MackerelGray

Oh, this is a topic near and dear to me! I spent a long time in the aroace community, in my teen years, because I genuinely didn't feel sexual attraction (which was possibly influenced by my gender dysphoria!) - and then, around the time I started questioning my gender as something not-feminine, I started feeling sexually attracted to people. But I didn't feel romantic attraction, and because of that, I felt like my attraction was the "wrong" sort of attraction, like I was objectifying others by thinking they were hot. Which I realize now is kinda nonsensical, but it did make me really scared of my own sexuality for a while - especially coming out after saying I was ace, and that I didn't like sex, and then realizing that I thought people were hot and wanted to do things with them? It scared me a lot. And the way sex was treated in the ace community as a taboo topic didn't help me feel more comfortable - the community that had once been a place of safety for me felt stifling and anxiety-provoking. I don't blame the ace community for my internalized sex negativity and bi antagonism, really, but it's not a space I feel comfortable in anymore.

Hey, I'm Max! I'm a 20smth trans guy (he/they/it) and aromantic bisexual! Apparently I was on this forum a long time ago, like several years, and by now I've completely forgotten what's happened then, so this is a whole new intro!

I was given the link by someone in my local aspec club's discord, because I had been venting about so-called aspec spaces being extremely biased towards the comfort of sex-repulsed asexuals, to the point where I felt very uncomfortable and alienated as an aro bi who's very much a sexual person and wants to express how that intersects with my aromanticism without hurting and being hurt by other people - Arocalypse was recced because y'all have a pretty good number of aroallos talking about their experiences, which sounds like a place I need in my life!

I thought I was straight. I didn't really like girls (probably because I was projecting my dysphoria all over them) so I thought "huh, guess I have to be straight!" (And this was also back when I thought I was a girl because "huh, I don't feel like a guy, must be a girl!") I really like the looks of gender-neutral-presenting people, so I just figured I just had a thing for pretty boys.

GOD

"You're just being another stupid attention-whore speshul snowflak!! You are horrible!"

Sure this may just be on the internet but it always infuriates me. (Honestly Tumblr is one of the few places where I can find people who actually believe aros exist and it's really sad...)

Yippee kai-yay.

...I am so sorry, I HAD to do it!!