Demisexuality

Gray asexuality or gray-sexuality (sometimes spelled grey) is the spectrum between asexuality and sexuality. Individuals who identify with gray asexuality are referred to as being gray-A, a grace or a gray ace, and make up what is referred to as the "ace umbrella". Within this spectrum includes terms such as demisexual, semisexual, asexual-ish and sexual-ish.

Those who identify as gray-A tend to lean toward the more asexual side of the aforementioned spectrum. As such, the emergence of online communities, such as the Asexual Visibility and Education Network (AVEN), have given gray aces locations to discuss their orientation.

Gray asexuality is considered the gray area between asexuality and sexuality, in which a person may only experience sexual attraction on occasion. The term gray-A is also considered a range of identities under the asexuality umbrella, or on the asexual spectrum, including demisexuality. Other terms within this spectrum include semisexual, asexual-ish and sexual-ish.

The gray-A spectrum usually includes individuals who "experience sexual attraction very rarely, only under specific circumstances, or of an intensity so low that it’s ignorable". Sari Locker, a sexuality educator at Teachers College of Columbia University, argued during a Mic interview that gray-asexuals "feel they are within the gray area between asexuality and more typical sexual interest".

Demisexuality refers to those who "may experience secondary sexual attraction after a close emotional connection has already formed". Demisexuality as a term originated on AVEN in about 2008 to describe being almost asexual, and the community has been slowly growing ever since. Demisexuality, being a gray-asexuality orientation and having ties in its origin to the asexual community, is a part of the asexual spectrum, with people who fall under the asexual spectrum. The Demisexual Resource Center says that "Demisexuals are considered part of the asexual community because for the most part, they don’t feel sexual attraction. Many demisexuals are only attracted to a handful of people in their lifetimes, or even just one person. Many demisexuals are also uninterested in sex, so they have a lot in common with asexuals." Demisexuality is different for different people because of several reasons, one of the first and foremost being that the definition of "emotional bond" varies from person to person. Another reason it varies is because people in the asexual spectrum communities often switch labels throughout their lives, and fluidity in orientation and identity is a common attitude. Demisexuals can have any romantic orientation, including being aromantic (romantic attraction to no genders), gray-aromantic (the area between being aromantic and feeling romantic attraction), demiromantic (not feeling romantic attraction until an emotional bond is formed)-- they can also be heteroromantic, homoromantic, biromantic, panromantic, or polyromantic.

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