Asexual
Definiton
Disclaimer: People can experience identities in different ways. As such, people can identify with a label without exactly matching the definition because identities are fluid.
Asexual (often shortened to "ace") is a term used by people who experience little, no, and/or conditional sexual attraction. Asexual people may still experience other forms of attraction and can be any gender; the term only refers to a person's sexual orientation. Asexual is also an umbrella term for identities that are part of the asexual spectrum (see more in the Related Identities section).
Some asexual people date and/or pursue other types of relationships (such as queerplatonic ones). Asexual people may engage in sexual activities and may experience arousal/libido. Some asexual people enjoy sexual activities (they are sex-favorable), some feel negatively about them (sex-repulsed and/or sex-averse), some feel neutral about them (sex-indifferent), and some have mixed feelings about them (sex-ambivalent).
People who are not asexual are allosexual.
The following quote is from Alex (it/they), who is asexual:
“Being asexual is, for me, a lack of sexual attraction. When I tell people this the first thing they say is usually 'oh, you'll grow out of it.' Thanks, but that isn't really helpful. I don't need to be reassured that one day I'll break free from this strange, sexless affliction and blossom into the normal person I was meant to be. Being asexual is part of who I am, it's not some missing piece that I need to discover, and being able to identify with that label gives me the tools to affirm who I am.”
Flag History and Meaning
The asexual pride flag was chosen in August 2010 on The Asexual Visibility & Education Network (AVEN) forum. AVEN users standup and Bristrek led the effort to choose an asexual flag, which lasted a month, spanned multiple threads, and included 3 poll stages. The winning flag was created by standup. The colors were based upon the AVEN Triangle, a popular symbol of asexuality at the time (which is black, gray, and white) and the purple accents of the AVEN website.
Each color of the asexual flag has its own meaning:
- Black: asexuals
- Gray: graysexuals and demisexuals
- White: non-asexual partners and allies
- Purple: the asexual community
Related Identities
Asexual is an umbrella term for the asexual spectrum ("ace-spec") and can include labels such as:
- Aceflux
- Acespike
- Aegosexual
- Apothisexual
- Autosexual
- Bellusexual
- Caedsexual
- Cupiosexual
- Demisexual
- Desinoromantic
- Fictosexual
- Fraysexual
- Graysexual
- Lithosexual
- Myrsexual
- Quoisexual
- Reciprosexual
- Requissexual
Additional Resources
- The Asexual Visibility & Education Network (AVEN) has the world's largest asexual community forum and provides many resources on asexuality.
- The Ace and Aro Advocacy Project (TAAAP) offers resources on both aromanticism and asexuality with the goal of increasing visibility for both identities.
- The Trevor Project's "Understanding Asexuality" provides information about asexuality while also answering a few FAQs and highlighting how asexual people can have different experiences.
- The Asexuality Handbook has many resources including history, advice, and lots of other information on asexuality.
Sources and Image Attribution
Sources:
- LGBTQIA+ Fandom Wiki's "Asexual" page
- AVEN's "General FAQ"
- Queerdom Wiki's "Sex-Favorable" page
- Queerdom Wiki's "Sex-Repulsed" page
- Queerdom Wiki's "Sex-Averse" page
- Queerdom Wiki's "Sex-Indifferent" page
- Queerdom Wiki's "Sex-Ambivalent" page
- Ace Week's "The Ace Flag: A History"
- Asexual.net's "Asexual spectrum - From Ace to Z"
- LGBTQIA+ Fandom Wiki's "Asexual spectrum" page
Images:
- "Asexual flag" by AVEN, SVG by AnonMoos, public domain
- "AVEN Triangle" by bristrek87, vectorization by Magajukur2, public domain
