#DisBiPanSpecChat

Eryn Star
Eryn Star
Sep 3, 2018 · 3 min read

On Friday September 14th at 20:00 UTC (3pm EST & 12pm PST), I will be hosting a Twitter chat called #DisBiPanSpecChat!

What is #DisBiPanSpecChat?

#DisBiPanSpecChat is a conversation about the experiences of disabled queer people who experience attraction to more than one gender and/or regardless of gender, or the bi/pan spectrum. Your insights will be used to develop a workshop presented by me that I’ll be submitting to a LGBTQIAP+ conference called MBLGTACC. My workshop is founded upon your insights as well as my personal experiences as a disabled pan person. I’m creating a workshop for this because I haven’t seen a workshop that focuses on our voices yet and I want to change that. I wish to share with disabled and queer spaces how they can be better spaces for us.

What Is The Bi/Pan Spectrum?

When I say bi/pan spectrum, this includes the following:

· Bi

· Pan

· Using both Bi and Pan

· Polysexual/romantic

· Sexually Fluid, No Label, or Queer in general

· Bi/Panromantic Aces, Aro Bi/Pansexuals

· Ace/Aros who experience sensual attraction and/or emotional attraction to more than one gender/regardless of gender and are open to having a queerplatonic relationship or passionate friendship with people of any gender

. Any of the above who also use -vague as part of their bi/pan spec identity

How Does #DisBiPanSpecChat Work?

I will be tweeting 7 questions that will be sent out every five minutes. If you would like to respond to the questions without being under Twitter’s character limit or you feel overwhelmed by Twitter chats, I can interview you through direct/private message at my Twitter @NeuroCosmos or you can DM me your answers to the questions typed below. You can participate in the chat and be privately interviewed/message me your answers as well. The level of your participation is completely up to you. I’ll ask each of you who replies & answers the questions if you’re comfortable with being quoted in the workshop. If you’re not, I won’t quote you. If you are comfortable, you can choose between being referred to as Anon, a pseudonym, or your name, and I will use whatever you choose.

The Questions

0: Introduce yourself!

1: Have you experienced desexualization, hypersexualization, or both when sharing your identities? Deromanticization and/or hyperromanticization?

2: Have you faced oppression/erasure from other disabled people for being bi/pan spec?

3: In queer spaces, have you been accepted for your bi/pan spec identity but not for your disabled identity? How about both not being accepted?

4: How do your disabled & bi/pan spec identities intersect in positive/beautiful ways for you? This can be about how your identities connect & influence each other, how you’ve found community, etc.

5 (for aces/aros): Have people not understood that you can be romantically/sensually/emotionally attracted to more than 1 gender/regardless of gender?

6 (for sexually fluid, no label, & queer): When you say to people that you don’t use a specific label, have they ever said, “Oh, your disability is making you confused?”

7: What changes do you feel need to be made in order to increase the visibility of disabled bi/pan spec people in disabled & queer spaces?

Thank you for reading and I hope you can join #DisBiPanSpecChat! I’ll be putting this article on Twitter today and then tweeting a graphic the week of the chat.

Eryn Star

Written by

Eryn Star

Aspiring autistic pan disability rights activist. College student. All pronouns.