Do I need to try sex to whether I'm asexual?

Though some people might find it helpful to try sex and see how they feel, you absolutely can know whether you're asexual without ever doing so – asexuality doesn't have any initiation requirements. Asexuality is an orientation: a feeling you have, or don't have, inside. For example, you might ask yourself: does a heterosexual person need to try gay sex to know that they aren't into it?

At a deeper level, this way of thinking often misunderstands what asexuality is in the first place. Asexuality isn't about whether you like sex or not, so having sex usually can't provide much insight into whether you're asexual. Asexuality is about whether that feeling of sexual attraction is present or it isn't.

According to the 2016 Asexual Community Survey [1, p.31], almost 45% of people that identify as asexual have never had sex.

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