Only one in six asexuals have ‘universally positive experience’ of being out

Yuuup. "Maybe if you change your meds," "have you tried seeing a sex therapist," "did something happen," and so on. No one ever stops to consider that someone could be perfectly content to be ace and that it's not a result of being damaged somehow. I don't bother telling people most of the time.

Some stats from it:

• 5.7 per cent of ace people are open with all family members they do not live about their identity, compared to 21.5 per cent of all respondents

• 26.3 per cent asexual people are open about their sexuality with friends, a number which is below the 33.1 per cent figure for all respondent

• ace respondents are the most likely group (83.8 per cent) to say that they avoid being open about their sexuality for fear of a negative reaction from others, compared with all respondents (69.6 per cent).

• just under half of ace people (49 per cent) said they not out to their colleagues, a far higher figure than the rate for all LGBTQ+ respondents (18 per cent).

• 17.6 per cent said they had a universally positive experience of being out, this is once again a significantly different figure to than of the wider LGBTQ+ community who were surveyed (40.8)

• ace people were 50 per cent more likely to have never told healthcare staff about their asexuality, with a quarter (24.3 per cent) citing fear of a negative reaction and 8.4 per cent having had a previously negative experience.

• 18.1 per cent of ace respondents said sharing their ace identity had a negative impact on their care, with the researching finding these issues were principally in reproductive health – such as smear tests – and having their asexuality assessed as a mental health condition.