Homosexual asexual
LGBTQIA+ History Month: The History of Asexuality
By Laura Hughes (Suicide Crisis Service Lead)
‘Asexual’ refers to individuals who experience little to no sexual attraction towards people of any gender. Asexuality is a real and valid sexual orientation, with % of the UK population identifying as asexual, despite not being listed as a sexual orientation within UK law.
Many people have not heard of the term ‘asexual’, due to lack of representation in the media and lack of knowledge about asexual experiences. This can lead to the incorrect assumption that asexuality is a ‘new’ sexuality; however, asexuality has always existed, even if it was known by a different phrase. Our Suicide Crisis Service Conduct has done some research about the history of asexuality for LGBTQIA+ History Month.
19th Century
The earliest-known reference to asexuality can be found in Karl-Maria Kertbeny’s pamphlets from , which campaigned against the criminalisation of same-sex relationships. Kertbeny famously coined the terms &#;heterosexual&#; and &#;homosexual&#;, but he also refers to &#;mono
Written by Elle Windsor
A-spec history is a little tricky to pin down. It&#;s a pretty nebulous thing, by it&#;s nature. It&#;s not really possible to know someone is or was asexual or aromantic unless they tell us. And the language we use today is specific, complex and fairly recent which make searching for its equal in a historical context very hard. Still many acquire tried and succeeded. You just contain to modify your methods and be prepared to act a lot of digging.
Successfully exploring a-spec history requires us narrowing our definitions and accepting some amount of ambiguity and &#;political incorrectness&#; for lack of a better term.
We have to allow go of the grey area. Not because those who inhabit it are any less valid or important, but because they will just be harder to spot. It&#;s not possible to know whether an amatanormative couple were romantically or sexually involved without further exploration, and we could be forgiven for assuming they were &#;ordinary&#; unless we had some evidence to the contrary.
It&#;s for these reasons too, that I&#;ve lumpe
Asexuality is the Queerest Thing
In this guest blog, writer Parker Thorn speaks about their experiences of coming out as ace, and a lack of ace acceptance within the LGBTQIA+ community.
Content warning: heartfelt and sexual abuse
Sometimes I think the queerest thing is to be asexual in Western society. Capitalism’s biggest tool is the promise of bumping uglies with your chosen other, so it’s a lonely and alienating experience when you realise how petite appeal that holds for you. I spent my teenage years wondering what illness I had or what trauma I’d repressed for me to perceive so uninterested in the thing that everyone around me insisted I should be.
When I first came across the word asexual (in the author’s notice of a Joker/Scarecrow slash fic) and I googled it, I had one of those moments I think many queer people can relate to, that instant flashing epiphany where you read a definition and think – that’s it, that’s me, there’s a name for this, I’m not alone.
Every coming out involved elaborate explanation.
Trying to explain this to friends and family was a differe
What does asexuality/asexual mean?
In the simplest of terms someone who is asexual is someone who does not experience sexual attraction.
This means that they don’t trial that feeling of looking at a person and thinking ‘I’d like to own sex with them.’
It&#;s key to note that a sudden loss in sexual drive if you’ve previously felt sexual attraction could be a reaction to medication, a change in your mental health or something else. This can happen to anyone and if this does happen, you can chat to your doctor about what’s going on and figure things out.
Does that mean asexual people don’t fancy anyone else?
Some asexual people trial attraction, but don’t touch that they want to act on that attraction sexually. This is recognizable as romantic attraction, where they want to receive to know somebody and do romantic things. What those romantic things are depends on each person – it could enclose going on dates, holding hands or cuddling.
Asexual people can also identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual or straight depending on who they feel