An official document aimed at making asexuality visible

The acronym LGTBIQ+ stands for lesbian, gay, trans, bisexual, intersex, homosexual, and the “+” stands for other sexual and gender identities. For several years now, some groups have also tended to include the letter “A” at the end of the letters to highlight another, less visible sexual orientation: asexuality.

This year, as part of the 2024 Pride celebrations, the Association for Affective-Sexual and Gender Diversity in Science, Technology and Innovation (PRISMA) and the Asexual Es Community (ACEs) have published a document or briefing paper to raise awareness and present the issues they face. Its title is “Asexuality: Invisibility, Discrimination and the Need for Legal Inclusion.”

“The purpose of this official document is to make visible the reality of the asexual collective, which has long remained invisible and discriminated against, as well as the problems it faces in contemporary society,” one of the authors, Pablo Turrión, a member of SINC, explains to PRISM. “The source of the data was ACE,” he notes.

According to the document, although an asexual person does not experience a desire to have sex with another person, he or she may experience other types of attraction: emotional (which may be romantic – with a deep emotional connection – or not), sensual (with physical contact), non-sexual (such as hugging and caressing), or aesthetic (appreciation of beauty or appearance).

“Science confirms the existence of this sexual orientation in a legitimate way,” says the BepiColombo mission’s science operations engineer at the European Space Agency’s ESAC centre near Madrid.

Turrion highlights two of the most cited studies. One was published in 2004 in the Journal of Sex Research by psychologist Anthony F. Bogaert of Brock University in Canada, in which he analyzed the prevalence of and factors associated with asexuality.

There are as many asexuals as redheads

In a sample of more than 18,000 people, the results showed that about 1% reported being asexual, a percentage that can be extrapolated to the general population: “While this can vary by region, 1% is consistent across almost all studies, and that’s about 80 million people worldwide, the same number as redheads,” says Turrion.

The second study the engineer highlights was published in 2011 by two researchers from the University of British Columbia, also in Canada, in the journal Archives of Sexual Behavior, “and concludes that the best way to characterize asexuality is as a sexual orientation.”

These and other scientific works are cited in the official document, which emphasizes this aspect: asexuality is a permanent sexual orientation defined by the absence of sexual desire, but “it is not a disorder or a disease, not a phase or a fashion.”

“Asexuality is often pathologized,” the document warns, “which can lead to serious consequences, including stigma and exposure to conversion therapy, which attempts to change a person’s sexual or gender orientation.” At issue, for example, is the use of flibanserin (Addy), a drug primarily intended to increase sexual desire in premenopausal women.

This group also questions the medical model, which is fundamental to the development of health and well-being in many other ways, when it comes to their situation. One of the main criticisms is the pathologizing of asexuality, where the lack of sexual desire is seen as a disorder rather than a valid orientation.

Teasing and verbal attacks

The document also details other signs of discrimination and violence that the group is subjected to, from the invisibility of asexual people in society and in LGBTI spaces to the contempt and ridicule, even verbal attacks, they face.

A census of the asexual community in Spain (with data for 2020-2021) shows that 42.3% of asexual people have received offers to “cure themselves” and 60.1% have had to endure inappropriate questions about their sex life. In addition, 24.3% have had sexual relations due to social pressure.

The White Paper notes that in order to protect the rights of these people and combat discrimination against them, it is essential that asexuality is included in LGBTI laws and has legal protection, as well as offering various keys to accompany this group in a comprehensive and respectful manner.

Turrion summarizes the key ideas of the White Paper: “Making asexuality visible as a sexual orientation and the need to remove the stigma that people are sick because they have no sexual desire or that they are going through a period. The latter, this group is more susceptible to discrimination, talk therapy and even medicalization to change their orientation (like with Addie), which continues to contribute to the pathologization of asexual people. They must be protected by public policies and included in the programs . . safe spaces that our society promotes.”