This article is about discrimination of people who lack sexual attraction or interest in sexual activity. For discrimination of people who do not experience romantic attraction, see Discrimination against aromantic people.
Discrimination against asexual people, also known as acephobia[1][2][3] or aphobia when directed at aspec (aromantic and/or asexual) people,[4][5][6][7] encompasses a range of negative attitudes, behaviours, and feelings toward asexuality or people who identify as part of the asexual spectrum. Negative feelings or characterisations toward asexuality include dehumanisation, the belief that asexuality is a mental illness, that asexual people cannot feel love, and the refusal to accept asexuality as a genuine sexual orientation. Asexuality is sometimes confused with celibacy, abstinence, antisexualism, or hyposexuality.[8][9] Since discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation belongs under the wider social concept of kyriarchy, any acephobic acts due to intentional discrimination are a form of kyriarchy.[10][11]
There have been efforts to combat anti-asexual discrimination through legislation or education (such as through workshops on asexuality).[12][13]
^Lawless, Joseph F. (2012). Queering Activism: An Analysis of Localized LGBTQIA Advocacy Efforts. University of Pennsylvania. pp. 8–9.
^Schüssler Fiorenza, Elisabeth (1992). But She Said : Feminist Practices of Biblical Interpretation. Boston, Mass., USA: Beacon Press.
^"LGBTQrazy: A is for…". The Brunswickan (University of New Brunswick). Vol. 147, no. 7. 17 October 2013. p. 10. It's important to talk about asexuality because it's often an overlooked sexual identity, and acephobia – discrimination against asexual people – is experienced by many asexual people.
^Joelle Ruby Ryan, "On Being Asexual and Transgender: Notes on Identity, Visibility, and Empowerment", in Trans Bodies, Trans Selves: A Resource for the Transgender (ed. Laura Erickson-Schroth), Oxford University Press (2014), ISBN9780199325368, page 367 "I now give asexual workshops, screen the film (A)sexual with a postfilm discussion, and try to have conversations with my friends and colleagues about asexual identity and acephobia