Being autistic and LGBT

Post Reply New Topic

How do you all cope with being both autistic and LGBT? I always worry people will hate me for either one or the other or both.

This sounds complex....But be careful of self fullfilling prophecies . Guess am a bit Naive in this area ..
but thought ,maybe choose your company as best as you can...Supposably ? people ? are suppose to like you for who you are ? if not. , then might not be a good choice for your Associations in Life .

Hmm, yeah that’s true, if people don’t support who I am they are not worth having around. I may need to be more selective who I spend time with.

I cope just fine!

Ive been a member of the LGBTQ+ community since 1975 - way before my Autistic identity was confirmed. I am a member of a number of gay/queer support and activism groups in Cornwall. I have observed that there is a significant overlap between the AU and LGBTQ+ community here.

As I've embraced my feminine side my social skills have become much better!
I've changed my wardrobe to make it obviously feminine. I went to the Town's Memorial Day Parade wearing Pink Hat!
I wear a hat all the time to protect my skin from the sun. In the garden I wear an olive one. When I go out and socialize I wear my pink one. I wore my floral Timex watch with a pink floral band.

I recently did my first social double entendre! A guy was shopping with his wife and stopped to look me over.
I said "thank you" and zoomed past them on my high heels.
Thanks for looking me over and thanks for stopping so I could get past you in a busy grocery store!

The way to handle autism is to ask for specific help when you needed.
In other words, if the lights are too bright or the talking too loud you need to say that.

I'm autistic is not helpful. That is way too vague. Each person on the spectrum is different.
Normal people aren't going to figure out autism to help you.

Don't ask don't tell is a very important relationship phrase.
Sometimes it is much better if someone doesn't know you are autistic but only knows a few specific details, like you like plain hamburgers and want the TV volume turned away down.

Hm.... well. I think my autism makes me a pretty passionate person when it comes to standing up for a good cause.

....now, if I could only expression said passion and "standing up for a good cause" in a way that doesn't strike people as odd.

Pretty good with being autistic, sometimes got some flack about being on the LGBTQ+ side.

For nearly the past five years, many people thought I was gay and while I do like the same sex, I am repulsed by sex and penetration along with being impient because of health reasons, I have made the determination recently that I am a homoromantic asexual that has provided closure to those that knew along with me that a gay relationship would be a disaster. I have came out as homoromantic asexual to my closest friends, but in general to those that are willing to accept and are in a safe space, I just state that I am part of the LGBTQIA+ community under the Asexual identy.

I'm probably very lucky to not get any s**t in real life for being autistic and bisexual. I'm also trans and I barely got any s**t for that either.

I was diagnosed with autism back in 2009 (according to my mom) and I discovered I was bi in either 2020 or 2021.

I think folks are more accepting of folks on the spectrum and being of a different gender.
It was much different growing up back in the 1970s when Corporal Klinger was the drag queen on the popular TV series M*A*S*H. He was the running joke on the show.

From Wikipedia
"Goodbye, Farewell and Amen" is a television film that served as the series finale of the American television series M*A*S*H. The 2½-hour episode first aired on CBS on February 28, 1983, ending the series' original run. The episode was written by eight collaborators, including series star Alan Alda, who also directed. As of 2024, it remains the most-watched single episode of any television series in U.S. history, and for twenty-seven years was the most-watched single broadcast in television history.

Don’t worry, most lgbt people are also neurodivergent

_________________
ADHD and c-ptsd

I feel like I've been treated worse for being autistic than transgender. Transgender is worse overall because you have to deal with gender dysphoria, but people are usually polite about my trans status while I remain within in earshot. Occasionally strangers have mocked or stared at me. That can be incredibly demoralizing, but whatever happens in my own mind is the limit of the damage. It's not like I need the approval of jeering strangers for any practical reason. Autism meanwhile gets people calling the police or deciding I'm somehow an evil, socially skilled master manipulator who needs to be shunned by the group.

This also follows me experience interacting cis autistic people and trans non-autistic people. The autistic people might make the occasional inappropriate comment and the like, but at least we can talk about it. Non-autistic trans people think I'm evil. There's other weird behavior from non-autistic trans people, like trying to hierarchies based on who "passes" versus not. They then ignore it if your experiences don't fit what they assumed based on how they view your appearance.