January ’22 TAAAP Pride Chats – Gray Aspecs

The ace and aro communities are made up of spectrums, of people who identify with many different labels all within the overall umbrella of aspec! So this month we’re focusing on and celebrating the experiences and identities of gray aspecs! If you don’t identify as gray, you are of course more than willing to come and learn about/ask questions about gray aro and ace people, as well as hang out in the other open channels!

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Creating Change 2021 – Social Media Activism

Developed by members of TAAAP for Creating Change 2021. This session explored the use of social media platforms for activism and how to be more strategic with your activist social media posts with guidance from a presenter who has professional experience creating social media campaigns, including a proposal for an official Asexual Flag emoji as a case study.

This presentation has been adapted so that it can be used by others. It is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) License (plain text | legal text). If you would like to use this in a presentation where you are being paid to present or some other use outside the scope of this license, please contact us at [email protected] to ask for permission. It may not be presented at the Creating Change conference without permission.

Presentation | Transcript

Aro-Spectrum Awareness Week Proclamation – 2022

Aromantic Spectrum Awareness Week begins on February 20th, 2022, but the work for it begins now! In 2021, for the first time, six places in the United States recognized ASAW: DC, Colorado, Michigan, Washington, Virginia, and Minnesota!

We can keep this momentum going – the process for requesting your state to recognize ASAW is fairly simple, and we at TAAAP are here to make it even easier, including a template for submission as well as details on how to submit in every state in the links at the bottom of this page. Submitting a proclamation request to your governor or mayor is a 5 step process:

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Our Book is Being Published!

As some of you may know, we at The Ace and Aro Advocacy Project have been working on writing a book about asexuality and aromanticism for some years now. We are happy to confirm that our book will be published by Jessica Kingsley Publishers. They also published Rebecca Burgess’s How to Be Ace and will be publishing the upcoming untitled books by Sounds Fake But Okay as well as TAAAP’s own Elle Rose and Cody Daigle-Orians!

TAAAP’s book will be a deep dive into the process of discovering and embracing an ace or aro identity, including quotes we’ve collected from hundreds of people about their own personal journeys. It will be a resource for anyone who is on the aromantic or asexual spectrums, plus anyone who knows or works with aro or ace people.

It will include:

  • Advice for getting yourself or others through some of the struggles that we face
  • Perspectives on the different ways that being asexual or aromantic can impact your life
  • Illustrative examples from the lives of real aro and ace people.

We are very excited, and can’t wait to share it with all of you (probably in 2023)!

December ’21 TAAAP Pride Chats – Discovering Aspec Identities

As we get ready for a new year, let’s think more about our beginnings! The theme for December’s TAAAP Pride Chat is How you discovered your aspec identity. This can be anything from learning about the identities in the first place, to the journey of self-discovery that many of us are still on; after all, many people don’t just discover one aspec identity but continue to redefine themselves over time. It can also be a good time to discuss any doubts or roadblocks in coming to terms with your identity.

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First Nations and Indigenous Ace and Aro Perspectives

Text: First Nations Aspecs

As an Indigenous individual, I can safely say that our ethnicity holds infinite diversity. We are not defined by our backgrounds, our orientations, our attractions, our skin tones, or our physical/facial attributes. - Callie

I found the desexualization of acespec people from society at large a breath of fresh air - Apollo

I feel like there’s more pressure than there should be. I feel like it’s my responsibility to have kids and pass down my language and culture. - Artemis

Picture: The asexual flag with the two spirit feathers
Text: First Nations Aspecs

We are not a monolith. Not our cultures, not our opinions, not our languages, none of it. - Apollo

I would love for the ace community to have more diverse representatives, as I have not seen or spoken to many that are Indigenous. - Callie

I've had people question my heritage just because I identify on the aromantic spectrum. Mostly other indigenous people. - Toni

Picture: The aromantic flag with the two spirit feathers

November is Native American Heritage Month, and November 26 is Native American Heritage Day this year in the United States. With that in mind, we decided to focus on the voices of First Nations and Indigenous ace and aro individuals, to show the wide variety of experiences that exist among the many different nations and cultures represented here. Thank you so much to all our contributors!

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October ’21 TAAAP Pride Chats – Ace Week and Masks and Costumes

October is a special month, as it includes Ace Week! We’re trying an experiment this month, where we leave the server open from Sunday, October 24 at 9am Eastern to noon Eastern Friday, October 29, with a break in between to recharge as mods before the regular October TAAAP Pride Chats on October 30- October 31.

The Ace Week theme this year is Beyond Awareness, which will be the theme for that week. Even though it is Ace Week, we welcome anyone, ace or not, to join us. The general October theme, in honor of Halloween, is Masks and Costumes: How you use various symbols to show Pride in your identity, or how you conceal your identity.

If you choose to share your super (hero or villain) identity, we cannot promise that it will stay hidden.

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September ’21 TAAAP Pride Chats – Being Aspec in the Workplace and Choosing Where to Be Out

In honor of both the American Labor Day on September 6 and World Beard Day on September 4, the TAAAP Pride Chat will focus on being ace or aro in the workplace, and particularly on how to determine how out to be with your identity. Anyone is welcome to discuss both their experiences in different workplaces, as well as their experiences choosing not to come out or to be closeted in different environments.

(While World Beard Day is a celebration of facial hair on people’s chins, we are also using the common slang for beard, as “a different gendered person dated to cover a same-gendered orientation, often as a way to keep from coming out or staying closeted”.)

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