7:46pm May 19, 2014

➸ Questions about Autism Women's Network?

nekobakaz:

chavisory:

leisuschrist:

youneedacat:

I’ve been meaning to ask this, and since I was finally able to post about my relationship to the idea of ‘woman’ without the world imploding on my head, maybe I can finally ask it.

Does the Autism Women’s Network allow people like me? See above link for what I mean: In my case, genderless…

Here is Autism Women’s Network’s statement on gender:

http://autismwomensnetwork.org/autism-womens-network-statement-on-gender/

“AWN both recognizes and affirms each individual’s gender identity. We will not tolerate abusive behavior based on perceived or actual gender identity and presentation. We recognize that gender is not a binary, and that one can identify with “woman” and a non-binary gender at the same time. We also recognize that some people may have a varying gender identity, and may identify as a woman at some times but not others. We would like to take this opportunity to welcome all women, and supporters of women, to join our community.

We wish to specifically welcome trans women, as well as non-binary and gender variant individuals who have claimed, in some way, the identity of woman or girl. While our leadership is exclusively those who identify as Autistic Women, we believe that you claim your identity, not that you are assigned it. We hope to provide the same support, networking, and community to those who have had to claim their identity as to those who haven’t.

We wish to recognize and affirm the experiences of those who do not identify as women currently but have in some way in the past. Too often, gender biases are based not on our identities but on how other people believe we should identify. We welcome the input of those who have been misgendered as women, and who feel that the ways they have been misgendered give them a common experience with girls or women.

We also welcome the support and community of those who do not and have never identified as women. AWN works to center the experiences of Autistic Women, and want our allies to support us in that work. We believe that community of choice is more important than being divisive, and hope that you feel safe and welcome in helping us build that, regardless of gender identity.”

In case anyone else is curious about the position on gender identity of the Autism Women’s Network.

so, I’m actually the Vice President of AWN, and I can officially tell you that you are welcome. You are so welcome. And if you feel like you aren’t, we want to know what we can do to change that, because we know we aren’t perfect and we’re willing to learn and we really want to support you, autistics for autistics.

~Corina Becker

Hi, Sharon daVanport here (President of Autism Women’s Network) & I’d like to echo what Corina Becker said. We want you to know that you are welcome to be part of our community. We are especially open to feedback & suggestions on how we can make AWN space more welcoming. Please let us know!

Thank you all, I kind of assumed I’d be welcome, and that trans women would also be welcome, but I wanted to be sure, because you never know, with things like that.

Notes: