WorkPride - Focus Panels for Communities: The Asexual Umbrella

This series of community panels aims to explore the reality of some more misunderstood communities.

While the term "asexual" is most often associated with those who lack sexual attraction to others, the reality is that it constitutes a spectrum of sexual orientations, often referred to as the "asexual umbrella". Everyone has a different experience with being asexual, and asexuality can mean different things to different people.

This panel aims to explore the reality of living as asexual, what prejudice these peers face and what equal opportunities they might be looking for.

Some key areas that will be explored are:

- What it means to be asexual

- Experiences and challenges faced by our asexual peers

- What can be done to support asexual inclusion, specifically in the workplace

In Partnership With

Speakers:

M

Laila (She/Her) Howard

Head of Customer Success

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Brian Langevin

Executive Director
Asexual Outreach

Brian is the executive director of Asexual Outreach—a nonprofit organization, founded in 2014, that's building an international advocacy movement to strengthen communities and change lives. Brian has been an ace community leader since 2013, and has had the great privilege to learn and grow through the teachings and mentorship of countless community activists and theorizers. Their work is guided and grounded by their autistic, genderqueer, aro, and ace identities, and they are particularly passionate about building solidarity between and among anti-oppression movements.

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Yasmin @theyasminbenoit

Model, Activist, Writer
Asexual Visibility and Education Network (AVEN)

Yasmin Benoit is a British model, leading asexuality activist, writer, and speaker. At 18, she began modelling with the goal of diversifying the fashion industry and became one of the UK's most prominent Black alternative models. In late 2017, she publicly came out as aromantic-asexual and quickly became an unlikely face and voice for those communities. Her goal is to empower the aromantic and asexual people, bring those identities into the mainstream, fight for their social and legal inclusion, and dispel misconceptions about them in an intersectional, cross-sectional way. Yasmin created the popular #ThisIsWhatAsexualLooksLike movement to show that there is no asexual way to look or dress, which has been embraced by asexual people worldwide. In 2019, she became a board member of the Asexual Visibility and Education Network (AVEN) and in 2020, an asexualities researcher at California State University and made her presenting debut with her 'Me and My Asexuality' BBC Sounds series. Her unconventional approach to activism has attracted the attention of international press, including Vogue, Cosmopolitan, Glamour Magazine, British GQ, and Sky News. In early 2021, she did a TedX Talk on asexual media representation for the University of Arkansas, appeared in three Vogue publications, signed with literary agency, Gleam Titles, and was wrote an essay for LGBTQ+ anthology, 'We Can Do Better Than This.' (Penguin, June 2021) Yasmin was also included on the Attitude101 Influential Figures List as a "trailblazer" in "The Future: Under 25" category, and she appeared on the Visible100 List of game-changers as a Community Campaigner.

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	Date & Time	Jun 16, 2021
	Location	Online