Asexuality

Asexuality is a sexual orientation characterized by the absence, or persistent low incidence, of sexual attraction to other people. The Asexual Visibility and Education Network (AVEN) defines an asexual person as someone who "does not experience sexual attraction — they are not drawn to people sexually and do not desire to act upon attraction to others in a sexual way" (AVEN). GLAAD's Media Reference Guide similarly describes asexual as an adjective for a person who does not experience sexual attraction, treating it as an umbrella term that can include demisexual people, those who experience sexual attraction only in certain situations, typically after an emotional bond has formed (GLAAD). Institutional definitions converge on attraction, not behavior or desire, as the defining criterion, which is why the label covers a wide range of individual experience rather than one uniform presentation.

Asexuality is distinguished from celibacy: celibacy is a choice to abstain from sexual activity, while asexuality describes an orientation (an intrinsic pattern of attraction, or its absence) rather than a decision about behavior (AVEN). AVEN also distinguishes asexuality from clinical conditions such as Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder, which involves personal distress about low sexual desire; asexuality is not accompanied by that distress and is not classified as a disorder (AVEN). Asexual people can still experience romantic attraction, form romantic relationships, masturbate, or have sex for reasons unrelated to sexual attraction; the term describes attraction, not capacity, desire, or arousal in isolation. Like other orientations, it is understood as an enduring pattern rather than a chosen or temporary state (APA).

Examples

Asexuality is defined by attraction rather than behaviour, and almost every common error about it comes from substituting one for the other.

What the term covers. Not experiencing sexual attraction to others, in someone who may still have romantic relationships, masturbate, or have sex for reasons unrelated to attraction, none of which disqualifies the label. It is an umbrella as well as a point: graysexuality for infrequent or faint attraction and demisexuality for attraction that follows an emotional bond both sit under it. Romantic orientation runs separately, so an asexual person may be biromantic, panromantic, heteroromantic or aromantic.

What the term does not cover. Celibacy is a decision to abstain, not a pattern of attraction. Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder is a clinical diagnosis defined by personal distress about low desire, which asexuality is not accompanied by and is not classified as. Low libido is a separate matter again: attraction and drive are different things. Allosexuality is the complementary term for everyone else.

How the word is used. "Ace" is the community short form and the umbrella label. The organised identity is recent: AVEN was founded on 10 March 2001 and had passed 135,000 members across sixteen language forums by 2021, and much of the surrounding vocabulary (demisexual among it) was coined on its boards. GLAAD and other mainstream reference guides now carry it as standard.

History

Asexuality has a comparatively short history as an organized identity and community. The Asexual Visibility and Education Network was founded on March 10, 2001, by David Jay, then a college student, with the stated goals of building community and establishing asexuality's legitimacy as an orientation (Wikipedia). AVEN grew into the largest and most prominent asexual community online, reaching more than 135,000 members by 2021 across sixteen language forums (Wikipedia). The term demisexual originated on AVEN's forums in February 2006, building on an earlier concept, "semisexual," that Jay had proposed in 2003 (Wikipedia).

Academic interest in asexuality as a distinct orientation is newer than research on other orientations. The most widely cited prevalence estimate comes from psychologist Anthony Bogaert's 2004 analysis of a British probability sample of more than 18,000 adults, published in The Journal of Sex Research, which found that roughly 1 percent of respondents (195 individuals) reported no sexual attraction to either sex (Bogaert, 2004), a figure still repeated in later academic and community literature, including by AVEN (AVEN).

Demographics & research

Beyond Bogaert's estimate, more recent studies quantify asexuality within specific populations rather than the general public. A 2019 analysis of the Generations Study, a U.S. population-based sample of sexual-minority adults, found that an estimated 1.7 percent of sexual-minority (LGB+) adults identified as asexual; the subgroup skewed markedly younger (91 percent were ages 18–27, versus 61 percent of non-asexual respondents) and was disproportionately assigned female at birth (Williams Institute). Among youth, The Trevor Project's 2020 research brief, drawn from a survey of more than 40,000 LGBTQ youth ages 13–24, found that 10 percent identified as asexual or elsewhere on the ace spectrum; that group was substantially more likely to identify as transgender or nonbinary (41 percent versus 25 percent of the overall sample) and reported somewhat higher depression and anxiety symptoms (The Trevor Project). Both studies sample LGBTQ or sexual-minority populations rather than the general public, so they are not directly comparable to Bogaert's figure, and no single authoritative general-population estimate exists.

Terminology & related identities

"Ace" functions as an umbrella term for the asexual spectrum, paralleling how "bi+" covers plurisexual identities. Graysexuality (also gray-asexuality) describes the area between asexuality and allosexuality: infrequent, low-intensity, or conditional sexual attraction. Demisexuality, a specific point on that spectrum, describes sexual attraction that arises only after a close emotional bond has formed; AVEN and GLAAD both treat it as falling under the asexual umbrella rather than as a separate orientation (GLAAD). Asexuality concerns sexual attraction specifically and is independent of romantic orientation: an asexual person may also identify as aromantic (no romantic attraction, sometimes paired as aroace) or may hold any romantic orientation (biromantic, panromantic, heteroromantic, or homoromantic). Allosexual is the complementary term for people who do experience sexual attraction, used analogously to how "cisgender" complements "transgender." GLAAD notes that asexual people may also be aromantic but are not necessarily so, since the two attraction types are tracked independently (GLAAD).

Common misconceptions

AVEN and allied organizations document several recurring misconceptions. One is that asexuality is equivalent to celibacy or sexual abstinence; AVEN states plainly that "unlike celibacy, which is a choice to abstain from sexual activity, asexuality is an intrinsic part of who we are," distinguishing an orientation from a behavioral decision (AVEN). Another is that asexuality is itself a medical condition or dysfunction requiring treatment; AVEN distinguishes it from Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder, a diagnosable condition defined by personal distress about low sexual desire, noting that asexuality is not accompanied by that distress and is not a disorder (AVEN). A related misconception holds that sexual orientation, including asexuality, is a choice or a phase; the American Psychological Association describes sexual orientation generally as an enduring pattern of attraction rather than something a person selects or that changes readily (APA). Finally, because asexuality is defined by the absence of sexual attraction, it is often mistakenly assumed to also mean an absence of romantic attraction or interest in relationships; GLAAD's guide clarifies that asexual people may or may not also be aromantic, and AVEN notes that many asexual people still pursue romantic partnerships (GLAAD; AVEN).