Prominent asexual social movements

Is it possible for there to be prominent asexual rights movements and asexual pride movements like there are for homosexuality OTL? Would there have to be a more substantial asexual demographic group for asexuality to be notable enough to have a prominent movement based around it? What might trigger that demographic change? What would kick start such a movement? What sort of opposition would form in response to the movement? Would there be prominent people who "come out" as asexual?
 
... Would there have to be a more substantial asexual demographic group for asexuality to be notable enough to have a prominent movement based around it? ...

That, I think, is the main stumbling block for this. Asexuals are a tiny, tiny demographic, so rather than conduct a campaign for recognition on their own, it has generally been easier for them to join up with other, larger groups. You could have them take a more prominent role in those organizations (last year at Toronto's Pride Parade I recall seeing an asexual contingent), but again their sheer lack of numbers means they will probably still be a minor voice.

Even if their numbers were bolstered (and frankly I'm not sure how that would happen, as the factors behind what causes a sexual orientation - or lack thereof - to develop are highly contentious at best), I don't think an "asexual pride" movement would extend all that far beyond an awareness campaign (i.e. "Yep, we exist... Just letting you know..."). Asexuality, as far as I know, doesn't have either the "sex appeal" factor of the Gay pride movement to back it up, nor does it elicit (again, as far as I know) much of the "Unnatural! Burn it!" reaction from the usual close-minded suspects that LGBT issues tent to provoke.
 
That, I think, is the main stumbling block for this. Asexuals are a tiny, tiny demographic, so rather than conduct a campaign for recognition on their own, it has generally been easier for them to join up with other, larger groups. You could have them take a more prominent role in those organizations (last year at Toronto's Pride Parade I recall seeing an asexual contingent), but again their sheer lack of numbers means they will probably still be a minor voice.

Even if their numbers were bolstered (and frankly I'm not sure how that would happen, as the factors behind what causes a sexual orientation - or lack thereof - to develop are highly contentious at best), I don't think an "asexual pride" movement would extend all that far beyond an awareness campaign (i.e. "Yep, we exist... Just letting you know..."). Asexuality, as far as I know, doesn't have either the "sex appeal" factor of the Gay pride movement to back it up, nor does it elicit (again, as far as I know) much of the "Unnatural! Burn it!" reaction from the usual close-minded suspects that LGBT issues tent to provoke.
In that case, the only way asexuality would really be widely known to the general population would be if multiple prominent figures "came out" as asexual within a short time-frame. And even then, asexual people wouldn't really be seen as a factor in the sociopolitical system.
 
For the need for a "Pride" movement, you would need a history of strong shame linked to it. Now, I'm not here simply talking about jibes regarding people who were perceived as weird because they were still virgins past a certain age in a given community, I'm talking about the sort of pressure, either religious, legal or unspoken but omnipresent that would drive an asexual to conform no matter how repulsed he/she might feel or be driven to suicide.

Some will probably disagree with me but I think this is where someone might be able to live an asexual lifestyle more easily then an homosexual one in a society that frown upon it, mostly in that the asexual will need to make less compromise (she/he doesn't actualy have to sleep with someone, simply say he/she isn't ready yet).
 
For the need for a "Pride" movement, you would need a history of strong shame linked to it. Now, I'm not here simply talking about jibes regarding people who were perceived as weird because they were still virgins past a certain age in a given community, I'm talking about the sort of pressure, either religious, legal or unspoken but omnipresent that would drive an asexual to conform no matter how repulsed he/she might feel or be driven to suicide.
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Perhaps a society where there is a very strong pressure to get married/have children.
 
Maybe it's just me, but I can only imagine this happening in the form of religiously-inspired celibacy.
 
The gay rights movement IOTL happened as a result of two major social influences--a reaction against the anti-homosexual culture beforehand, fostered by the growing secularization of the West, and the rise of the Feminist movement. The latter stimulated gay rights on the basis of the feminist advocacy of 'sexual liberation.'

Asexuality, frankly, has never had the degree of social stigma that homosexuality has. In fact, I'd venture so far as to say that asexuality was considered a desirable trait before the Sexual Revolution. Consider the Victorians, who worked hard to keep sexuality in general behind a locked door. Consider the overall tradition of Western philosophy, which, especially since the rise of the organized Christian Church, has advocated a certain godliness, a detachment from the affairs of the world, and, starting with the Enlightenment, a separation from the rather base desires that characterize sexuality. There was always a social niche for asexuals--the monastery, the convent, the laboratory, the study.

To echo what the others in this thread have said, an asexual pride movement would require a backlash against an earlier, excessively-sexual society, or a greater philosophical movement toward the concept of the New Man, who is rational enough to not have sexual desire.
 
How might that happen?

Well, there are already some movements promoting and taking pride in abstinence - the silver ring thing or whatever it is, for instance. Such a movement could shift from promoting absintence until marriage to celibacy as a lifelong comitment not to have sex, focussing instead on an individual relationship with God.

This doesn't have to be an evangelical Christian movement - some gnostic groups have promoted celibacy as part of a comprehensive rejection of materialism, as indeed did some of the ascetic philosophies in ancient Greece. But all of these would be promoting asexuality in service of something else (relationship with god or nature, or the attainment of a healthy living), rather than in and of itself.
 
Well, there are already some movements promoting and taking pride in abstinence - the silver ring thing or whatever it is, for instance. Such a movement could shift from promoting absintence until marriage to celibacy as a lifelong comitment not to have sex, focussing instead on an individual relationship with God.

This doesn't have to be an evangelical Christian movement - some gnostic groups have promoted celibacy as part of a comprehensive rejection of materialism, as indeed did some of the ascetic philosophies in ancient Greece. But all of these would be promoting asexuality in service of something else (relationship with god or nature, or the attainment of a healthy living), rather than in and of itself.

While I can perfectly see sucha movement arising (it might even be linked to some sort of zero carbon foot print/overpopulation fear tendancy), I think this is getting a bit away from a "pride" movement along the line of the LGBT communities. I don't think there would be the same legal or even social recognition demands made for one thing.
 
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