Rowling Runs Her Mouth About Queer People, Again
World’s most annoying hack writer disparages the asexual community.
by Alyssa Steinsiek
Oh baby, she’s at it again!
I haven’t written about JK Rowling since, I think, January 1st when she flat out denied the existence of trans kids. A common transphobic refrain, it’s more an expression of intent than an opinion. But the truth here is that I think this woman is vile and, for the most part, I don’t really want to draw attention to her anymore… unless I think she’s said or done something truly revolting. Something that I’d like to talk about, because her having the final word on the matter bothers me.
On Sunday the 6th, Rowling tweeted about International Asexuality Day just so that she could say some very mean words.
“Happy International Fake Oppression Day to everyone who wants complete strangers to know they don't fancy a shag,” she tweeted, for some reason incapable of minding her own business and keeping her yap trap shut when it comes to things that don’t concern her in any way. I’m sure if she ever read any of my work (I’m far too poor to get her attention, you see), she’d accuse me of being a misogynist for telling a woman to shut up, but please believe me… sometimes a firm shushing transcends gender.
When some loser in the comments named underneath her tweet named John James expressed bafflement at the inclusion of asexuality in the LGBTQ+ community and praised anti-trans hate group LGB Alliance, she said, “Sure, people are still killed for being gay in a lot of countries, but straight people who don't fancy a quickie are being literally ignored to death, John. Is that what you want?”
I swear I’m not even on this website anymore… I just have a blank account so I can pull up garbage like this when I need to do journalism about it.
So, here’s the thing: I meant what I said. I don’t want to draw more attention to Rowling herself than feels necessary. So I don’t care what she personally thinks about asexual people, but I do care that the doubts she raises about asexual people’s inclusion in the queer umbrella might be picked up and echoed by helpful idiots who otherwise consider themselves allies to our community.
So let’s talk about asexual people!
The Trevor Project has a great page about asexuality, but for a quick primer: Asexuality is a spectrum, and asexual people (ace people, aces) can experience sexuality in differing ways, or not at all. Some people on the asexuality spectrum, like demisexuals, may experience sexual attraction only to people they’ve formed a strong emotional bond with, and many aces (even those who experience no sexual desire for others and engage in no sexual activities with partners) describe themselves as bi, pan, gay or otherwise to denote the kind of romantic attraction they experience. Some may identify as aromantic and asexual (aroace) and experience neither sexual desire nor intimate romantic feelings for others.
Some quick stats on queer youth who are on the asexuality spectrum, per the Trevor Project’s 2020 National Survey on LGBTQ Youth Mental Health: In a sample of over 40,000 LGBTQ+ youth, 10% identified as ace, with demisexuality and panromanticism being the most common granular identifiers. Ace youth reported slightly higher rates of depression and anxiety than the general queer population. Interestingly, 41% of ace youth surveyed identified as transgender or nonbinary, and another 13% expressed that they were in the process of questioning their gender, as compared to 25% trans/nonbinary and 9% questioning among general LGBTQ+ youth surveyed.
It’s important to understand that, generally speaking, asexual and/or aromantic people are not anti-sex or sex negative. What feels right and good for allosexual (non-aroace) people may not feel right and good for people on the ace spectrum, but no approach to relationships and intimacy with consenting adults is wrong.
Unfortunately, asexual people are very often victims of discrimination and sexual assault. According to a report from the volunteer-run Ace Community Survey Team, 71.2% of ace respondents reported experiencing discrimination due to their asexual identity, ranging from excessive or inappropriate personal questions, attempts to “cure” or “fix” them, to verbal and sexual harassment. Asexual people are, like all LGBTQ+ people, sometimes subjected to torturous conversion therapy, and are uniquely vulnerable to avenues of sexual assault like being pressured to have sex against their will and even corrective rape.
I am not asexual or aromantic myself, and my short summary of their community will absolutely be missing some important facts, so make sure you read up on more in-depth conversations from asexual people themselves!
Asexual/aromantic people are included in the queer community both because their sexuality diverges from normative heterosexuality, and also because many people on the asexual spectrum also happen to be gay or transgender. They suffer many of the same ills of society that the rest of us do, and should always be welcomed with open arms into any queer space.
Belated happy International Asexuality Day, aroace friends!
Alyssa Steinsiek is a trans woman journalist who reports on news relevant to the queer community and occasionally posts on BlueSky.
