Aplatonic

Please take note
This subject has an article on LGBTQIA+ Wiki for informational purposes as terminology relevant to learning more about the LGBTQIA+ community, rather than being an identity that is part of it. Aplatonic people may or may not be LGBTQIA+ due to other identifiers.

Aplatonic is an emerging term.
Aplatonic is a term that has recently emerged. Although the term may be growing in usage, and is significant and well-sourced enough to warrant inclusion on this wiki, it may still be relatively unknown outside of the platform or community where it originated. The exact definition and name may not have stabilized, and may change significantly as more people identify with it.

Aplatonic
Basics
Alternative name	Apl
Spectrum or Umbrella	A-spec
Related and unrelated terms
Different from	Aromantic Asexual

Aplatonic is a term used to describe people who do not experience platonic attraction. Specifically, it is most commonly employed by aplatonic people to describe a lack of desire to form friendships with specific people, or difficulty forming friendships in general as a result of neurodivergence or trauma. The word aplatonic is largely used within the a-spec, particularly aromantic, and neurodivergent communities.

Etymology

The word was first proposed by Mr. Shuttershy on the AVEN forum in April 2012. It was seemingly also planned to be coined by Tumblr user @aroarolibrary, who only brought up the name and did not propose a definition. The term uses the Latin prefix a- which means 'a lack of'. It was presumably coined by analogy to asexual and aromantic.

Community

History

The term aplatonic saw recognition by The Ace and Aro Advocacy Project (TAAAP) and Aromantic-spectrum Union for Recognition, Education, and Advocacy (AUREA), two advocacy organizations for a-spec identities, in late 2020. TAAAP hosted a chatroom discussion with the topic described as "platonic attraction and its spectrum, including aplatonicism and its inclusion in the aro and ace communities." AUREA published an article detailing the term and the relationship between the aromantic and aplatonic communities.

Flag

The aplatonic flag was created in October 2014, possibly by Tumblr user @swampwyvern. The purple, blue and green stripes were chosen because they are the inverse of "typical colours used to represent friendship" while the "white" stripe represents allosexual and alloromantic aplatonic people. The "white" stripe is actually cream, because the creator found it "slightly more aesthetically pleasing." This version of the aplatonic flag is recognized by AUREA.

Controversy

Ambiguous definitions of the word platonic, both in general and in the LGBTQIA+ community, have caused confusion regarding the definition of the word aplatonic in online forums. The original coiner applied the word to his feeling of lacking love for or a bond with his friends; later definitions began to describe this in terms of "platonic attraction". Other people have asserted that the word applies only to queerplatonic attraction and have explicitly discounted the experience of "not wanting friends", directly contradicting the original definition.

Perceptions and discrimination

Some aplatonic people have described frustration with other people taking their lack of desire to form friendships personally. They have observed that it is seen as "not nice" to not want to be someone's friend. Additionally, people have used the idea that they "don't have friends" as a way to insult and attack a-spec people in general.