<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?><oembed><version><![CDATA[1.0]]></version><provider_name><![CDATA[The Dish]]></provider_name><provider_url><![CDATA[http://dish.andrewsullivan.com]]></provider_url><author_name><![CDATA[Andrew Sullivan]]></author_name><author_url><![CDATA[https://dish.andrewsullivan.com/author/sullydish/]]></author_url><title><![CDATA[Asexual Isn&#8217;t Anti-Intimacy,&nbsp;Ctd]]></title><type><![CDATA[link]]></type><html><![CDATA[<p><span style="font-size: 8pt;"><em>by Chris Bodenner</em></span></p> <p>A reader writes:</p> <blockquote> <p>I just wanted to thank you for your <a href="http://andrewsullivan.thedailybeast.com/2011/08/romance-without-sex-ctd.html" target="_self">continuing</a> <a href="http://andrewsullivan.thedailybeast.com/2012/02/asexuality-in-the-public-eye.html" target="_self">efforts</a> to raise awareness about <a href="http://andrewsullivan.thedailybeast.com/2012/04/asexual-isnt-anti-intimacy.html" target="_self">asexuality</a> to your readers. I&#39;m a junior in college, and I&#39;ve been struggling to get people to take me seriously when I tell them I&#39;m asexual. Some friends have said my standards are simply too high, some said I&#39;m too socially awkward. It&#39;s demeaning, but I don&#39;t feel like I have a right to complain. Compared to other members of the LGTBQA community, asexuals probably have to deal with less intolerance and violence. No one calls me a sinner or a freak, or tells me I don&#39;t have a right to be married. We don&#39;t get beaten or murdered because of who we are. Really, I shouldn&#39;t complain.</p> <p>But apparently I don&#39;t have the right to not be sexually active, or interested.</p> </blockquote>]]></html></oembed>