Scrap your biology textbooks and stop thinking in terms or bacteria or starfish. Asexuality is a sexual orientation. It is valid. It is real.

Since I make an effort to stay educated on the multitudes of sexual orientations it’s usually a bit of a shock to hear that someone doesn’t even know about asexuality. In my own opinion, asexuality is one of the most common sexualites out there.

Asexuality is where you have no sexual attraction. As in you see a person, and only see a person, not someone you want to have sex with.

So often I see people come across the term asexuality and start making jokes about mitosis or starting to grow another clone of yourself out of your body.

There are not even words to describe how wrong this is — factually and ethically.

So when someone makes an uneducated comment, you can be sure that I am ready to verbally throw hands to validate this sexuality that so many people ignore, disregard, or flat out insult.

But I get it, I know I take pride in trying to stay as open to new identities and validate anyone’s orientation. Some people don’t have that kind of time, nor are they passionate enough to keep up to date on everything. They can still be supportive.

It is really easy to be a decent human being, when you hear a term that people use to identify as, don’t make fun of it. And if someone is taking the time to explain it, don’t disregard them. Even if no one is trying to explain it to you, Google is always at your fingertips.

Yes, asexual people can have sexual intercourse. Yes, asexuals can have romantic partners. They can get married. They can have kids. They can adopt kids. They can live fulfilling lives.

The only thing that makes them different is they don’t have sexual attraction, so stop comparing them to emotionless bacteria.