Dr. Pragati Singh, a medical doctor who is passionate about mental health and sexual health, has been accepted to present an original research paper on asexuality at the World Association for Sexual Health's international conference in Prague later this year. Broadly, her research study disproves large myths associated with conceptions of asexuality, simultaneously emphasizing its existence as a legitimate sexual orientation. This is the largest conference of sexologists in the world and will thus be an important opportunity to amplify this message from an influential platform. As Singh states: "Presenting a research validating asexuality as an orientation in a hall full of sexologists, doctors, and psychologists will set a precedent and at least get the ball rolling, make these professionals think longer the next time they see a patient who might be asexual."

Official logo of Indian Aces, as used on Facebook (used with permission).

Singh is also a community organizer, exemplified in her work managing Indian Aces, an offline and online community of ace people in India and for people of Indian descent. Most recently, Indian Aces and Singh's work were covered in the Hindustan Times and DNA India. One of the many purposes of the group is to garner awareness for the existence of asexuality and assert its validity as a legitimate sexual orientation, of which it is "the least heard of" in India, as Singh states in the video provided above. As she states, the asexual community "suffers from feelings of confusion, isolation, feeling damaged, inadequate, and abnormal while they grow up," further emphasizing that "this often leads to repeated failures in their relationships and sometimes coercion into sex and marital rape," and thus Indian Aces, as well as Singh's research presentation, operate as integral forces in legitimizing asexuality.

Singh is calling upon both those inside and outside of the asexual and larger LGBTQIA+ community to help fund her in this important mission. Because of the high airfare cost in traveling to Prague, as well as other monetary obstacles such as registration fees, hotel dorm accommodations, and ground travel costs, Singh has released a crowdfunding page to receive donations and support her in this important project. So far, the fundraiser has met over 1/3rd of its goal, but still needs much more contributions. Please consider supporting this great cause for the further validation of asexuality on the international stage at a highly prominent platform.

Indian Aces on Facebook and Twitter. Title image used with permission.

Support Dr. Pragati Singh and Indian Aces: https://www.ketto.org/fundraiser/IndianAces