5 important facts about asexuality spotlighted by the Stonewall x Yasmin Benoit Ace Project

Yasmin Benoit is a one- woman powerhouse in the world of asexual awareness. After creating the #ThisIsWhatAsexualLooksLike movement in 2019, she’s been bringing into the spotlight a corner of the queer community so often left out of the dialogue.

Almost four years on, and Benoit is hoping to steer the conversation away from just social media and into the words of law. This is the aim of the Stonewall x Yasmin Benoit Ace Project, a first-of-its-kind research initiative on asexuality, which was part-funded by the Attitude Magazine Foundation.

Around 0.06% of the population identify as asexual

‘The 2021 England and Wales Census included a voluntary question on sexual orientation for the first time, which included an option ‘other sexual orientation’. Of those who selected this option, 28,000 people wrote ‘asexual’ when given the opportunity to write in a response‘ – The Stonewall x Yasmin Benoit Ace Project

Spearheaded by Benoit, the project aims to achieve parity for asexual people in areas such as healthcare and the workplace. With Ace [asexual] Week falling this month, between 22 and 28 October, the project has just released the results of a study it hopes will encourage the government to take equal rights for the asexual community more seriously.

“We came up with the idea to focus on issues that the community is facing and how we can
combat them. And of course, the first step when you’re trying to combat something is research,” Benoit tells me.

Asexual people are less likely to share their sexual orientation with healthcare staff

‘In the UK Government’s 2018 LGBT Survey, 68.6% of ace respondents said they never told healthcare staff about their sexual orientation, compared to 45.5% of all respondents‘ – The Stonewall x Yasmin Benoit Ace Project

“That asexuality means there must be something physically or mentally wrong with you is one of the more damaging stereotypes, because that’s the one that leads to higher rates of [so- called] ‘conversion therapy’,” she adds.

Asexuality is not explicitly mentioned as a sexual orientation in the Equality Act 2010, meaning that people who identify as asexual are not strictly covered by this protective law. As well as updating the law to incorporate asexuality, Benoit hopes that the findings of the report will help put an end to stigma and misunderstandings around the ace community.

Asexual people are often met with a negative reception when sharing their orientation at work

‘Our analysis of the Government’s 2018 National LGBT survey finds that ace respondents who do come out at work are less likely than all other sexual orientation groups to receive positive responses from their colleagues (17.6% said they experienced ‘only positive’ responses, compared to 40.8% of all respondents)‘ – The Stonewall x Yasmin Benoit Ace Project

“[The report contains] so many harrowing stories of bullying and sexual harassment that people are experiencing at work, but it’s not recognised as a form of discrimination because as far as employers are concerned, asexuality isn’t a real thing,” she says.

The study also touches on education, with Benoit saying she hopes asexuality will be taught in schools just like any other sexual orientation is.

Asexual people are less likely to be out at school, college or university

‘10.3% of ace respondents said they were open with all classmates and fellow students, compared to 26.3% of all respondents. 6.7% of ace respondents said that they are open with all teaching staff members, compared to 16.7% overall. […] Moving forward to our 2022 focus groups and interviews, only one participant had any mention of asexuality in their school RSHE – and this was only a fleeting mention in relation to LGBTQ+ identities. The requirement for schools in England to provide LGBT-inclusive RSHE was only introduced in September 2020, and the statutory guidance makes no acknowledgement of asexuality.‘ – The Stonewall x Yasmin Benoit Ace Project

Through the report, Benoit is optimistic that all sectors of the UK will have “a tangible way” to learn about asexuality and discrimination around it.

“I hope this research will be enlightening to a lot of people,” she says.

5 Ace people have the lowest levels of life satisfaction of all sexual orientation groups

Cis ace respondents gave an average of 5.88 out of ten for life satisfaction (compared to 6.67 average for all cis respondents) [while] trans ace respondents gave an average of 5.06 (compared to 5.40 average for all trans respondents)‘ – The Stonewall x Yasmin Benoit Ace Project

For information about Yasmin and Stonewall’s asexuality research, click here.

For more information about Ace Week, visit the official website.