The ‘A’ in LGBTQIA+ stands for asexual. Yet, many people don’t know much about the spectrum of asexuality or why asexual people deserve a spot at Pride.

An asexual person (sometimes shortened to ‘ace’) ‘is simply someone who does not experience sexual attraction,’ according to whatisasexuality.com.

The 2011 documentary (A)sexual, directed by Angela Tucker, sheds some light on what it means to be asexual. Many asexual people featured in the movie discuss the conflicts they have with the LGBTI movement at large. And in one scene, where a group of asexual people go to Pride, LGBT people don’t seem to want them there.

‘I think it’s taken quite a long time for asexuality to be accurately represented within the LGBTQ+ community,’ says Taylor, a 26-year-old asexual woman who began to realize her asexuality in high school.

‘Most of my peers [during high school] had already started experimenting and finding themselves, but I felt like I was extremely behind in that department because I had absolutely no interest in being sexually intimate with anyone,’ Taylor recalls.

‘There was a period of time, especially after I graduated and started to have relationships, that I thought something was wrong with me because others would make me feel that way.’ 'Had [asexuality] been talked about a lot more, and taken seriously, when I was younger, I think the realization process would have gone a lot smoother for me,’ she says. ‘Over the past few years, I’ve noticed a lot more people identifying as demisexual, asexual, and even graysexual, which I think has helped a lot in terms of bringing more awareness to the fact that we do exist, and especially in the community.’ Read more via Gay Star News