TAAAP did a lot in 2021, and we can’t wait to see what comes next!
Organization/Team
In 2021, we carried forward with our commitment to diversity and equality, recognizing that our work will be reflective of our team. We grew our team by 30% (5 new members) and welcomed new members with identities previously underrepresented in our organization across the categories of gender, race, and orientation. We modified and reinforced decision making processes to allow for egalitarian input and prevent the formation of hierarchies. We also finalized and published a Vision Statement, Mission Statement, and Code of Ethics, so that we can be held accountable and others can see our purpose.
Conferences
We started off the year with a bang – we coordinated the first-ever Aro and Ace Day Long Institute at Creating Change, with sessions on:
- Including Youth in Community
- Helping Professionals
- Race and Aspec Identity
- Social Media Activism
- Amatonormativity and Relationship Anarchy
- Community Organizing
- Intersections: Neurodivergence, Disability, & Gender
We also presented an Ace and Aro 101 Workshop and moderated an Ace and Aro Caucus at Creating Change.
In November, we helped design and present a workshop at the Young Adult Library Services Association Symposium on Ace and Aro Teens.
Aro Spectrum Awareness Week
We posted a resource to help people apply for recognition for ASAW from their local governments, and six places in the United States recognized ASAW: DC, Colorado, Michigan, Washington, Virginia, and Minnesota.
Pride
We continued our series of TAAAP Pride Chats, with a chat almost every month and multiple chats for Aromantic Spectrum Awareness Week, Pride Month, and Ace Week.
We marched in DC’s Pride Parade, and helped staff an ace and aro booth at St. Louis’ Pride Festival.
Ace Week
We posted at least one article and infographic every day highlighting voices of underrepresented identities within the asexual community:
- Aces of Ethnic and Racial Minorities
- Ace Men
- Older Aces
- Aces with Disabilities or Neurodivergences
- Aces and Romance
- Aces and Sex or Kink
- Aces and Parenting
- Religious Aces
- Demi and Gray Aces
We also encouraged others to apply for recognition for Ace Week from their local governments and applied ourselves. This year, Ace Week was recognized by St. Louis in Missouri, DC, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Washington, Illinois, and Colorado.
Resources
We have posted well over 100 infographics to our various social media platforms, ranging from explanations of various microlabels within our communities to acknowledgements of every queer day on the calendar to resources around being aspec at work, school, with family, and much more! We started a fresh Facebook page this year. We created a Bookshop.org page with a number of specifically curated lists of books that represent aro and ace people or speak to our issues.
We also began our series of Aspec Voices, highlighting often underrepresented voices and identities in the aro and ace communities. We began with the series for Ace Week, and continued with one in November for Indigenous and First Nations Ace and Aro Perspectives.
Press/Media
TAAAP was featured in several media pieces discussing ace and aro identities this year! Several of those pieces were published during pride month, and another was published much more recently.
Book
Finally, we officially signed a contract with Jessica Kingsley Publishing to publish our book on embracing an ace or aro identity, hopefully to come out in 2023!
Looking Forward to 2022
Conferences
We look forward to presenting at multiple conferences this year. Creating Change 2022, which will be virtual again this year, has accepted four workshops from us. We also plan on presenting three posters at the Sex Positivity Conference 2022, which will also be virtual.
We also hope to create our own webinars and work towards hosting our own conference on asexuality and aromanticism.
Aro Spectrum Awareness Week
We have already posted an updated resource to help people apply for state and local proclamations, and will encourage people to do so. We will again have an open TAAAP Pride Chat, and plan on continuing our Aspec Voices series with several Aro Voices articles.
Ace Week
We plan on applying for state and local proclamations and encouraging others to do so, have an open week-long TAAAP Pride Chat, and again continue our Aspec Voices series. Hopefully by this point we may also be able to host an in-person event, if it is safe to do so.
Resources
We plan on posting an article or resource to our website at least once a month, and to continue our series of infographics at least once a week. We are also considering creating physical merchandise, such as buttons and stickers, that would be available to send to people who want symbols of aro and ace pride!