Ace Week UK: making space for asexual identities in our community

Ace Week (October 19–25) is more than an awareness campaign — it’s a chance to reflect, learn, and build solidarity around asexual and ace-spectrum identities. Site Name

At Be/Here, we believe in inclusion across the full diversity of sexualities. This week, we want to lift up ace voices, challenge misunderstandings, and examine what inclusion really looks like in the UK context.

What does “ace / asexual” mean — and why it matters

In the UK (and globally), “ace” or “asexual” is used as an umbrella term for people who experience little to no sexual attraction. University College London+2Stonewall+2

It is not about a choice or decision; it’s about people’s internal experience of attraction (or lack thereof). University College London+2Stonewall+2

Because the term covers a spectrum, it includes identities such as grey-ace / graysexual and demisexual (those who may experience attraction under certain conditions, or after an emotional connection). The Spectator+2The Pointe-Claire Public Library Blog+2

One challenge in public understanding is the persistence of myths. For example, some people believe that someone who has sex cannot be asexual, or that asexual people “just haven’t met the right person yet.” In a UK survey experiment, 42% of respondents believed that a person cannot identify as asexual if they have had sex. Missing Perspectives. In that same study, 31% believed asexuality could be “cured” by therapy — a deeply harmful and incorrect belief. Missing Perspectives

These misunderstandings don’t just stay in people’s minds; they affect how ace people are treated in everyday life — in friendships, in healthcare, in work, and in queer communities.

What UK ace people face: insights from the “Ace in the UK” findings

Thanks to the Ace in the UK report by Stonewall and Yasmin Benoit, we now have clearer UK-based data about barriers experienced by ace people. Stonewall+2University College London+2

Some findings:

• Only 1 in 10 asexual people are open about their orientation at work. Them+2Stonewall+2

• Many ace people choose not to disclose their identity in healthcare settings; in fact, 18% said that coming out as ace has negatively affected their healthcare, especially in reproductive health or by being pathologised. Stonewall

• Ace people are about 50% more likely to never disclose their orientation at all (in any space), compared to other LGBTQ+ people. Stonewall

• There is a higher incidence of being offered or pressured into conversion practices: ace people are reported more likely than their LGBTQ+ counterparts to have been offered or to undergo conversion therapy. Stonewall

• Only 1 in 4 ace individuals are open about their sexuality to their friends. Many remain closeted even in intimate or social circles. Stonewall

These data points remind us that invisibility is not neutrality — it is often a burden.

Why Ace Week is vital for UK queer communities

For many ace people, even in LGBTQ+ spaces, their identity is erased or left out of the discussion. Policies, advocacy, and conversation often centre around gay, lesbian, bisexual, trans, queer identities — but not ace. That exclusion contributes to real harm.

Ace Week is an opportunity to:

• Centre ace narratives within queer movements.

• Challenge harmful assumptions (e.g. that everyone experiences sexual attraction, or that desire is universal).

• Push for policy and institutional change (e.g. in healthcare, workplace equality, education) so ace people are explicitly included.

• Encourage safe disclosure and visibility, where people want it.

• Sustain awareness beyond one week — because change must last.

What can be done (and what Be/Here is committing to)

Here are actions we can take, individually and collectively:

1. Learn and share UK-specific resources the Ace in the UK report, Stonewall’s Ace Hub, and other UK sources, to ground our understanding in the local context.

2. Include ACE in forms, policies, workshops, and intake. Make sure that “sexual orientation” options are inclusive of asexual / ace, and that workshops or groups explicitly name ace identities.

3. Create and sustain safe spaces for disclosure. Whether in therapy, support groups, or peer spaces, ensure that ace identities are welcomed, affirmed, and not assumed away.

4. Amplify ace voices with intersectional lenses. Especially those at intersections — race, disability, trans, socioeconomic disadvantage.

5. Advocate for institutional change in healthcare, workplaces, law, and schooling — push for ace inclusion in equality protections, training, and curricula.

Final reflections

As Be/Here supports LGBTQ+ mental health and community, Ace Week reminds us: inclusion is deep work. It means making space not just for identities that are already relatively visible, but also for those who are marginalised within our movements.

In the UK, ace people continue to face invisibility, misunderstanding, and structural barriers. But gathering around Ace Week, centring their stories, and committing to ongoing change — that is how visibility becomes justice.

We invite everyone — ace and non-ace alike — to join in this week. Listen. Learn. Question assumptions. And together, build a community where every identity has a place.