This is some of the best advice ever to the ace community about connecting with the LGBTQ community:

1. Turn up at local LGBTQ groups (or online LGBTQ groups, I suppose, but personal connections are harder online). Introduce yourself to people. Make friends. Do it for you, primarily, and the asexual community second. Don’t be The Asexual, just be [your name], casually out. Homoromantic and trans asexuals, do this wherever the hell you want, and just make it abundantly clear that you think heteroromantics are LGBTQ as much as you are and won’t budge on the issue if it ever happens to come up in conversation. The point is not that you’re agressive and assertive, the point is that you’re normal. You’re clearly one of them. Heteroromantics, don’t loose faith. I’ve heard of heteroromantics ending up running LGBTQ groups, and the only group I have personal experience of has a heteroromantic* as one of the most regular members. A lot of people are seriously fine with all asexuals fitting under the LGBTQ banner, especially when their first interaction with an asexual is face to face.

   [ … ]

2. Get actively involved in LGBTQ groups.

   Take minutes, act as treasurer, bake a cake, co-blog, help mod a forum, come to campaigns. Organise campaigns (campaigns about LGBT stuff, not just ace stuff). Do a volunteer shift in LGBTQ charities. Be a really, really good ally to LGBT rights, even those that don’t intersect with your own. Obviously this only works if queer activism/community-building is something that appeals to you personally. But I know that one or the other is likely to appeal to a lot of the people who might read this. And the point here, by the way, is not to gain rhetorical points in arguments with trolls. We’ve given up on the trolls. The point is that every single person who sees you, knows you’re asexual and knows how hard you fight for the rights of other LGBTQ people is another person immunised from the rediculous idea that the asexual community is denying LGBT oppression. Also, that, if the topic comes up, people will be more likely to respect your right to be there as a heteroromantic, or your opinion that heteroromantic people have a right to be there.

astudyinawesomeness:

[Trigger warning: anti-ace sentiment and mentions of triggering, slut-shaming and the use of the word ‘sexual’. I’m also just going to use the term ‘OTJs’ to describe non-ace people until everyone can agree on something. Personally I’m a fan of zesexual (just for the symmetry), in lieu of sexual,…

A agree, and I’m quite happy to start using the term zesexual rather than sexual. (I don’t want to use OTJs since, before I found out what that stood for (Orange Twizzled Jumpers) I thought it stood for something like “other than j[???]s”, which is antithetical to the point of trying to find a term that isn’t something along the lines of “non-asexual”.)

projectqueer:

By Avathar St. Vincent

“Many people in Europe are stigmatized because of their actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity and cannot fully enjoy their universal human rights,” writes Thomas Hammarberg, the Council of Europe (CoE) Commissioner for Human Rights, in a foreword to the comprehensive report on Discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity in Europe.

The study’s analysis and conclusions are based on the information and data gathered from the 47 member States of the intergovernmental body, with a geographic span from Portugal to Russia. The report presents an inclusive view of the reality of LGBT rights in a wider Europe and the governmental policies and public attitudes that affect these rights.

Here are some highlights from the Commissioner’s study:

 The Good …

The majority of the member States had some sort of legislation that prevented discrimination based on sexual orientation. Same gender couples can marry in seven of the states, and in thirteen of the states, they have access to legal partnerships. Of the states, ten allow second parent adoption. This is where the good news from the report ends.

… The Bad …

The study found strong antigay attitudes present in all 47 member states of the Council of Europe. A majority of the countries do not have clear protection under the law for transgender individuals. Even in the states that do offer legal protection for LGBT individuals, such laws are seldom enforced or monitored and discriminatory practices persist. Discrimination, harassment, and bullying in schools and work places have been identified in several member States. In most Council of Europe countries, LGBT individuals have trouble accessing health care, education, and other necessary services.

… And the Ugly

LGBT communities are among the groups most vulnerable to hate crimes, and are often targeted by virulent public rhetoric that vilifies or scapegoats LGBT people. Hate crimes motivated by sexual orientation or gender identity bias are rarely investigated properly, while hate speech is rarely condemned. In some cases, state agencies are responsible for blackmailing and harassing LGBT individuals—instead of protecting them.

LGBT individuals face violence because of their identities, and the authorities are not doing enough to protect them. LGBT-phobic hate crimes are not classified as such in most countries. Human Rights First’s report card shows that only 14 CoE nations include sexual orientation or gender identity in the list of protected categories. With or without such protections, hate crimes are rarely prosecuted properly. For example, Moscow City police have recently dropped all charges in the case of a violent assault on the openly gay news reporter Yelena Kostyuchenko, who was attacked in broad daylight in front of many TV cameras in May.

Fearing such violence and harassment, many LGBT people flee their country of residence. Some LGBT refugees originate in Council of Europe member States, though most arrive in Europe from Africa or the Middle East, where antigay persecution is often state policy. While 33 of the CoE countries officially recognize sexual identity as a relevant reason to request asylum, only 6 nations recognize gender identity, and LGBT asylum applicants still face considerable hurdles and even discrimination.

Bans or restrictions on gay pride parades and equality events still persist in Europe. Commissioner Hammarberg reports 12 countries where LGBT demonstrations have been either banned or deterred by the officials, and in some cases, the police have actually ignored violence towards LGBT demonstrations. In 2011, Human Rights First continued to monitor Pride events, documenting half a dozen setbacks, including one in Split, Croatia, where thousands of ultranationalist supporters gathered to protest the town’s first gay pride by throwing rocks, firecrackers, bottles, and trash at the marchers. Such attacks and counterdemonstrations are often driven by negative state rhetoric and government attempts to ban “homosexual propaganda.” Across the Council of Europe region, you can still find official textbooks containing references to homosexuality as an illness, despite international medical declarations that say otherwise.

The report concludes with a series of concrete policy recommendations for governments. If implemented, the new policies would go a long way toward improving the state of gay rights, and human rights, in the Council of Europe member States.

I know this is long, but I think it’s worth the time to read it.  All of us in the gender and sexual minorities community, we all ought to be allies and support one another.  That means being patient, asking questions, and really listening to the answers before jumping to conclusions.

— Vlad Drăculea

violentopposites:

Long, emotional, possibly incoherent rant ahead, TW for lots of stuff:

Edited as of 1:00 AM August 25th, 2011.

I can only speak for myself when I say this, but after seeing lots and lots of hate between asexuals, heterosexuals, and queer-identified people I would like to say that I have NEVER intended to hurt anyone with my words on asexuality, the queer community, the word “queer”, gender and sexual minorities (GSM) in general, and acceptance. I’ve just been trying to state my opinion on a subject in a forum that maybe, just maybe, might allow me to raise awareness and acceptance for people who are hurting and don’t tend to get much attention elsewhere. If my words have been misconstrued to be hateful or hurtful, I’d like to set things straight. If I have hurt anyone, I am very sorry and will try to avoid this in the future.

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