#gccosplays

Many of you who know me probably already know this, but for those of you who don't... consider this my official coming out post: I'm ace! :)

After years of searching for words to describe my confusing and complicated orientation, I finally found two that are a great fit: demiromantic asexual.

A quick breakdown of what those words mean for anyone who's unfamiliar... Demiromantic: Someone who only experiences romantic attraction after forming an emotional bond with another person. Asexual (or "Ace"): Someone who experiences little to no sexual attraction to other people.

Before I knew these words, I often felt frustrated, confused, and alone when it came to dating and relationships. And I felt that way for a long time, because I didn't stumble across these words until I was in my late 20s, looking for answers as to why a very meaningful relationship had failed. Learning that there were words for what I was feeling - and that there were other people like me - changed my world.

I was ecstatic last year when Jughead from the Archie comics was canonically revealed to be asexual in Chip Zdarsky and Erica Henderson's Jughead #4. Ever since I bought that issue, I've been wanting to do an ace pride Jughead cosplay. So that's exactly what I did at Animazement over the weekend! I met lots of other aces who told me how much my cosplay meant to them. One of my biggest passions with cosplay is charity, and having these fellow aces thank me for the positive representation felt like an extension of that. I want to give my sincerest thanks to Antler Productions for her amazing photos of my Jughead cosplay so that I could continue spreading that positivity through this post!

The asexual spectrum is one of the lesser known orientations under the LGBTQIA+ umbrella. The same is true for the aromantic spectrum (where demiromanticism falls). Many people have never heard of these orientations, or don't believe they exist. I want to help change that. So I want to share some comics I created to help spread awareness.

This one is about discovering the ace and aro spectrums and coming out: http://gckinsey.tumblr.com/…/this-is-a-little-comic-i-made-… This one covers some common misconceptions about asexuality: http://www.ydiw-comic.net/archives/comic/ace-awareness-week