Experiencing A Long View Of History

 

June is Pride Month so I have been listening to the LGBTQ&A podcast. I started at the beginning and am on track to get through them all this month. (An accomplishment since there are over 220 episodes.) It has been interesting to hear so many people talk about the LGBTQ&A experience. 

Listening to so many interviews also has given me an interesting view of how awareness and understanding of asexuality has changed over the years. The podcast started in August 2016 but the first interview that was focused on asexuality itself (and not just using the word in passing) was not until late 2020. 

There was an interview on August 11 2020 with Brandon Taylor where asexuality was mentioned mainly in terms of Brandon not self-identifying as asexual.  But the first interview with asexuality as the focus (and in the title) was not until Sept 15 2020 over 125 interviews into the podcast. 

This lack of asexual representation does not indicate that the podcast was not talking about diverse experiences in the LGBTQ&A community and had not covered numerous experiences of individuals of diverse backgrounds who were bisexual, trans, drag queens, nonbinary, young, elders, HIV+, experiencing disability, BIPOC, ... (and whose experiences were intersectional.) 

But when asexuality was mentioned it was only mentioned in passing until 4 years into the podcast (and less than 2 years ago)

It was interesting to see how asexuality has slowly gain visibility over the years. (Listening to so many interviews all in a row means I am more aware of how those conversations have changed over time, I am basically listening to a time-lapsed conversation, so I can hear the changes that I probably would not have noticed if I listen to the podcast weekly like it was originally published) 

It is also interesting to see how even now asexuality is one of the letters in the LGBTQA+ that is discussed less.

Now I am listening to the LGBTQ&A podcast just as something fun to do for Pride Month not to see myself and hear others who have my exact experience. But I do think we all need to make sure when we are covering the experiences of a wider community that we are exploring as many experiences as is possible.

I would guess that there are others who are asexual or aromantic who might find the podcast and then get discouraged or feel devalued since asexuality is not talked about much at all. The podcast explores changing understandings of gender, monogamy, identity et al within the LGBTQ+ community so is the perfect place to explore other understands such as understandings around asexuality/aromanticism etc. 

In many ways better language is one of the great things that the ace community brings to the table. Finding language so others can express their experiences and know what they want from themselves and from their relationships. But that language is not helpful if no one hears it and it becomes a tree falling in the woods when not one is there to listen.

Listening to so many interviews has been meaningful because I can find bits of my experiences spread out through out the interviews. 

Listening to so many interviews has been powerful because while I hang in LGBTQ+ spaces I don't necessary fell like I always fit (like I hear so many of the interviews discuss.) 

But listening to so many interviews also means I realize I need to develop my sense of community and that while discussions of asexuality are growing in number many people still do not understand what that can look like. 

It just means places like this blog really are important since I mention asexuality in general and my asexuality in particular pretty frequently as well as other experiences I have.