raikaiko asked:

Hi GLESN tumblr staff. I wanted to ask Why you decided to schedule Ally Week the same week as Asexual Awareness Week? I'm sure it was an accident but I kinda wanted to check. We Aces need our week because so many people don't even know that we exist. Ace Awareness Week is an important time because we pull out all the stops to inform people who we are, and that we're real. Since we often get left out of the acronym some aces might not even know they're ace. Just curious, thanks for your time

Hi! Thanks for writing! Ally Week was started in 2005 by a group of LGBT middle & high school student leaders participating in GLSEN’s Jump-Start Student Leadership program. It was held at the end of October. Each year, we check school calendars nationwide for major conflicts and it’s been held in the end of October every year since then.

This year, we’re putting a particular emphasis on becoming #BetterAllies. For adults (LGBT or not) to be better allies to LGBT youth. And for LGBT youth to be better allies to their/our peers (cisgender LGBQ folks to trans* youth, white LGBT people to people of color, etc). Obviously we can all be better allies and so we see the overlap of Asexual Awareness Week and Ally Week this year as an opportunity to complement each other, rather than compete.

Here’s to successful Asexual Awareness and Ally Weeks!

- GLSEN Tumblrs