays/lesbians/bisexuals and it is insulting to see aces compare their experiences to being gay/lesbian/bisexual, because it's not like asexuality is a sexual orientation that differs from the heterosexual norm or anything."

The straight-up recycled biphobia/transphobia/homophobia arguments (yes, really):

• "Aces are Straight Oppressors who are only 'claiming' to be LGBTQ so they can infiltrate our safe spaces and make them unsafe."


• "Heteroromantic aces look Straight to Straight people, therefore they're Straight because they have straight-passing privilege."


• "Gay, lesbian, bisexual, pansexual, trans, and/or nonbinary aces can be part of the LGBT community, but heteroromantic and aromantic aces are not Gay Enough to belong."


• "No one needs to know what you *don't* do in the bedroom." / "Saying you're asexual is TMI about your sex life." / "Why do you even need to come out as asexual? No one wants to know."


• "By providing information about asexuality, aces are 'coercing' children into identifying as ace, and this corruption deception is predatory and gross."


• "If asexuals are oppressed, then so are pedophiles!"