hitodeman:

The asexual community has appropriated the word “allosexual” to mean all sexual people (as opposed to asexual people), and using the term that way has to stop.

The term “allosexual” already exists, or at least its French incarnation (allosexuel/le) does. It was coined in 2001 by the REJAQ, a Quebec organization for LGBTQ youth. In 2005, the term allosexuel was officially recognized by the Office québécois de la langue française (essentially, the people in charge of accepting and officializing neologisms in Quebec) as the only accepted French equivalent for the English term “queer”.

Etymologically speaking, the word “allosexual” makes perfect sense as a synonym of “queer”. The prefix “allo-” means “other”. Allosexuality is, literally, other sexualities or sexual identities. Different sexual orientations or genders. Not straight and/or not cis.

Why should you give a shit? Well, here in Quebec, we have very strict language policies against the use of English (or anglicisms) in publications, advertisements, official names, signs, etc. In other words, we need an official French equivalent for everything, and we’re not even close to catching up with English-speaking North America when it comes to defining genders and sexualities.

In 2012, the online asexual community has collectively appropriated the word “allosexual” (without doing any research, apparently) to refer to anyone who isn’t asexual. (Who could also be called, you know, “not asexual”. Non-ace.) Now, I’m not one to play the “linguistically oppressed French Canadian” card, but we kind of have a very important history that involves our French culture getting stepped on, ignored or suppressed. (For more information, I suggest reading up on the relatively recent history of the Franco-Manitoban community or, closer to me, the history behind Quebec’s linguistic policies.) By appropriating the term “allosexual”, you’re contributing to the erasure of the French-speaking queer community. It might not seem like a huge deal to you if you live in a predominantly English-speaking area, but it’s actually pretty fucking important for us French-speaking people to have an officially recognized term to define ourselves in our own language. The allosexual community of Quebec includes you too, ace community. If you keep using the term “allosexual” as a synonym for “not asexual”, especially when you’re talking about “allosexual privilege”, you’re also doing yourselves a great disservice.

Please reconsider the usage of that word. Thank you!