[This is part of a series on opportunities for ace activism. See the masterpost here.]
For most of the other topics, I’ve talked about things that aren’t really happening to a wide extent. This is just the opposite. There’s offline ace organizing happening all over the place. Aces & Aros has a list of over a hundred groups doing this.
So why have I included it on this list?
Because there can always be more.
If you look at the map on Aces & Aros, there are huge areas that are vacant. There are aces in those empty spots, but no active local community or local resources for them. And even in areas with a strong local group, there is always room for more people. In the Seattle area, for example, most of our meetups are in the city itself, which is inconvenient or even impossible for people further out in the suburbs and surrounding areas. We’d benefit from hyper local organizers starting things in Everett or Bellevue or Bremerton or wherever.
Offline community organizing can take many forms. Hosting meetups. Being a mentor for a local school’s GSA. Organizing a Pride Parade contingent. Giving Asexuality 101 presentations at the library. And so on.
The benefits are uncountable. Basically every ace group I’ve ever been in has had people who’ve never met another asexual in person. Every time there’s a Pride Parade, there will be people who’ll turn out later, saying that’s how they learned that asexuality exists. And more than once, I’ve heard someone who’s moving wonder if there’s an ace group in the area they’re moving to, because they need the community support.
Having a strong offline presence can enable other forms of activism, too. Local activists have reached out to state governments to get recognition of Ace Week. Local activists have been contacted by television producers to help shape their portrayal of asexual characters. Local activists have worked to get asexuality included in sex ed programs at schools. And as we move forward, we’ll need local activists to push for things like legislative changes.