Ace Week: 16 asexual or aromantic celebs and characters you need to know about
Asexual celebrity Janeane Garofalo (middle), with Lisa Kudrow (left) and Mira Sorvino (right) in Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion (Getty)
More people than you might expect are asexual, including Heartstopper author Alice Oseman, British actor Michaela Coel and even “blonde bombshell” Marilyn Monroe.
According to the 2021 UK census, 28,000 people (0.06 per cent of the population) in England and Wales identify as asexual. In the US, it is thought that around one per cent of all residents are asexual.
Asexual, or ace, is a label given to those who experience little or no sexual attraction to other people. Asexuality exists on a spectrum, meaning that no two people experience it the same way. While some may choose to engage in relationships, others may reject the notion entirely.
In celebration of Asexual Awareness Week, which runs until Saturday (26 October), PinkNews has collated a list of 16 asexual people and characters.
David Jay
David Jay is perhaps one of the most prolific members of the asexual community. The activist is the founder of the Asexual Visibility and Education Network (AVEN), one of the most widely visited and well-known online asexual communities.
Jay, who uses he/him pronouns, is part of a three-parent family: he lives with a married couple, Avary Kent and Zeke Hausfather, in California, and is a father to their biological daughter, Octavia, or Tavi.
Alice Oseman
Author of the best-selling Heartstopper graphic novels, Alice Oseman is open about their life as an asexual and aromantic individual. They have previously spoken about discovering their asexuality and aromanticism while at university.
In an interview with Hello magazine, Oseman admitted that being asexual and “aro” isn’t always easy.
“It’s a really difficult thing to deal with, and to overcome mentally, to accept that your path in life is going to be different and the way you experience life will be too,” they said. “And there’s not a lot of guidance due to the lack of representation in the media… there [are] no very famous people who are openly ace and aro. There’s no education about it in schools. You’re lucky to even learn what these terms are.”
Marilyn Monroe
Various reports, supported by her autobiography, suggest that Marilyn Monroe might have been asexual. Excerpts from her unfinished autobiography, My Life, compiled by Ben Hecht, imply that the actress exhibited signs of asexuality.
In one passage, she says: “I was completely faithful to my overseas husband but that wasn’t because I loved him or even because I had moral ideas. My fidelity was due to my lack of interest in sex.”
Another section adds: “Why I was a siren, I hadn’t the faintest idea. There were no thoughts of sex in my head. I didn’t want to be kissed and I didn’t dream of being seduced by a duke or a movie star. The truth was that with all my lipstick and mascara and curves, I was as un-sensual as a fossil. But I seemed to affect people quite otherwise.”
Michaela Coel
Known for creating Chewing Gum and I May Destroy You, writer, director and actor Michaela Coel has previously said that she identifies with the label aromantic.
While she is quiet when it comes to details about her private life, she spoke about identifying as aromantic in a 2018 interview with The Culture Trip.
The Wakanda Forever star said: “I Googled aromanticism and I very much felt like, ‘Oh, that’s me’. I am OK being by myself. I like having intimate relationships but I don’t want to change people or want to be changed by anyone.”
SpongeBob SquarePants
Nickelodeon’s cartoon character SpongeBob SquarePants is, in fact, asexual.
The show’s creator, Stephen Hillenburg, has told The Wall Street Journal: “I always think of [the characters] as being somewhat asexual. The attitude of the show is about tolerance. Everybody is different, and the show embraces that. No one is shut out.”
Yelena Belova, Black Widow
Yelena Belova made her debut in 2021’s Black Widow. In an interview on the Marvel comic website in 2020, writer Devin K Grayson discussed the differences between the film’s characters Natasha Romanoff and Yelena, noting that the latter was “more likely to identify as asexual.”
In 2021, Grayson confirmed that the character was asexual, making Yelena the first officially ace character in the Marvel Universe.
Nikola Tesla
The engineer and inventor Nikola Tesla, best-known for his work on electricity, was openly celibate and never married.
Throughout his life, 1856-1943, Tesla was quoted as saying he found stimulation only in his work. In 1927, he told a reporter that he had “never touched a woman.” Some believe that if he had had the vocabulary at the time, he might have identified as asexual.
Maya – Borderlands 2
Maya is a character that is playable in Borderlands 2 and 3. Following speculation, the writer of the game series, Anthony Burch, confirmed she was asexual, GCN reported.
Yasmin Benoit
Model and activist Yasmin Benoit is an aromantic asexual and has been open about the whitewashing of asexuality.
She previously told PinkNews: “It has nothing to do with how you look, that’s something I get a lot, people are like: ‘Oh but you’re good-looking, you don’t need to be asexual’, which tells me that people think that there is an asexual look and that it isn’t a good one, and that asexuality is a choice that people take when they can’t get dates or can’t get laid.”
In 2022, Benoit launched a research project to improve the lives of the ace community.
Janeane Garofalo
Comedian Janeane Garofalo has previously described herself as a member of the asexual celebs pantheon, and said she had “a genuine lack of interest [in]”, rather than a fear of, intimacy.
In an interview with Philadelphia Magaziney, she revealed that people often think she’s gay. “It makes me far more interesting than an asexual atheist,” she joked.
In 2019, she told Carolyn Bergier and Melody Kamali on their podcast Dyking Out: “The reason I say I’m asexual is my libido has always been incredibly low. I never have been particularly driven by sex… I could take it or leave it.””
Lord Varys
Game Of Thrones character Lord Varys, played by Conleth Hill, is asexual.
“When I see what desire does to people, what it’s done to this country, I am very glad to have no part in it,” Varys has said.
Liv Flaherty
Emmerdale’s Liv Flaherty, played by Isobel Steele, was revealed to be asexual in 2019.
After struggling with her sexuality, Liv eventually opened up to her brother Aaron, revealing there was nothing sexual between her and Jacob, who she was dating.
“I don’t have sexual feelings for people, and that’s alright,” she said. “You can still have romantic feelings and be attracted to people, just not physically.”
Parvati Holcomb
In the video game The Outer Worlds, mechanic Parvati Holcomb has a personal quest during which she develops feelings for a woman called Julie. When the pair speak over drinks, she talks about how she has been treated as “cold” person in the past.
It is then revealed that she is asexual, according to Game Rant.
Todd Chavez
BoJack Horseman has arguably one of TV’s most high-profile representations of asexuality with the wacky and loveable Todd, voiced by Aaron Paul. His sexuality developed organically alongside the show’s storyline.
Isaac Newton
English physicist and mathematician Isaac Newton, who formulated the laws of gravity and motion, is thought to have been asexual, though there is also speculation that he may have been gay.
Newton never married and showed no interest in romantic relationships, devoting his life almost entirely to his scientific pursuits. His few known personal relationships were said to be purely platonic.
Tim Gunn
TV personality and author Tim Gunn wrote about identifying as asexual in his 2011 book, Gunn’s Golden Rules: Life’s Little Lessons for Making It Work.
Project Runway’s Gunn said: “I knew what I wasn’t: I wasn’t interested in boys, and I really wasn’t interested in girls. For many years, I described myself as asexual, and I still think that’s closest to the truth.”
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