A-Infos (en) France, UCL AL #361 - Anti-patriarchy - LGBTI Struggles: The Rejection of Asexuality in Anti-Trans Discourse (ca, de, fr, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

Recently, English-speaking figures known for their transphobic positions 
have made numerous statements against asexual people-that is, people who 
feel little or no sexual attraction to others. But why these attacks? 
How do anti-trans and anti-asexual discourses intertwine and reinforce 
each other? On April 6, J.K. Rowling, known for her anti-trans activism, 
tweeted that Asexual Visibility Day celebrated "people who want 
strangers to know they don't have sex and invent oppression around it." 
This isn't the first time that figures from the Anglo-Saxon far right 
have distinguished themselves by their rejection of asexuality. The 
articulation of this position with queerphobic software may seem 
counterintuitive. Indeed, anti-LGBTI hatred often crystallizes around 
the idea that queer people sexualize or pervert children, thereby 
conflating LGBTI and pedocriminality. How could people claiming not to 
feel desire fit into this anti-trans rhetoric?

First, these activists' core business is the reaffirmation of the 
biological difference between men and women. Consequently, they hold a 
biologizing vision of sexuality and will consider asexuality as a 
pathological aberration of an extremely minority population, in 
opposition to a healthy and natural heterosexuality. Moreover, 
pro-asexuality discourse will be understood by reactionaries as "Big 
Pharma" propaganda intended to normalize the explosion of antidepressant 
prescriptions, one of whose side effects can be loss of libido. These 
conspiracy arguments, which are also used against trans people, 
contribute to depoliticizing the commodification of healthcare.

Finally, for the anti-trans lobby, transgender identity is a rejection 
of one's sexuality, and medical transition would annihilate reproductive 
capacity. One might think of transphobes who describe transgender 
surgeries as mutilation, or the difficulties trans people face accessing 
reproductive rights. This "imposed asexuality"[1], or the unthinking of 
trans sexualities, is part of social control, while transphobia is also 
paradoxically characterized by hypersexualization. However, 
pro-asexuality advocates claim that it's not a problem not to have a 
sexuality. Unable to accept this within the heterosexist framework 
outlined above, anti-trans advocates will believe that asexual 
visibility normalizes transgender identity among the general public.

These overlaps between transphobia and the rejection of asexuality 
invite us to think more carefully about our discourse. The mere 
visibility of asexuality provokes a reaction from transphobes and pushes 
asexual activists to advocate for trans rights. In this vein, we must 
acknowledge the critique of liberal representation policies that 
consider that showing asexuality allows for the emancipation of asexuals 
in itself but does not address the rape culture that impacts the way 
people engage (or not) with their sexuality. Asexual identity touches on 
the intimate management of sexual difficulties and desexualization as an 
oppressive mechanism; it must therefore be integrated into our 
frameworks for understanding cis-heteropatriarchy.

Louison (UCL supporter)

Validate

[1]Eunjung Kim, Asexuality in Disability Narratives, 2011, a concept 
from Disability Studies.

https://www.unioncommunistelibertaire.org/?Luttes-LGBTI-Le-rejet-de-l-asexualite-dans-les-discours-anti-trans
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