The Carnival of Aces for January/February 2026 has been posted by Blue Ice-Tea. The theme was “Second Glance“. Please take a look!
Although the Carnival of Aces has been inactive as of late, it’s still open for anyone to volunteer to host, if there’s a topic you’d like to see people talk about. If you would like to volunteer, please see the masterpost for instructions.
I’m gray-asexual and an ace activist, so I recognize the need for umbrella terms. Asexuals, gray-asexuals, demisexuals, as well as other smaller groups have common cause, shared communities, and shared history.
Sometimes I hear newbies propose that there should be a separate asexual community that is *not* inclusive of gray/demi/etc. folks. I would go so far as to say that this idea is totally pointless. Usually the argument is that asexuals don’t experience sexual attraction at all, while gray/demi folks do. However, this argument is just factually incorrect. Some asexuals do experience sexual attraction, and some gray/demi folks don’t–something you would know if you listened to us. It’s reasonable to propose an ace space without sex talk, but such a space will not cut cleanly along identity labels.
Basically every space should be welcoming of the umbrella. As a result, when I talk about asexuality, over half the time I want to be referring to the umbrella. So what words do we use? Here are the options:
We occasionally share links to news, blogs, and anything else we find interesting. We can’t catch everything, so you are invited to self-promote in the comments!
Writing
Perfect Number observed differences between Christian purity culture and the world of Pride and Prejudice. Perfect Number is also rethinking the idea of aces “pleasing their partners”.
Swank Ivy talked asexuality and certainty (or lack thereof). (Requires Tumblr account)
Jen questioned the supposed harmlessness of asexuals.
Nina shared their experience with in-person meetups, as an aro in Germany.
Canton Winer discussed their research on gender detachment in The Conversation.
Hannah Clover related strongly to Elsa from Frozen.
Magan Carty described her relationship, sitting between platonic and romantic.
Nashrah Tanvir talked about love as a mechanism for violence.
Community Activity
AZE released Vol. 8, Issue 1, on Resilience. Submissions are open for the next issue, themed on hybrids.
This month, the ace journal club discussed
“Does Everyone Have a Gender? Compulsory Gender, Gender Detachment, and Asexuality” by Canton Winer (2025). (https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/epdf/10.1177/23780231251339382, open access)
The journal club meets once a month on Discord, using text or voice as club members prefer. We discuss a variety of academic works in ace studies, ranging from gender studies to psychology. Don’t worry about journal access, we can provide access. If you’re interested, please e-mail me at asexualagenda@gmail.com for an invite.
Summary
This study explored 30 interviews of people who expressed some form of detachment from gender, and discussed the practicalities of ungendering.
Blue Ice-Tea is hosting the Carnival of Aces, with the theme “Second Glance”. This carnival will be open to submissions for January and February. See the call for submissions.
Although the Carnival of Aces has been inactive as of late, it’s still open for volunteers to host. If you would like to volunteer, please see the masterpost for instructions.
This month, the ace journal club discussed
“The Quoiromantic Manifesto” by Nakamura Kasumi (2021), translated from Japanese into English by Ace Admiral (2025) (https://aceadmiral.wordpress.com/2025/10/25/translation-the-quoiromantic-manifesto-by-nakamura-kasumi/)
The journal club meets once a month on Discord, using text or voice as club members prefer. We discuss a variety of academic works in ace studies, ranging from gender studies to psychology. Don’t worry about journal access, we can provide access. If you’re interested, please e-mail me at asexualagenda@gmail.com for an invite.
Summary
This article discusses the origin and meaning of quoiromantic, and discusses the author’s experience and practice within that framework.
This month, the ace journal club discussed
“If I Only Knew Then: Single Adults’ Perceptions of the Impact of Sex Education on Their Romantic and Sexual Lives” by Hille et al. (2025) (https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/19317611.2025.2566816, open access)
The journal club meets once a month on Discord, using text or voice as club members prefer. We discuss a variety of academic works in ace studies, ranging from gender studies to psychology. Don’t worry about journal access, we can provide access. If you’re interested, please e-mail me at asexualagenda@gmail.com for an invite.
Summary
This paper looked at a survey of single adults that asked what they learned from sex ed when they were younger, and whether it would have helped to learn more.
We occasionally share links to news, blogs, and anything else we find interesting. We can’t catch everything, so you are invited to self-promote in the comments!
Writing
Kate released a massive collection of reviews of fictional media with canonical ace characters.
Kate also showed extensive evidence that TERFs and GCs have always been anti-ace, and that JK Rowling’s anti-ace comments should not have been a surprise.
Coyote published a zine discussing community memory and the origin of the term “split attraction model”.
RED replied to my article about moving away from definitions, fitting the discussion into the framework of folk epistemology, building knowledge in absence of expert validation.
Rebecca Humphreys-Lamford discussed their research into asexual media representation and its impact on people. They are also on the B Film Queer Pod podcast.
Community Activity
The Ace Community Survey released its report on the 2024 survey. The 2020 report has also been translated into German.
Calls for Participants/Support
The 2025 Ace Community Survey has been released! https://tinyurl.com/AceSurvey2025
Some years ago, it was fashionable for ace and aro education efforts to put a lot of emphasis on glossaries. I was critical of the approach, arguing that glossaries deprived words of historical context, and frequently promoted words that were hardly in use outside of glossaries. Coyote also voiced criticism, arguing that we needed more personal narratives rather than just glossaries.
So we need more personal narratives. But suppose we’re trying to explain something that isn’t our own story. What component of the personal narrative is most important to extract and communicate to our audience?
I contend that the most important thing is to explain motivation. That is, why do people identify that way?
We occasionally share links to news, blogs, and anything else we find interesting. We can’t catch everything, so you are invited to self-promote in the comments!
Writing
Bonnie Lord shared her story of coming into asexuality.
Confetti discussed asexual representation in RPGs.
Nashrah Tanvir wrote about aromantic frustrations with literature.
Perfect Number reviewed Girls & Sex, which discusses hookup culture and porn.
Debbie Urbanski described traumatic experiences with couples counseling.
Blue Ice-Tea reviewed My Father’s Dresses and shared some thoughts on gender.
Aro Community Activity
AUREA recapped the Aromantics Create Pride art exchange. Also check out their October newsletter.
AUREA also interviewed AroAceBildung about creating a course for therapists.
The Asexual Agenda 