This past Monday marked one year since The Asexual Awareness Project was founded. Here are some things that we have accomplished in the past year:
Creating Change 2018
Creating Change is a conference organized by the National LGBTQ Task Force that helps participants gain skills that will help them to further their work in the LGBTQ+ advocacy movement.
Three members of TAAP joined the Creating Change 2018 Host Committee as volunteers with the hopes of promoting asexuality’s visibility within the conference. With their help, as well as the help from other ace advocates who have attended the conference in the past, we were able to publish an etiquette guide on asexuality and aromanticism in the program, as well as present four sessions at the conference itself. Read more about our work relating to Creating Change 2018 here.
Capital Pride 2018
TAAP marched in the 2018 Capital Pride Parade, making this year the first year that an asexual contingent has marched in the parade. We hope that this will be the first of many. Read more about this journey here.
In addition to marching, several members of TAAP attended the Capital Pride Festival the next day in order to network with other local organizations. We hope to announce several new collaborations in the coming months.
Ace and Aro Hospitality Suite at Creating Change 2019
One of the goals we had for Creating Change 2018 was to assist the conference in starting an officially recognized hospitality suite for asexual-spectrum individuals. We were not able to accomplish that last year; however, we organized a bit sooner this year and an official Ace and Aro Hospitality Suite is confirmed for Creating Change 2019. Read more about this project here.
Collaboration with Women in their Twenties and Thirties (WiTT)
WiTT is a discussion group for queer women in their twenties and thirties that meets every other week at the DC Center for the LGBT Community. A week ago, four members of TAAP attended and led a presentation and discussion on asexuality and aromanticism at the regular discussion group. TAAP and WiTT hope to host more collaborative events in the future.
Looking Forward
Here are some projects we are currently working on:
Incorporation
We are starting to look into incorporating and becoming recognized as a 501(c)(3) non-profit. It is our hope to accomplish this within the next year so that we will be better equipped to complete all the projects we have lined up.
Book on Asexuality and Aromanticism for Professionals
We are currently working on writing a book on asexuality and aromanticism that will be geared towards professionals such as doctors, therapists, counselors, educators, or LGBTQ+ center employees. It is our hope that this book could be used as a resource to help these professionals better help the aces and aros they come into contact with.
Creating Change 2019
Currently, 3-5 TAAP members are planning on attending Creating Change 2019 in Detroit, MI. We have submitted five session proposals, and hope that they all are accepted. We also are looking forward to seeing the Ace and Aro Hospitality Suite become a reality.
The Rainbow History Project
TAAP is currently working on a collaboration with the Rainbow History Project to create a documented history of the ace community in the DC area. Queer history (including ace history) is often not recorded and, as a result, forgotten. We hope that by participating in this project, we can help in building a history of the ace community that future generations will be able to look back on.
Pride Parades and Festivals
In addition to marching in the Capital Pride Parade in 2019 and in future years, we hope to expand to also marching in the Baltimore Pride Parade. In addition, we would like to set up booths at various pride festivals in the area, including Capital Pride, Baltimore Pride, and NOVA Pride. We also hope to participate in New York City’s WorldPride in 2019, which will be celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising and will be the largest celebration of Pride in the world.
Aro Inclusion
We initially began as an organization started by and focused towards asexual people. In our actual work, however, we have begun drifting towards including aro folks much more than our name and branding currently suggest. In this next year and beyond, we aim to be much more intentional about our inclusion of aro people, including those who are not also ace.
Thank You
We are extremely grateful to those who donated so we could march in pride, to organizations who we have worked with, and to those who have volunteered their time to work directly on our projects. Thank you for all you have done to help us this past year!
If you would like to find out ways that you can help us with any of our upcoming projects, please contact us.