Asexuality Is Real — Why Does That Make People Uncomfortable?

Challenging the myths, erasure, and misplaced assumptions around ACE identities

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Asexual people have always existed. But in a world obsessed with sex, their existence gets continually erased — sometimes through silence, sometimes through mockery, and sometimes through loud and proud ignorance.

On April 6, 2025, during International Asexuality Day, J.K. Rowling posted dismissive comments about asexuality on the social media platform X. Referring to the awareness day as “International Fake Oppression Day,” she made belittling remarks about ACE individuals and questioned their legitimacy.

Her comments mark a continued pattern of hostility toward the LGBTQ+ community. She seems to have made it her mission to police the boundaries of identity — especially when they challenge traditional norms around gender and sexuality. With asexuality, as with trans identities, she appears unable to tolerate people defining themselves outside the frameworks she deems valid.

But Rowling’s latest dismissal raises a larger question: Why are we so fixated on others’ sexual behaviors and identities in the first place?

We’ve made sex the defining feature of relationships. And honestly, it’s a little weird. Why not…