" My friends can read me now . "
Recently, on TikTok, people have beensharing their frustrationswhen explaining that they are abrosexual to people.One person went viral for acting out a skitshowing how people react when they identify as straight, lesbian, bi, pan, and asexual at different times.
Some people get so frustrated trying to describe it, they just say they’re pansexual.
However, since it is apparent a lot of people aren’t familiar with the term…
…We decided to create this post as an explainer so people can feel seen, heard, and validated.
BuzzFeed spoke to LGBTQ+ advocate Zoe Stoller. They are a licensed social worker who develops and facilitates educational presentations in both social work and social media, sharing educational materials about LGBTQ+ identities and experiences.
Zoe explained that abrosexual describes someone whose sexuality is fluid, meaning it shifts and changes over time. “Some abrosexual people might identify with different sexuality labels at different times — for example, some days they might use the label pansexual, whereas other days they might use the label lesbian. Other abrosexual people might just use the label abrosexual. This label can be thought of as the sexuality version of the gender identity label genderfluid (describing a gender that shifts and changes),” they said.
Abrosexuality is definitely something many people are not educated on, according to Zoe. They said this is apparent, not only on TikTok, but even if you try to use the term on your device. “When I try to type ‘abrosexuality,’ it autocorrects to ‘bisexuality.’ If the word isn’t read as ‘real’ by my computer’s dictionary, then there’s definitely a lack of widespread education about this label.”
Unfortunately, Zoe said that the widespread misunderstanding of fluid identities can lead people who hold these identities to feel misunderstood and not believed. “Within the framework of cis-heteronormativity, concepts like sexuality and gender are often understood and taught as unchanging identities. People can get very confused when you explain that your identity is fluid, and is not one fixed thing,” they explained.
That is why bringing education and awareness to less commonly discussed identities like abrosexuality is so important. “It can help people feel seen, affirmed, understood, loved, and so many other wonderful things. If larger society were more open to the concept of fluid sexuality, this might help abrosexual people and others with fluid identities feel more understood and accepted,” Zoe added.
You can follow Zoe onTikTokfor more educational LGBTQ+ content.
