black ring

Many can attest to the fact that asexuality is not mainstream and many people are quite ignorant about it, but when observant people like myself notice things, it makes me wonder.

On Thursday last, Belgium’s Eliot Vassamillet competed in the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 Semi-Final 🇧🇪, and in his act I took keen notice to something he was wearing on his hand. On his left middle finger, a black band ring wrapped itself around the finger. This intrigued me for several reasons.

Firstly, in the ace community a black ring on the middle finger of the right hand is generally a symbol of someone being asexual. I have two rings myself and occasionally wear them when out in public, so I was struck with a bit of shock that maybe a symbol I recognised made a public appearance on a huge stage.

Secondly, some might point out that a black band worn on the left hand middle finger might be the sign of a swinger. I did notice the hand on which the ring sat, but it was a bit hard for me to believe that a 19 year old Belgian man would be involved in swingers communities. Thus I assumed it was either a fashion statement, or a sign of asexuality rather than a sign of adult extracurricular activities.

And so I’m led to believe that either this was an intentional action to bring awareness to asexuality, or rather a fashion choice to go along with the outfit, and thus his styling team being ignorant of the niche symbol.

The latter is more likely, but it did make me think for a minute. It’s rare to encounter people like myself, so when a chance pops up we jump on it. Who knows what the choice was and what he was trying to communicate, but if you’ve got any intel; let me know!

By the way, Belgium, you song was okay! 😋