Identifying as asexual doesn’t mean there’s something wrong with you. We’ve known asexuality is a valid sexual identity for a long time, but now we have science to back it up.
After a decade of studies, Psychology Today reports researchers have now concluded that asexuality is not a psychiatric condition or a sexual disorder — it’s a sexual orientation.
Researchers at the University of British Columbia reviewed 10 years of evidence to come to the conclusion that asexuality is totally normal. They could have just asked us, but they took the scientific route instead and found that asexual people are born this way.
Asexual people do not experience sexual attraction, according to the Asexual Visibility and Education Network. It’s not a choice to avoid sex, like celibacy, but it’s a part of someone's identity. While some estimates say around 1% of the population is asexual, the numbers could very well be higher.
What the research found is asexual people often show signs of their identity early in life, and don’t really waver in how they feel. Basically, someone doesn’t really go from wanting sex frequently to being asexual — it’s something that’s always been there. For example, if you have experienced a past trauma or mental illness and don't experience sexual attraction as a result, then this is not the same as asexuality.
The research now confirms what should have been a given — identifying as asexual is just one way of identifying your sexuality, like identifying as gay, straight, bisexual, or any other sexual identity.
Related: This Is What 'Queer' Means!
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