Discrimination against asexual people
The examples and perspective in this article deal primarily with the United States and the United Kingdom and do not represent a worldwide view of the subject. (December 2021) |
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Discrimination against asexual people, also known as acephobia
There have been efforts to combat anti-asexual discrimination through legislation or education (such as through workshops on asexuality).[10][11]
Classification
Behaviours and attitudes that are considered discriminatory include the idea that asexuality is a
Asexual people sometimes face discriminatory or dismissive attitudes or behaviours both within and beyond the LGBT community. In 2011, LGBT activist Dan Savage stated that asexuality was a choice, describing it as "choosing not to have sex" and deeming it unworthy of attention.[19][20]
Asexual people whose asexuality has been accepted only because there is no other explanation for their lack of interest in sexual activity have come to be known as "unassailable asexual[s]".[23] Disbelieving attitudes towards asexuality can leave asexual people afraid to come out.[24]
A 2017 LGBT survey conducted by the Government of the United Kingdom found that 2% of more than 108,000 respondents identified as asexual. Asexual people had the joint-lowest (alongside pansexual people) average life satisfaction of any sexual orientation amongst cisgender respondents. The results of the survey also showed asexual people to be the least comfortable cisgender LGBT group within the United Kingdom, and 89% of cisgender asexual respondents – the highest percentage of any group surveyed – were reluctant to be open with their identity for fear of negative reactions.[25]
Social discrimination
Asexual people may be socially discriminated against due to beliefs of
A study of 11 women of colour found that the majority of participants were rejected in social groups due to both their race and asexuality.[28]
Two studies found that asexual people are more dehumanised than heterosexuals, homosexuals, and bisexuals, often being compared to animals or robots due to their sexuality.[29][30][31]
Having emerged more recently as an identity, asexual people often have less legal protection than
Some, such as the sociologist Mark Carrigan, believe that discrimination against asexual people has more to do with marginalisation than the typical hatred associated with other forms of sexuality-based discrimination such as homophobia, and that much discrimination against asexual people results from a lack of understanding and awareness of asexuality.[35][36]
A study of 248 asexual college students shows that some asexual people do not identify with the LGBT umbrella.[37] There is also controversy over the inclusion of asexuality in the LGBT and queer umbrellas for a variety of reasons, including the belief that asexuals do not experience oppression akin to homophobia and transphobia,[20][19] and the belief that asexuality is not a sexual orientation.[38] Sherronda J. Brown of Wear Your Voice stated that some people who oppose the inclusion of asexual people in the LGBT community have been known to argue that asexuals are not discriminated against at all, and that asexual people experience straight privilege.[39] Brown criticised this view as erasing the asexual identity on the assumption that asexual people are fraudulent infiltrators of the LGBT community, and because it assumes that everyone is straight unless proven otherwise.[39]
A study of 148 undergraduates at a Canadian university found evidence to suggest that negative attitudes towards asexuals were higher than that of homosexuals and bisexuals. The study also showed that participants were less likely to rent to asexuals than their heterosexual counterparts. However, they were more likely to rent to asexuals than bisexuals. In addition, the study found a positive correlation between right-wing authoritarian identification and negative attitudes towards asexuality.[30]
In another study, 101 participants (none of whom belonged to a sexual minority) were asked to complete an online survey on
In March 2018, the
In the same year, the UK's LGBT Foundation stated that, because of a lack of awareness and apprehension, asexual communities are frequently overlooked in the LGBT community.[8]
Institutionalised discrimination
A study published by Nova Science Publishers found little evidence of institutional discrimination against asexuals because of their asexuality.[41] The authors of the study theorised that this may be because most sexual orientation-based discrimination is religious in nature, while asexuality may be considered "morally justifiable given that a lack of sexual attraction/desires has been considered a desirable state by many religious institutions for hundreds of years."[41]
In some jurisdictions, marriages can be voided if not legitimised by consummation.[42] This has been viewed as being discriminatory to asexuals.[43] Sex education programmes in schools have also been claimed as discriminatory to asexuals.[44][45]
In early 2015, Russia passed a law banning, amongst others, people with "disorders of sexual preference" from obtaining driving licences. The Association of Russian Lawyers for Human Rights stated that it effectively banned "all transgender people, bigender, asexuals, transvestites, cross-dressers, and people who need sex reassignment" from driving.[46]
Media and services
Asexuals are less-well represented by mainstream media and services, facilitating hostility and prejudice towards asexuals, and can lead to their rejection from both the straight and LGBT communities. Some
Asexuality is sometimes represented in media as undesirable.
In 2008, Portuguese media would host interviews with asexual people in the Portuguese community. The interviews would revolve around assumptions about an asexual person's sex life, and comments on personal experiences would be invalidated due to not fitting into the media's assumption of asexuality.[51]
In 2019, the video game Death Stranding was criticised for portraying asexuality as a lifestyle, implying that whom one is attracted to is a choice, mistaking asexuality for not wanting emotional bonds, and insinuating that asexuality is responsible for the decline of the birth rate in its world.[52][53] When the game released a director's cut version in 2021, the data log describing these views is updated and contains an addenum that notes the log "advances a controversial thesis widely regarded as unsubstantiated and discriminatory". This change was praised by critics for acknowledging the criticism that the game originally had, correcting their mistake, and further expanding on why the original log was problematic.[54][55]
Anti-discrimination endeavours
In
The
In autumn 2014, the book The Invisible Orientation: An Introduction to Asexuality, written by Julie Sondra Decker, was published, with Decker stating that the aim of the book was for it to be used in sex education to increase common knowledge of sexuality.[61]
In 2015, United Kingdom
In 2016, the Asexual Aromantic Alliance was founded at
See also
References
- ^ Joshua Glenn Parmenter (August 2018). "The Culture of Sexuality: Identification, Conceptualization, and Acculturation Processes Within Sexual Minority and Heterosexual Cultures". Utah State University. p. 96. Retrieved 1 December 2018.
- ^ a b c Joe Morgan (30 March 2015). "Here are the 11 biggest asexual myths busted". Gay Star News. London. Archived from the original on 1 April 2015. Retrieved 27 November 2018.
- ^ a b Logan Metzger (20 February 1029). "A look at the Asexual Aromantic Alliance and who they are". Iowa State Daily. Archived from the original on 11 February 2019. Retrieved 7 April 2019.
- ^ "Aphobia, understanding the discrimination and effects". 29 January 2023. Retrieved 25 March 2023.
- ^ Bruce LaBruce (3 April 2012). "Asexuality Is All the Rage". Vice. Retrieved 2 December 2018.
- ^ "Anything but lacking". The McGill Daily. 21 November 2017. Retrieved 2 December 2018.
- ISBN 9781784506636.
- ^ a b Olivia Petter (17 May 2018). "What is hyposexuality and how is it different to asexuality?". The Independent. Retrieved 4 October 2020.
- ^ Harmeet Kaur (20 October 2019). "Asexuality isn't celibacy or abstinence. Here's what it is — and isn't". CNN. Retrieved 9 January 2020.
- ^ "LGBTQrazy: A is for…". The Brunswickan (University of New Brunswick). Vol. 147, no. 7. 17 October 2013. p. 10.
It's important to talk about asexuality because it's often an overlooked sexual identity, and acephobia – discrimination against asexual people – is experienced by many asexual people.
- ISBN 9780199325368, page 367"I now give asexual workshops, screen the film (A)sexual with a postfilm discussion, and try to have conversations with my friends and colleagues about asexual identity and acephobia
- ^ "Let's Talk About Pride! How To Make Intersectional Spaces At Pride". ComicsVerse. 19 June 2018. Retrieved 27 November 2018.
- ^ Huffington Post. Retrieved 27 November 2018.
- ^ Elizabeth Hanna Hanson (2013). "Making Something Out of Nothing: Asexuality and Narrative". Loyola University Chicago. p. 83. Retrieved 1 December 2018.
- ISSN 1573-2800.
- ^ Emens, Elizabeth F. (15 February 2013). "Compulsory Sexuality". Stanford Law Review: 371.
- ISBN 9780996460170.
- ^ Lydia Smith (4 February 2019). "Three-quarters of people can't define asexuality". PinkNews. Retrieved 7 April 2019.
- ^ a b c d Latonya Pennington (1 June 2018). "Asexuals Shouldn't Be Excluded From Queer Spaces, Especially Pride". Pride. Retrieved 9 April 2019.
- ^ Huffington Post. Retrieved 27 November 2018.
- ^ a b Rachel Kramer Bussel (26 August 2015). "Dr. Ruth is wrong about asexuals: It's a legitimate sexual orientation, not a problem to be solved". Salon.com. Retrieved 23 June 2019.
- ^ Sharon Kirkey (23 September 2016). "Asexuality needs to be a recognized as its own, unique sexual orientation, Canadian experts say". National Post. Retrieved 24 January 2021.
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- ^ Buzzfeed News. Retrieved 23 April 2019.
- UK Government. "National LGBT Survey: Summary report". Gov.uk. Retrieved 22 June 2019.
- ^ Nicole Wiesenthal (Autumn 2014). "Glossary of Asexual Terms". The Mirror. Vol. 3, no. 3. p. 19.
Closely linked to homophobia, biphobia, transphobia and acephobia
- ISSN 0141-7789.
- ISSN 2329-0390.
- ^ Gordon Hodson (1 September 2012). "Prejudice Against "Group X" (Asexuals)". Psychology Today. Retrieved 27 November 2018.
- ^ S2CID 3056711.
- ]
- ^ a b Jack Gevertz (28 April 2015). ""Parliament doesn't recognise my sexuality": Britain's first openly asexual candidate, George Norman, speaks to Vision". York Vision. Archived from the original on 3 December 2018. Retrieved 10 March 2019.
- ^ Olivia Petter (19 October 2017). "Former asexual person reveals experiences: 'partners pushed me to go to the doctor to get 'fixed'". The Independent. Retrieved 17 August 2019.
- Huffington Post. Retrieved 27 November 2018.
- ^ Lucy Wallis (17 January 2012). "What is it like to be asexual?". BBC News. Retrieved 27 November 2018.
- ^ Maddie Wright (26 October 2017). "Asexual students on identity, experiences of intolerance". The Rocky Mountain Collegian. Archived from the original on 4 November 2020. Retrieved 27 November 2018.
- S2CID 150259139.
- ^ Debbie Luxon (30 October 2019). "Myth-busting asexuality: Being asexual in Cambridgeshire". Cambridgeshire Live. Retrieved 31 May 2020.
- ^ a b Sherronda J. Brown (11 May 2020). ""Ace And Aro People Are Just Straight" Is A Heteronormative Lie". Wear Your Voice. Archived from the original on 13 November 2020. Retrieved 22 May 2020.
- ^ "Netherlands: Council of State rules that asexual applicants do not fall under the exception for LGBTI people in the application of the "safe country of origin" concept". European Database of Asylum Law. 21 March 2018. Retrieved 18 September 2020.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-61209-939-2.
- ^ Elizabeth F. Emens (2014). "Compulsory Sexuality". Columbia University. p. 351. Retrieved 1 December 2018.
- SSRN 2890997. Retrieved 1 December 2018.
- ^ Miri Mogilevsky (21 January 2016). "5 Things You Can Do Right Now to Support the Asexual Youth in Your Life". Everyday Feminism. Retrieved 7 December 2018.
- ^ Marie Claire (23 February 2015). "What It Feels Like To Be Asexual In A Sex-Obsessed World". Marie Claire. Retrieved 7 December 2018.
- ^ Roland Oliphant (9 January 2015). "Vladimir Putin bans transsexuals from driving". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 12 January 2022. Retrieved 3 September 2019.
- ^ Julie Kliegman (14 February 2018). "Online dating isn't easy — especially when you're asexual". The Verge. Retrieved 7 April 2019.
- ^ Tom Grennell (3 January 2017). "ACES An Asexual Interview". HuffPost. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
- Salon. Retrieved 3 September 2019.
- ^ Julia Alexander (26 January 2017). "Riverdale's Jughead is no longer asexual, and that's a problem for fans". Polygon. Retrieved 3 September 2019.
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- ^ Paul Tamburro (11 November 2019). "Death Stranding criticized for calling asexuality a 'sexless lifestyle'". GameRevolution. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
- ^ Elizabeth Henges (20 November 2019). "Death Stranding doesn't know how to respect queer sexualities". Gayming Magazine. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
- ^ Simelane, Smangaliso (24 November 2021). "Death Stranding Director's Cut and Asexuality - A Redemption Story".
- ^ Shepard, Kenneth (23 September 2021). "Death Stranding: Director's Cut Condemns Original's Headass View of Asexuality".
- ^ "The Sexual Orientation Non-Discrimination Act ("SONDA")". New York State Attorney General. Archived from the original on 28 November 2020. Retrieved 28 November 2020.
- ^ JohnThomas Didymus (27 April 2013). "Asexual Visibility and Education Network marks Asexuality Day". Digital Journal. Retrieved 27 November 2018.
- ISBN 9780199325368. Retrieved 30 November 2018.
- ^ a b Isabel Nathan (19 October 2018). "Asexuals, you are not alone". Washington Blade. Retrieved 4 May 2019.
- ^ "Asexuals of the Mid-Atlantic". Meetup. Retrieved 4 May 2019.
- ^ Ellen McCarthy (24 November 2014). "Asexuals seek to raise awareness of the 'invisible orientation'". The Washington Post. Retrieved 4 May 2019.
- ^ "Asexual Aromantic Alliance". Iowa State University. Archived from the original on 7 April 2019. Retrieved 7 April 2019.