This is a thing.

Having read through and tortured myself with all the bullshit regarding the acephobics screaming that asexuality ‘preys’ on young homosexuals and that adding Asexuality to its list means that young homosexuals will be told they are asexual and not just dealing with internalized homophobia, I have a few things to say.

NUMBER ONE.  We aren’t recruiting.  Anymore than homosexuality is recruiting.  Or bisexuality.  We aren’t recruiting homosexuals anymore than the French Foreign Legion is recruiting females (and they aren’t.  I checked.)

NUMBER TWO: The Trevor Project is a suicide prevention hotline.  Yes, it specializes in helping homosexual folks, but I guarantee if a heterosexual called saying “Oh god I don’t know what to do, please help” they would help.  I called the Kids Helpline as a 22 year old and you know what?  Even though I was NOT a minor and I was NOT a child, they knew a list of resources to help me and they stayed on the line with me for hours while I cried.  The Trevor Project would help because they aren’t dicks.  Now, they’ve added asexuals to their list of people to SPECIFICALLY help and to give specific resources to.  Let’s talk a little bit about what a suicide prevention hotline does, even if it’s one for queer kids.

They don’t say “You’re a girl who doesn’t want to have sex with boys, so you must be a lesbian.  Here are lesbian resources.”

They DO say “You’re a girl who doesn’t want to have sex with boys?  That’s okay.  Talk to me.  Tell me how you’re feeling right now?  Yeah?  Okay.  Let’s get some resources to help you with your feelings and help you find healthy ways to express them.”

This means that they aren’t going to be going “Oh, you’re a girl who doesn’t want to have sex with boys and you aren’t sure how you feel about girls and you live in a homophobic community?  You are probably asexual.”    

NUMBER THREE. If they’ve added it to their training materials, it implies that they’ve gotten enough calls from asexuals needing support that they have decided to get some training on how to provide specific assistance.  This means that enough asexuals are calling in, suicidal, that the Trevor Project, a non-profit (which means not a lot of money for extraneous training for projects that activists are yelling about), sees a valid need to train their people to handle these calls. Right now, the Trevor Project is in the media and has lots of public support.  When the celebs move on, though, to the next pet project, then that will change and the Trevor Project MUST be looking to keep their training levels sustainable for the future, when they won’t have this windfall.

 So basically, acephobes who are flipping out, you have NOTHING to worry about.  So why not go back to hating asexuals quietly and not leave your abuse where people who are questioning and scared might see it, huh?  Because if you have dreams for the Trevor Project helping ANYONE, you shouldn’t be encouraging ANY group to be silent or to kill themselves and by telling the Trevor Project to cherry pick only the people that YOU care about, you’re telling other groups to be silent and kill themselves.  So stop.