International Asexuality Day is an annual celebration of asexual people and it takes place on April 6th. Asexuality, often called “ace” for short, refers to a complete or partial lack of interest in sexual activity with others. While the exact number is unknown, numerous sources suggest that there are hundreds of thousands of asexual people in the United States.
Asexuality exists on a spectrum, and asexual people may experience no, little or conditional sexual attraction. To understand the asexual community, it is also important to be familiar with the following definitions:
Allosexual - The opposite of asexual. People who experience sexual attraction are called allosexual.
Gray asexual - Also called graysexual or gray ace, gray asexual refers to a gray area between asexuality and allosexuality. As part of the asexual spectrum, people who are gray ace may rarely experience sexual attraction or only experience sexual attraction under certain circumstances.
Demisexual - Part of the asexual spectrum, a person who is demisexual only experiences sexual attraction when they have a close emotional bond with someone.
Ace Week is held annually during the last full week of October. It is a campaign to raise awareness about asexual people and to celebrate the asexual community.
Asexuality is not the same as celibacy. While celibacy is a choice to abstain from sexual activity, asexuality is a sexual orientation, or an intrinsic part of an asexual person’s identity.
According to HRC’s analysis of the 2021 LGBTQ Community Survey:
• 71% of asexual people said they live in an LGBTQ+ friendly city or town, compared to 82% of all LGBTQ+ people.
• Asexual people more often fear losing their health insurance than the LGBTQ+ community generally. Nearly one-third (61%) of asexual people have concerns about being able to keep their health insurance, compared to 48% of all LGBTQ+ people who have concerns about keeping their health insurance.
• Three-quarters (75%) of asexual people said their employers are generally supportive of LGBTQ+ people.
