Gender Identity and Sexuality

[DaisyRose]

I found this cool article talking about how gender identity and sexuality are more varied among people who have autism. It’s a cool read and I found it to be very interesting.

Gender and sexuality in autism, explained

Gender and sexuality appear to be more varied among autistic people than among neurotypical people. What do scientists know about the connection?

www.spectrumnews.org

 

[Mr. Stevens]

That was an interesting read. Thanks for posting

 

[Gerontius]

Correlation seems to track with the posters here; we have a lot of trans, nonbinary, and otherwise queer fish here.

I would not have believed it but having gotten older than Dumb Teenage me(truly insufferable), I think it's pretty well correct, the paper.

 

[Magna]

I agree that it's interesting to see how things are changing related to human sexuality. I read something about this topic that a full 25% of school age students (high school if I recall correctly) identify now as non-Cis.

I had ChatGPT run a computation making some broad assumptions. Not that those same 25% will never reproduce, but if they didn't, then in 820 years, there would only be 10 million humans on the entire planet earth and only 1.18 million humans existing on the entire planet in 2,000 years. There are almost 8 billion humans on the planet earth now. Either way I don't think given the current changes in human sexuality overall that will affect birth rates, that those concerned with overpopulation should have any concerns. Would a reduction in the total human population across the planet of only 1.18 million be a non-sustainable number so low it would threaten complete extinction of our species? Very probably, yes.

 

[Bolletje]

It’s funny how almost all of the women on the spectrum I’ve met IRL identify as queer (myself included).

 

[Neonatal RRT]

I agree that it's interesting to see how things are changing related to human sexuality. I read something about this topic that a full 25% of school age students (high school if I recall correctly) identify now as non-Cis.

I had ChatGPT run a computation making some broad assumptions. Not that those same 25% will never reproduce, but if they didn't, then in 820 years, there would only be 10 million humans on the entire planet earth and only 1.18 million humans existing on the entire planet in 2,000 years. Either way I don't think given the current changes in human sexuality overall that will affect birth rates, that those concerned with overpopulation should have any concerns. Would a reduction in the total human population across the planet of only 1.18 million be a non-sustainable number so low it would threaten complete extinction of our species? Very probably, yes.

From what I understand, some developed countries like Japan and China, even the US and others are actually experiencing population decline. The post WWII "baby boomers" are dying, generation X (my generation) are the major tax payers and wage earners, and our children are waiting until late, or not having children at all. Japan has been in rapid decline the past 10 years. China was at a 1 child policy, then 2, now 3 children, knowing the economic impact of all of the retirees, living longer and longer (my generation), and fewer and fewer people supporting the economy and tax base. Some countries are going to be in a lot of trouble in the form of economic collapse. For sure, our children will see some rather strange and dramatic changes in their lifetimes, as a result. All I can do is pray it doesn't become a desperate and violent one as a result of not understanding how to properly manage population collapse.

 

[Jeff T]

Would a reduction in the total human population across the planet of only 1.18 million be a non-sustainable number so low it would threaten complete extinction of our species? Very probably, yes.

A book I concluded reading a couple of weeks ago suggested that has happened in the past:

The Story of Evolution in 25 Discoveries | Columbia University Press

The theory of evolution unites the past, present, and future of living things. It puts humanity’s place in the universe into necessary perspective. Despite... | CUP

cup.columbia.edu

After the Toba supervolcano explosion in today's Indonesia around 70k years ago, the human population of Earth may have dropped to around 1,000 to 10,000. We probably lost a great deal of genetic diversity then?
This book also mentioned that horses today have little variability compared to the past. A large part of that may be due to our culling of breeding stock in the last thousand years?

 

[Jeff T]

From what I understand, some developed countries like Japan and China, even the US and others are actually experiencing population decline. The post WWII "baby boomers" are dying, generation X (my generation) are the major tax payers and wage earners, and our children are waiting until late, or not having children at all.

Some less-developed ones too..... eastern Europe seems to be dropping population too. Ukraine, Baltic countries, Bulgaria and others.....

 

[Luca]

Thanks for posting this article, Daisy
But as a fellow LGBTQ+ person I will warn you that sometimes these threads get a bit dicey on here. Just make sure you will do what’s best for your mental health and it is 100% okay to take a step back if you see some things that hurt you or make you feel uncomfortable.

 

[DaisyRose]

Thanks for posting this article, Daisy
But as a fellow LGBTQ+ person I will warn you that sometimes these threads get a bit dicey on here. Just make sure you will do what’s best for your mental health and it is 100% okay to take a step back if you see some things that hurt you or make you feel uncomfortable.

Thank you for the warning I appreciate it! It makes me feel better that you warned me about it now. Thanks for looking out for me. I was nervous posting something like this because it can cause a ruckus. I always like to ignore negative comments or posts. Never linger on them because it causes self destruction. Glad we both have something in common with being part of the LGBTQ+.

 

[Gerontius]

Asexuality is...I've come to terms with it & don't mind at all. Even my girlfriend, also autistic & bi, doesn't actually mind either. I think we bonded over everything else other than sex, which is quite all right and definitely convenient. We're happy about our relationship--it is a healthy one & we are both able to do all right.

What worries me is, not all autistics who are LGBTQIA are going to be able to "hide it" as easily. I hope everyone is OK out there--Hell I hope we're ok too because these are odd times.

 

[VictorR]

This article is one of my go-to starting points when discussing the intersection of autism and sexual and gender minorities.

Something that it doesn't bring up are the terms autigender and neurogender, which are sometimes used by autistic and neurodiverse persons who consider that their experience of gender (notably gender non-conformity in various forms) is inseparably intertwined with them being autistic or neurodiverse.

My other starting point is Neurodivergent Rebel's video which goes over the term autigender and their experiences, which as a fellow non-conformist I really relate with.

For transcript, visit their website at

What is AutiGender? – The Relationship Between Autism & Gender – An Autistic Perspective

According to LGBTA, Wiki, “Autigender or Autism, gender is a neurogender, which can be understood in the context of being Autistic or when one’s Autism greatly affects one’s gende…

neurodivergentrebel.com

 

[tazz]

I always like to ignore negative comments or posts. Never linger on them because it causes self destruction.

I try but I find this extremely difficult. If I read something that is just plain incorrect, I feel that the right thing to do is point it out - because misinformation can be very harmful in the long run. That's just part of my values as a human being - I feel my actions should be based as much as possible on well-informed judgement. But the fact that I can't stop myself I think is related to autism - I read a statement that is incorrect and my super-logical brain seems to resent living in a world where people wander around forming opinions and making choices based on incorrect information. It's one of the biggest issues I face because it leads to very negative feelings, depression and anger. I don't refer to it as "self" destruction because the root cause is other people not doing even the slightest bit of critical thinking or fact checking, and just accepting anything they read or hear that happens to fit their existing world view.

I have no problem with people having different opinions and actually like discussions with people who disagree with me and will be very assertive in their views - I learn a lot. But it's when those opinions are not based on fact and particularly when people won't accept evidence you put before them that I struggle.

I've tried to "fix" this for many years, with help from professionals and doing a lot of work myself. But to no avail. At the moment, given that my autism diagnosis is new, I'm exploring how autism fits in.

Anyway, I'm bisexual in the sense that sex and gender don't seem to be factors in whether I find someone attractive or would consider a relationship with them. It's just not something I think about.

I was hitting my teens when the AIDS thing was just kicking off. And got my first job out of college as the death toll was rising. Several things struck me at that time. Firstly that no-one seemed in the slightest bit concerned about AIDS until it was starting to affect the heterosexual population - only then did we see adverts on TV about it for example. Before then it was just a "gay thing". And then at work, so this is when I was 19, someone in the office said quite openly that gay people deserved to die from it, and no-one in the office said anything, no reaction at all. They didn't know I was bisexual. And after that period I thought - well I'll just keep this private then.

So there's also that... now I'm a jaded old fart and more confident, I'm also making up for all the times I stayed quiet and said nothing.

Autism and homosexuality - two things that society at large can't handle. Ironically, two things that are more likely to be found in the same person.

 

[Bolletje]

Autism and homosexuality - two things that society at large can't handle. Ironically, two things that are more likely to be found in the same person.

Yeah, this is one of the reasons I’m only out to close friends. My family is still having a hard time with me being on the autism spectrum (even though I’ve been diagnosed for close to a decade). I think if I tell them I’m queer their heads just might explode. So for now I’m just gonna let them think I’m a cishet female.