Coby Asola

I'd tell my younger self about being ace/aro because there was a lot of stress and fear for me surrounding romantic relationships when I was younger. There were a lot of kids who wouldn't believe me when I told them that I didn't like anyone romantically and some who said there was something wrong with me. I'd also tell myself not to sweat the little things.

?That is an amazing idea. BE GONE EVIL CUPIDS! WE ARE IN NO NEED OF YOUR SERVICE!

I've always been anxious about the prospect of having to get married or to date someone. As a kid, I wanted to marry my best friend, not because I was in love with her, but because I wanted to live with a close friend. I have always been kind of uncomfortable around romantic things and cringed at them in stories. I've never looked for romantic emotions around me and am oblivious to them in general. When I came out to my parents, they weren't surprised. After reading Percy Jackson, becoming a Hunter of Artemis seemed amazing to me. The idea of swearing off romance to go spend my life with just my friends out in nature going on quests sounded perfect to me. Games of truth or dare always made me nervous because of "The Question". Aka, who do you like? If you said no, no one believed you. I always dreaded that. My friends started having crushes and getting into relationships, but I never did. I guess I've always inherently know that I was asexual and aromantic.

One symbol for aromanticism that is use is an arrow with pride flag fletching and a spade for the arrow head. For allosexual aros, it could be the same thing but with a normal arrow head.

I've been in a similar situation. I came out as ace aro at 13 and am still confident in that. However, don't completely rule out the possibility of romantic attraction. That doesn't mean that you can't identify as aro and be confident in that. If you identify as aromantic, then you are.

I'm catholic and out as ace aro to some people at my church. I've never gotten any hate for it. In this situation for you, just follow your gut instinct. If you feel like your church environment is safe and welcoming, coming out will probably be fine. If you feel in any way that it would put unwanted attention on you or cause harassment, I would say that you plan on staying single, but not coming out at church. However, as mentioned by other people earlier, the Catholic Church had a bad reputation because of extreme bigots who say they practice it. From my experience, most Catholics are very accepting. Good luck! I hope this helps.?