'Nothing about asexuality is abnormal' - teenager speaks out
Emi Salida, 18, is asexual and creates YouTube videos to educate people about the identity shared by 1% of the population.
Tuesday 5 February 2019 02:29, UK
Emi Salida identifies as asexual - someone who experiences a lack of sexual attraction to other people.
The 18-year-old has felt isolated because of her sexuality, but now creates YouTube videos to explain it to others and support people who identify as asexual.
Here, she explains here journey to becoming out and proud as an asexual teen.
When I came out to my mum as asexual at the beginning of 2017, she asked me "how do you know you just haven't met the right person", and I told her that it's just something I know.
She told me I can be who I want to be and I cried a little bit.
Just over two years on, she is happy that I'm being who I want to be, and she's also very proud of me for doing so much activism. She saw that I am so much more confident now and honestly I feel it.
I often encounter people telling me that I'm not LGBTQ+ enough for the queer community. I heard lots of people say, "It's about who you love! Not how much you love them!" during Pride month last year, and it stung.
My sexuality is a lack of sexual attraction, and that has nothing to do with how much I love anyone, platonically or even romantically!
One of the biggest issues for asexual people is that people don't know we exist.
Some people have even compared my sexuality to that of a plant!
:: What is asexuality? Sky Data poll shows lack of understanding
That's why I talk about asexuality on YouTube - to educate people and make other asexual people feel less alone.
The kind of comments that I now get on my YouTube videos are the kind of searching and seeking comments that I left on other people's videos four years ago. Now I am educating others, I feel very proud.
But being an asexual can often feel very isolating. Games of "never have I ever" are basically my worst nightmare, but just because I occasionally feel isolated it doesn't mean that there aren't thousands of other people out there that feel the exact same as me.
Nothing about asexuality is abnormal.
Everyone has a different experience with asexuality, and just because at this point in my life I don't feel relationships are for me, it doesn't mean in the future it may not be.
Sexuality and romantic identity are fluid and what I fundamentally know about myself now is that I'm asexual and proud.