Asexual Spectrum

Does not experience sexual attraction toward others. May still experience romantic, emotional, aesthetic, and sensual attraction.

Greek a- (without) + sexual. First defined as a natural human orientation by Emma Trosse (1897). Modern community term established through AVEN (2001).

• 1897 - Emma Trosse gives the first definition of asexuality as a natural variation in Ein Weib?
• 1948 - Kinsey's "X" category acknowledges those with no socio-sexual contacts or reactions
• 1997 - Zoe O'Reilly publishes "My Life as an Amoeba" online; coins the "amoeba" nickname
• 2001 - David Jay founds AVEN (Asexual Visibility and Education Network) at asexuality.org
• 2004 - First major mainstream media coverage; Anthony Bogaert's academic research estimates ~1% of the population is asexual
• 2010 - Asexual pride flag created through AVEN community vote
• 2014 - DSM-5 specifies asexual people should not be diagnosed with sexual dysfunction disorders

Graysexual, one of the spectrum's sub-identities, has its own flag; see the Graysexual flag.

• "Asexual people are broken or haven't met the right person." Asexuality is an orientation, not a problem to be fixed.
• "Asexual people just have a low sex drive." Asexuality is about the direction of attraction (toward no one), not the intensity of a drive.
• "Asexuality is caused by trauma." Most asexual people have not experienced trauma and have typical hormone levels.
• See the full comparison: Asexual vs Aromantic.

• David Jay (1982–) - Founder of AVEN; first major public asexual activist
• Angela Chen - Author of Ace: What Asexuality Reveals About Desire, Society, and the Meaning of Sex (2020)
• Yasmin Benoit (1998–) - British model; launched #ThisIsHowAceFeels campaign