on this date in 1981, the new york times printed an article with the headline “rare cancer seen in 41 homosexuals.” this headline is historic because it is the first mention of what would become the hiv epidemic. at this time, on this date in 1981, the epidemic didn’t have a name.
even after 36, it is still chilling to read this headline because it is a sobering reminder of all that the world didn’t know about hiv. what caused it? how to treat it? we didn’t know shit! it took three years to identify HIV. three years to find out that it wasn’t cancer. however, in those three years, stigma, blame, and shame didn’t need a name to thrive. many died not even knowing the name of the disease that robbed them of breath and humanity.
this headline is historic because it is the first mention of what would become the hiv epidemic.
36 years later we know so much. we have survived so much. we now have life-saving meds. we now even have PrEP – the pill that helps to prevent hiv infection. this is huge because, in 1981, treatment for any virus was rare, yet alone a virus that was virtually unknown.
we still have work to do. we still have to shift culture and we still have to fight health care and access. we still have to fight to live. but we know so much more now than we did on july 3, 1981.
Hey! I got a huge response to the survey, so thanks to everyone that participated. No thanks to the girl who submitted the exact same answers five (5) times in a row and thought I wouldn’t notice.
First of all, the big question: Is asexuality an LGBT identity? 39% said yes, 61% said no.
Interestingly, whether or not someone thought asexuality was LGBT didn’t depend on whether or not they were asexual. I found no correlation between being asexual and choosing one way or the other. But I did find another interesting fact.
100% of people who did NOT identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, pansexual, trans, non-binary or agender (ie cis straight people) think that asexual IS an LGBT identity. Either that or they were unsure (about 3 people).
On the other hand, if you are LGBT you’re much less likely to view asexual as an LGBT+ identity.
33% of gay men, bi and trans people (not including trans lesbians) thought asexuality is LGBT. 67% did not. 6 were unsure. Only 13% of cis lesbians think asexuality is LGBT. 86% don’t. 1 person was unsure. And, overwhelmingly, 100% of trans lesbians think that asexuality is NOT and LGBT identity. 0 were unsure.
So from the first part of the survey, we can see that if you are a lesbian, gay, bi, or trans you are much less likely to think that asexual people are LGBT, with cis & trans lesbians being the least likely. The conclusion: the overwhelming majority of LGBT people don’t think asexuals are LGBT. Cis straight people do.
18% of asexual people reported that they felt their asexuality puts them in danger of being physically or sexually assaulted. However, only 2 people said they had been assaulted (less than 1% of responses).
I included the following questions in response to a common thing I’ve heard: that asexual people are LGBT+ because they face many of the same issues. I also got A LOT of people saying this on the survey. So, I decided to include some common issues that threaten LGBT people to see whether the issues are comparable.
0 people were aware of any laws that discriminate against asexual people.
2 people (less than 1%) said they were less likely to be hired due to their asexual identity. 0 people reported losing their job or being denied a job due to their asexual identity.
3 people said they’ve been to conversion therapy in order to change (or “cure”) their asexuality. 2 people said this was because they didn’t want to be asexual. The third person didn’t specify why.
0 people reported being denied shelter/kicked out because they are ace.
If I’ve missed something, or you want more details on a specific question, please let me know!
Sometimes I am especially proud of trans lesbians. Good job team
that’s where the pushback on “queer” is coming from and you should know what you’re perpetuating and who you’re listening to if you’re going to spout that mess off yourself. byeeee 👋🏽
alder-knight 