The general population is finally learning that asexual people exist

Just ten years ago, the asexual community did not exist.

Starting with a handful of small websites, our community has followed the early footpath of the gay rights movement.

We’ve helped tens of thousands of people across the globe understand and accept their asexuality, we’ve won significant political and cultural victories, and we’ve set up a presence in countries across the globe.

As a community, we’ve explored and articulated the rich world of nonsexual intimacy in ways that a highly sexualized culture tends to gloss over. Like the gay rights movement before us, we’re also pushing social boundaries around what kind of love is seen as socially acceptable.

Now, our community is gathering in London for the largest international gathering in our history. We’ll be comparing notes on the different forms that asexuality takes in diverse cultures around the world, building relationships and setting strategies for the next decade of our movement.

It’s a critical time. Slowly but surely, the general population is learning that asexual people exist. We have a narrow window of time to shape the first  real stereotypes about asexuality that will become embedded in public consciousness.

Now that we have scientific evidence that asexuality is not tied to any sort of pathology, it’s time to start reaching out to mental health professionals, so that an asexual person can walk into therapist’s office without fear of being “fixed.”

Expect to see a growing number of asexual people in LGBT organizations and Pride parades in the next years, expect asexual characters to show up on TV, struggling with the complexities of nonsexual intimacy. Above all, expect the way that we talk about sex-and not having it- to change.

The asexual community is building a world where pressure to form a sexual partnership disappears, a world where all of us are challenged to explore sexual and nonsexual intimacy on our own terms.

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• http://www.facebook.com/adriellec Adrielle Lazypop

  It doesn’t matter who you love, it all depends on whether you love at all.