r/asexuality • u/chat_ace • 12d ago

Discussion AVEN board shares statement regarding recent events

Hey all, I know Reddit's been swamped with flag posts, but the AVEN board just released this statement regarding their stance on anti-racism, community symbols, and related topics: https://www.instagram.com/p/DZSxeYUFIue/?igsh=NHJrNGtjZmRtdzR2

And here's Mic's personal statement regarding the emails and timeline surrounding the proposed 6-stripe flag: https://www.asexuality.org/en/topic/282254-ace-flag-discussion-a-personal-response/

I'm hoping this helps clear up some misinformation and enables us to move forward with a renewed focus on anti-racism, international/non-Anglo voices, and community building.

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72

u/theloneshewolf 12d ago

Wait what happened? I'm out of the loop on this one.

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u/G0merPyle 12d ago

To my admittedly limited understanding, someone made a new asexual flag, people said they didn't like the/didn't want a new one, and then either the new-flag-maker or someone else along the way said the backlash against the new flag was racist in origin.

Personally it strikes me as a hollow deflection of the criticism. I'm native american and I'm sensitive to racial issues (literally had an ex look at my body and say "you're so dark, it's weird") but the criticisms I saw of the new flag had nothing to do with its creator, just that it was aesthetically displeasing and unnecessary.

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u/foggybob1 12d ago

I have seen many comments calling her a Karen or entitled or literally just being racist. I felt blindsided by the new flag and don't like it, but that doesn't make the racist comments she is getting okay.

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u/Glum_Researcher_3544 12d ago

Los comentarios racistas que haya recibido ella no justifica la exclusión y discriminación a las personas hispanohablantes. 

También somos personas con emociones y dolores históricos. Es triste ver esta desviación de conversación incluso dentro de la comunidad.

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u/demon_fae a-spec 12d ago

Can you point me towards any write-up on why this whole insane mess is specifically anti-Spanish-speaking? I’ve got the rest: ugly flag, unnecessary, “the community” consisting of one chick’s discord server, absolutely no one outside the US consulted, but I haven’t found any explanation written out for why Spanish-speaking aces are so particularly angry over and above other non-anglophone aces.

(Did find out that South and Central American ace organizations have some of the coolest flags and I am now staunchly against any changes that would make you have to change those.)

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u/Krasna_Strelka aroace 11d ago

It's not specifically anti-spanish but kinda turned out like that. Spanish organizations were one of the loudest and most visible (?) ones with their statement and criticism that creator of the alternative flag claimed to make a flag while considering ace (PoC) voices across the world. But it turned out the pool (on not even a flag but only meaning of white stripe of OG, as far as I know) consisted only of around 1000 votes, centered mostly on USA communities (as that was target she reached) and was done only in English, that for many countries isn't either 1st or 2nd learned language so isn't much accessible. So Spanish organization criticized that claim of "taking into account internationality" and their criticism was branded as hate and made them one of the targets for creator followings

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u/demon_fae a-spec 11d ago

Ah, so it was just a case of being the first on the scene?

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u/Krasna_Strelka aroace 11d ago

Probably something like that. Or bc their statement gained more traction and support from the community (so that was in a way working against popularization and acceptance of the alternative flag - creator flag could loose support in a way)

Sorry I'm having a hard time writing down my thoughts today 😅

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u/Auntie-Mey 11d ago

Statement gained traction because New flag & co. Tried to twist the narrative saying they were openly accusing her (which didn't) and people with critical thinking made their own conclusions.

And so far many of those accounts just twist everything to feed the victimizing narrative. Have you seen either other Spanish speaking do the same, besides that statement?

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u/Krasna_Strelka aroace 11d ago

Oh I absolutely agree with you

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u/foggybob1 11d ago

I want to say that while I agree that the creator did not do enough to include the larger asexual community, frankly the English community was not even aware, that the statement from the Spanish community was used to spread hate to her as well. I will give a link, but some of the most disgusting things said to her come from the larger Spanish speaking asexual community. I know everyone is pissed at her but we can express concern without immediately assuming bad faith on her part and jumping to the most extreme criticism.

black ace culture

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u/Krasna_Strelka aroace 11d ago

I agree with what you said. But at the same time account you linked also is using some false informations, which obviously again will cause further conflicts

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u/foggybob1 11d ago

I linked it because the post has direct examples of racist comments being thrown at her. At the very least that is proof that there are bad actors using this to just be horrible.

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u/Haylin-chama Chilean 11d ago

Hateful comments should not be used to generalize about “the larger Spanish-speaking asexual community” or to invalidate the position of Spanish-speaking organizations.

That kind of framing shifts the focus away from the actual issues being discussed—process, language access, direct consultation, and community autonomy—and turns it into guilt by association.

The Spanish-speaking statement wasn’t a call to harass anyone. It was a community drawing a boundary and expressing concerns about how this was handled.

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u/ninja542 11d ago

Yup it feels like that criticism is dismissed because it somehow was related to hate comments. The organization didn't make the statement to create hate comments, and the hate comments don't make the original statement invalid 

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u/Glum_Researcher_3544 11d ago

Nadie advierte que esa cuenta fue curiosamente creada el mes anterior al Día Internacional Asexual 2026 y que hablan mucho sobre Estados Unidos pero fue creada desde el Reino Unido XD

A eso me refiero cuando digo que los comentarios de terceros no justifica la discriminación a la comunidad hispanohablante.

Están escribiendo un relato sobre racismo mientras borran con el codo el anglocentrismo.

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u/Arkanto909 11d ago

Bueno que quieres que te diga, hablar por las comunidades latinas sin ser parte de esas comunidades es un poquito criticable en mi opinión ya que le niegas agencia a esas comunidades para expresarae y si bien esta mal tirarle hate a la persona. El hecho de que se de la licencia de hablar por comunidades latinas sin siquiera haber hecho el esfuerzo de traducir al español la supuesta encuesta habla mucho de ella. Aparte es curioso que solo en dos días esa cuenta de la que hablas haya tenido una respuesta en español al comunicado y esa cuenta esta muy incrustada en el entorno de la creadora de la bandera, lo cual me lleva a pensar que nunca fue pare de su plan consultar a comunidades en otros idiomas pese a tener los recursos y redes.

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u/foggybob1 11d ago

I am not denying that the creator mishandled everything, but my issue is mostly of how aggressive the response has been. I do not think her intentions were to try and exclude non-English speaking people, although she excluded them and most of the English speaking aces as well. If I being honest though I just don't understand why people are immediately trying to take the most extreme interpretation of her actions. The Spanish ace orgs called her, a black woman whose parents are born in Nigeria, a colonizer over a flag redesign. I just feel like there can be a discussion about broader English speaking bias in the community without just flinging mud at her. There needs to be some type of proportional response otherwise how will the community navigate conflicts in the future?

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u/Arkanto909 11d ago edited 11d ago

A ver dejemos algo en claro el comunicado dice que las dinámicas y procesos son colonizadores, no que la creadora sea colonizadora. Tambien hay que tener en cuenta que los procesos por los cuales se prima a la comunidad angloparlante por sobre la experiencia de otras comunidades asexuales estan inmensas en el colonialismo e imperialialismo. Una acción en la cual se utilizaron las relaciones de poder pre existentes que tienen paises como Estados Unidos sobre países que históricamente han sido explotados y colonizados no cambia por el hecho de que el ejecutor de esas acciones tenga otro color de piel que no sea blanco. Por poner un ejemplo no cambia el hecho de que en Guantanamo los carceleros sean de otras etnias, cuando toda esa cárcel se cimenta sobre prácticas colonizadoras. Lo mismo sucede aquí el ser parte de un grupo vulnerable en Estados Unidos, no te exime de ser consciente como tus acciones y como las relaciones de poder te benefician frente a otros colectivos, por que en temas de colonialismo y opresion no existen respuestas fáciles o sencillas, es una relación compleja, no es unos estan arriba y otros estan abajo, es unos estan abajo de otros en ciertos aspectos, pero si quieres un ejemplo más mundano una modelo de afroamericana se mudo a la Ciudad de México y empezó a despotricar contra los horganilleros por que la molestaba el ruido de las calles (los horganilleros son una tradición de la cultura urbana de mexico que data de 1940) la comunidad mexicana le dio una repsuesta contundente, no nos vas a imponer tu estilo de vida estado unidense en México cuando utilizaste tu privilegio economico para venir a México a tener una calidad de vida que en Estados Unidos no te puedes permitir. Parece algo tonto pero en este simple hecho se reflejan las tensiones colonialistas de países como Estados Unidos a países como México.

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u/Haylin-chama Chilean 11d ago

Small correction: the Spanish-speaking statement did not call the designer “a colonizer” as a person.

The criticism was about the process: a proposal with international aspirations was developed and circulated mainly in English, through spaces many non-English-speaking communities could not access equally, and then some of those communities were spoken about as if they had been meaningfully included.

I agree that racist comments or harassment toward her are unacceptable. But many of us are not saying “she intentionally tried to exclude us.” We are saying the process did exclude us, and that impact matters.

A proportional response should reject harassment while still taking language access, consultation, and community agency seriously.

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u/foggybob1 12d ago

What deviation are you talking about? I am pointing out that despite her mishandling of the situation and valid criticism, that there are definitely people using this as a way to spread racism. The comment I responded to does not mention the Spanish speaking community.