*pushes taped-up nerd glasses up bridge of nose*

Typo: "no[body] in particular"

This was a beautiful and lovely answer! Complete and inclusive.

Two things:
a) This is a particularly nice answer.
b) How depressing is it that someone who identifies as asexual seems to have gotten a lot more action than me most of his life goddamit?

Agreed all around. Great job Dan!!!

I have always appreciated the kindness with which Dan approaches those young people who are figuring out their place in this world.
Thank you, Uncle Dan.

Same response as everyone else. Bravo for a kind, well-informed and level-headed answer. Asexuals are part of the LGBTQ tapestry-conjunction-congeries, and the LW sounds as if he'd be pleased to retain this as some part of his identity or self-presentation.

Welcome to the 'Queer' tent, NOHUMP. It's big and has room for everyone. The 'Asexual' corner of the tent's got a pretty diverse set of subsections itself, including gray-ace, demisexual, and hetero/homo-romantic. Feel free to mingle and wander until you find out what works for you.

Twitter @1: That was the only typo you saw? Weak ;)

Fred2 @3b: I know you weren't serious, but the pedantic answers are:
a) Between ages 16 and 22 is not "most of NOHUMP's life."
b) Because he was fucking men. As we bi women know, if you're willing to fuck men, you can get all the sex you want.

A few brain droppings:

-To an outside observer, there's no real way to tell the difference between someone taking time off of dating due to burnout, and an asexual. Without any tells, there's neither pressure nor obligation to tell other people. Even the friends you do tell, using words like "I don't really get horny" can convey the exact same meaning without using specific identity labels.

-You'd be hurting the LGBT community if you made a big fuss about being cured, or campaigned in favor of "religious freedom" laws. There's not much else you can reasonably do to hurt the community. Deciding that a different identity fits you slightly better and communicating that to your friends won't do anything to the community.

-You mentioned being shy and awkward, and seem like you've built a good chunk of your identity around being a Gay Man. That you're now worried that you'll have to chuck your Gay Man identity and start centering your identity around being an Asexual. The thing is, identity is not the whole of personality. Try to look at it as a bunch of shorthand identifiers instead or broad pigeonholes.

If most of your friends came from gay circles and you spend a lot of time in gay hangouts, they're not likely to kick you out just because your four year long dry spell suddenly has a name. Continue being you, keep doing what you've been doing, and don't stress about having to live up to whatever identity labels you feel best fit you.

I'd like to second BiDanFan's comment (also a bi girl, also a Dan fan over here).
I keep telling my male friends who are frustrated that they can't get laid that if they were willing to sleep with dudes they'd be getting laid.
For some reason they don't all appreciate my advice...

The really brainy types call it "Savage's Hierarchy."

German chocolate cake as the ultimate relationship: several spongy layers, sweet gooey glue, pecans and coconut chips in between.

I used to wonder if I’m straight or gay, transvestite, crossdresser, hormones, operation, nonbinary denderian, etc.
It’s often good to belong, find others who share similar joys and struggles, yet keep an open mind to positively challenge yourself and figure out things on your own.

BDF @ 9
GoodOmens @ 11
I once read a poem in which I claiming straight men are probably the most sexually frustrated group on earth, only to be mocked and mobbed once the event was over.

"in which I claiming"
Too much uncoordinated editing, combined with too hefty a dose of poetic license.

Excellent answer. I'd add one thing. If you're stymied by this, go get some therapy to help you sort out the issues you're dealing with. Find someone who's experienced in dealing with sexual orientation issues and isn't going to shame you (don't be afraid to therapist shop and tell them why you're coming to see them). Good luck!

The identification to the adjective "Queer" Needs a good re-branding. I suggest the word "Phenomenal" I far more identify with that. "Why yes, I'm Phenomenal!" The Phenomenal community. Because we quite the Phenomena! You catch my drift?

@17
I catch your assholism and the likelihood of you being commie (Commenter Comitauts) in disguise.

@8 Ha!

OutCasting, public radio's LGBTQ youth program (Dan was a guest on one of our early shows) did a two part series on asexuality in 2015, including a riveting first person account by an asexual teenager. http://mfpg.org/index.php/outcasting/87-…

As one of my asexual gay friends puts it, he is "gay on paper only". He finds men attractive, but doesn't have a particular desire to do them or date them.

I was very interested in the radio programme mentioned by @20, but the link was cut off. I went and found it. Here it is for anyone else interested:
http://mfpg.org/index.php/outcasting/87-…

Other than the book referenced in the article, are there recommendations for literature or online resources that would aid in the exploration of asexuality?

Here you go @23:
http://www.asexuality.org/?q=overview.ht…