Celebrating ace awareness

All are welcome to visit the Gender & Sexuality Resource Center Monday from noon-1 p.m. to celebrate and recognize the ace and aro communities and to commemorate the start of Ace Week.

Ace Week (founded as Asexual Awareness Week in 2010) is an annual event that puts asexuality in the spotlight. Part celebration of the progress we’ve made as a community and part campaign for greater understanding and acceptance of asexual-spectrum identities, Ace Week is a time to focus on all things ace*.

The ace community has made significant headway over the years. Asexual representation in mainstream media continues to improve, major LGBTQ+ organizations now acknowledge and include us, and ace community groups have sprouted up and flourished in cities around the world. Ace Week gives us an opportunity to recognize these achievements and the efforts that made them possible.

Though we have much to celebrate, the fight for visibility and acceptance is still ongoing. Ace identities are often overlooked or misunderstood, and many aces still grow up not realizing that asexuality is an option. Since the issues aces face are directly influenced by their other marginalized identities, many in our community—especially aces of color, disabled aces, and aces with other LGBTQ+ identities—can face significant barriers to equality and acceptance.

In light of this, aces all over the world participate in Ace Week by creating educational resources, sharing information on social media, and organizing community events. These global initiatives serve to raise awareness, spread information, and spark discussion about ace identities. More and more people discover ace communities each year and with them find acceptance, comfort, and joy.

*The word ace refers to identities that fit within the asexual spectrum and to the individuals who hold those identities. Learn more about these identities.

Tommy Lee,
Assistant Director of Intercultural Development, Gender and Sexuality Programs