International Asexuality Day took place for the first time this year, on April 6th 2021. The day was dedicated to celebrating Asexuality and helping people to understand what it is and what it means.
All over the world, people are celebrating, and despite the pandemic, people are still able to share their experiences through podcasts and online events, whether they are in the USA, Argentina, or even France.
So here are 5 things we have learnt from the day…
1. Advocacy, Celebration, Education, and Solidarity
For the first Asexuality day, four key themes were selected to be the focus. The first of these themes is advocacy, which means it is important to have people around you who you can express your views and wishes with knowing they understand.
The second theme of the day is solidarity, otherwise known as unity. It is essential for people to be unified and stand up for one another.
Another key theme of the day is education, as it is important for people to be educated about all the different sexualities rather than just two or three.
It is important for people to be able to have solidarity with those who have the same common interests, beliefs, or experiences. Which is why solidarity is also one of the themes of the day. It promotes the awareness of Ace identities and encourages those who identify themselves with them to support one another.
2. There is more than one ACE identity
We also learnt that there are multiple ACE identities, not just Asexuality. Greysexuality is a term used to describe people who identify as Asexual but who do not fit into the main types of asexuality. Moreover, Demisexuality is when people only feel sexually attracted to someone when they have an emotional bond with the person.
3. The ACE flag
This is the asexual flag, but it is more than just a few pretty colours. The black stripe represents asexuality, the grey stripe represents demi-sexuality and grey sexuality, the white stripe represents sexuality, and the purple represents community.
4. Aromantic is not Asexual
A lot of people get mixed up with Aromantic and Asexual, but the two are very different and separate things. Asexual is when you have no sexual attraction, but you may have romantic attraction, whereas Aromantic is when you have no romantic attraction, but you may have sexual attraction. Some people are even both Asexual and Aromantic, which means they do not experience romantic or sexual attraction.
5. Asexual Awareness Week is in October
Each year there is also an Asexual Awareness Week, which is usually the last full week in October. This year Asexual Awareness Week will be lasting from October 24th to 30th. The annual awareness week has been going on since 2010, and last year reached its ten year anniversary, but thanks to the pandemic most of the celebrations were moved online.
Last Updated on September 5, 2022
Published on April 9, 2021
