Happy Asexual Awareness Week! (October 19- 25)
by Alexandra Lamb
Asexual Awareness Week is back for the week of October 19-25 this year. It is an annual campaign which aims to educate the public about asexuality, as it is one of the lesser known sexual identities within the LGBTQ+ community.
Californian activists Sara Beth Brooks and David Jay began Asexual Awareness Week in 2010 with the goal to help make society a safer and more welcoming place towards people who identify as asexual, meaning they do not experience sexual attraction.
“Asexual people face a different level of stigma because we live in such a hyper sexualized society,” says Joel Harnest, Education and Training Coordinator at QMUNITY, Vancouver’s leading LGBTQ+ education and resource centre.
“I’m guilty of it when I ask my five year old nephew who his crush is at kindergarten. At such a young age we train human behaviour that we’re sexual beings, objects of desire, and asexual people, to varying degrees, do not experience that. Coming out in a society that is hyper sexualized, to say ‘no, that’s not me,’ can take a lot of bravery.”
Asexual Awareness Week has largely been a social media and poster campaign for the last few years, but activists want to see an increase in real-life events to commemorate it. The QMUNITY and other LGBTQ+ organizations are calling upon people who identify as asexual to volunteer their time this year to organize projects and help bring awareness to the cause.
Californian activists Sara Beth Brooks and David Jay began Asexual Awareness Week in 2010 with the goal to help make society a safer and more welcoming place towards people who identify as asexual, meaning they do not experience sexual attraction.
“Asexual people face a different level of stigma because we live in such a hyper sexualized society,” says Joel Harnest, Education and Training Coordinator at QMUNITY, Vancouver’s leading LGBTQ+ education and resource centre.
“I’m guilty of it when I ask my five year old nephew who his crush is at kindergarten. At such a young age we train human behaviour that we’re sexual beings, objects of desire, and asexual people, to varying degrees, do not experience that. Coming out in a society that is hyper sexualized, to say ‘no, that’s not me,’ can take a lot of bravery.”
Asexual Awareness Week has largely been a social media and poster campaign for the last few years, but activists want to see an increase in real-life events to commemorate it. The QMUNITY and other LGBTQ+ organizations are calling upon people who identify as asexual to volunteer their time this year to organize projects and help bring awareness to the cause.