Happy Ace Week: What Is Ace Week?

Happy Ace Week Everyone. Now I have to admit I forgot that this week was one of my weeks until my LGBTQA+ church posted about it. Thank you for the reminder. There is something powerful about a week where people from around the world are celebrating who I am. In addition Ace Week is important because so many people still do not understand what being Ace is all about. This week I will do a series of posts around Ace Week. 

So what is Ace Week? Here is a great summary via aceweek.org

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.