Contested intersections: Asexuality and disability, illness, or trauma

This article analyzes the personal writings of asexual people for whom their identity is connected to disability, illness, or trauma. Asexuality is typically understood as an inherent sexual orientation that is neither caused by nor linked to disability or physiological and psychological issues. This approach has allowed asexuality to be widely accepted as an element of human sexual diversity and protects asexual people against unwanted medical intervention. Yet, disability, illness, or trauma informs some asexual people’s sexuality. Attending to their perspectives results in broadening contemporary conceptualizations of asexuality beyond the model of essentialist sexual orientation and contributes to destigmatizing asexual identities that are entangled with disability, illness, or trauma.