Sometimes people tell me that you can't make a cake without eggs and milk. But I can't eat either of those, and I happen to like cake. I've had some really absolutely delicious cakes without dairy and eggs! And let me tell you, I am absolutely excited when I get to have cake I can eat. You see, it's very hard to find vegan cakes, so when I get the chance to have some it's wonderful.
My friend, @seedsofwinter, can't have almonds. So when he has cake, it can't include nuts or ingredients like almond flour.
I have friends who can't have gluten though, too. And for them? That almond flour may do the spot absolutely perfectly. It's what they need so that they can have cake!
And of course, none of this is easy cake to find. There are so many cakes that one or all of us can't enjoy because of their ingredients.
The experience of getting a perfect cake, and one that you can share with your friends, too? It's genuinely really special. It's an experience you can take joy in together.
If the cake is made correctly and with care, people who do not have allergies and intolerances can enjoy it too! (It's not cake, but there's a particular popsicle brand I pick up for me that my teen—who has no allergies—absolutely adores. I get those popsicles for myself since I can't have other goodies, but part of the fun is in sharing and I'm glad my teen loves them. And more people buying those popsicles encourages the company to make more vegan items, too, which is a win!)
Sometimes people complain because they don't want to eat the gluten-free cake, even though someone at the office is allergic to gluten (no, they aren't just making it up).
The push forward continues.
Except what if this wasn't about cakes?
What if it's about representation in media.
There are lots of allo cis hetero relationships portrayed in media. It's everywhere you look. It's a bit harder to find a gay couple in media. More like needing to go to the gluten-free section of the grocery store or a specialty bakery, right? And ace and nonbinary representation? Well, guess we need to also leave out the eggs and milk, and that gets a bit more challenging yet.
Luckily for all of these, it's becoming easier to find. It's hard, and you still sometimes have to go looking for it.
What I'm asking is that those of you especially looking to eat the gluten-free cakes not insist that every cake must be made with milk and eggs (those who want to consume queer media to not insist it be allo cis homosexual). Because that's going to leave someone out. Some people are going to seek a gluten-free, nut-free, egg-free, and milk-free cake (what are we at? Queer, asexual, aromantic, trans, nonbinary, take your pick; we’re not even going to get into racial rep and disability in queer media right now). And that's okay. They should get to have nice things, too. And in the meantime, there's some great gluten-free cake (queer media) for you to enjoy!
Is this clear enough? I rather like this analogy. Because everyone deserves nice things. And it may be stereotypical for an ace person to like cake, but I do think it's rather yummy.
All my thanks to @seedsofwinter for helping build this analogy over a delightful dessert, where we both had the foods we could eat that were yummy to us.
