Thanks for this. The “shoes tied together” analogy is a good one. “But you got by just fine. Why do you need <meds, accommodations, different clothes, ear defenders> now?”

“Because I wasn’t fine. I was struggling every single day, thinking that all I needed was to focus more / stop being so sensitive / be like other people and 56 years of doing that had left me a shrivelled husk. I was sad, frustrated, angry, and desperate every single day. But I didn’t show it because, well, it was all my fault, and I’d already screwed up being normal so much, already disappointed so many people, I didn’t want to bring down the shame one more time by admitting I was struggling. The meds turned off the 26 radios that had been playing in my head nonstop for 56 years. I would think. I could reason. I could plan and organize. And my autism could have a voice. I love being autistic. But if I had to go off the ADHD meds and revert to sea fog brain, I don’t know how I would manage.”

#autism
#ADHD
#AuDHD
#Gifted

In regards to Xena making a statement against the stigma surrounding HIV: in the episode 'Here She Comes... Miss Amphipolis', Xena enters a beauty pageant undercover. There, she encounters Miss Artiphys, a character played by the late Karen Dior, an HIV-positive actor, singer, former adult performer, and drag queen (reports on Dior’s gender identity are contradictory, and probably also affected by '90s culture).

When Xena discovers that Miss Artiphys was an AMAB character who entered the competition presenting as a woman, the latter explains her actions with the line: "You really don’t get it, do you? I guess being born a woman you wouldn’t. This is a chance to use a part of me most people usually laugh at, or worse. A part I usually have to hide. Only here that part works for me, you see?" expecting Xena to force her to drop.

Instead, Xena encourages her to stay in the competition, never reveals her secret, never disrespects her, and in the end, she ends up being crowned winner. After her victory, Xena and Artiphys share a kiss. That was an intentional statement against the widespread misinformation surrounding AIDS and the transmission of HIV that reportedly Lucy Lawless insisted on being included.

It is near impossible to fully explain how *ridiculously* groundbreaking it was that this entire plot happened in the mid '90s.

#Xena #XenaWarriorPrincess #LGBTQIA #LGBTQ #TransRights #HIV #trans #Gender #TV