Fifty Shades of Gender podcast graphic with Brianne Leeson

Episode 87

A conversation with Brianne Leeson

AUTIGENDER, BISEXUAL, POLYAMOROUS, DEMI-ROMANTIC

56 min. Recorded on 14 July 2022. 

Brianne’s pronouns are she/her, and she is autigender, as well as bisexual, polyamorous, and demi-romantic. Find out what that means to Brianne in this episode.

We also talk about doing womanhood differently and the infinite flavours of gender and gender expression, accidental polyamory and unpacking social and religious conditioning, what we can learn about communication from autistic people, sensory issues and how they shape expression, finding freedom in embracing your neurodivergence, and questioning everything.

“Being autistic is also going like, ‘people are doing these things, they never question why they’re doing them, or why they feel they need to do them’, and I think a big thing about the autistic experience is questioning everything.”

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TRANSCRIPT [expand to read] – COMING SOON

About Brianne

Brianne is a writer, artist, and voice actor from Dallas, Texas. She is the creator of the supernatural comedy audio drama, Today’s Lucky Winner. She is autistic and ADHD, receiving a late diagnosis of both at age 30. Since her diagnoses, she’s become a passionate autism advocate. She prioritizes accurate queer and autistic representation in her own show, and is a frequent guest on other shows, speaking about her experiences as an autistic person.

You can find Brianne on Instagram @Brianne_Leeson and on Twitter @hotsauceghost, and her podcast on Spotify and on Twitter @LuckyWinnerShow., Instagram @LuckyWinnerShow and Facebook @LuckyWinnerShow.

What we discussed & useful links

About ABA (Applied Behaviour Analysis):

  • Why ABA Therapy is Harmful to Autistic People – article
  • Brianne recommends the work and writing of Tiffany Hammond of Fidgets and Fries (Facebook @fidgetsandfries, Instagram @fidgets.and.fries), who adds a BIPOC perspective: BIPOC autistic folks have to learn masking (often through ABA), because their autistic traits are more likely to be punished or make them victims of police violence. It’s often the only childcare that many American parents of autistic kids are offered too. There are many white autistics who want ABA banned, but have offered no healthy alternatives to the marginalized folks who are forced to participate in this systemic abuse. You can support Tiffany by buying her a coffee to access these articles:

Podcast episodes:

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