Split Attraction Model

The **Split Attraction Model** (SAM) separates romantic attraction or desire for romantic relationships from sexual attraction or desire, thus dividing romantic orientation and sexual orientation into different identities. Terms for sexual orientation have commonly been understood as implying a corresponding romantic orientation; however, a person's romantic and sexual attractions may not exactly align with each other, and people can be attracted to different people in different ways. To convey these differences, split attraction language uses prefixes for the gender or genders a person is oriented toward in relation to themself (such as bi-, queer-, homo-, hetero-), then combines it with a suffix for the attraction type (such as -romantic, -sexual, -sensual).

The asexual community has used such language to communicate differences in romantic and sexual interests, and the types of relationships that may interest them. For instance, asexual people do not feel sexual attraction, but some asexual people have romantic attractions and may use a term for their romantic orientation to express that it differs from their sexual orientation. Someone who experiences differing romantic and sexual orientations are sometimes referred to as varioriented, and this experience is known as cross-orientation. Meanwhile, someone whose romantic and sexual orientations are aligned with one another (i.e. they use the same prefix, such as bi or pan) is known as perioriented.

## Examples

Combinations of differing romantic and sexual orientations include the following:

* Gay and Biromantic
* Asexual and Homoromantic
* Queersexual and Panromantic
* Lesbian and Aromantic
* Bisexual and Panromantic
* Demisexual and Homoromantic
* Asexual and Heteroromantic
* Lesbian and Biromantic

### Aroallo

Aroallo, also known as alloaro, is a general label for people who are both allosexual and on the aromantic spectrum. So then examples of this are combinations such as lesbian and aromantic, and pansexual and demiromantic.

The aroallo/alloaro flag was designed by Tumblr user arotaro on December 27th, 2018. The following are the color meanings for this design:

* **Green**: The aromantic community
* **Light green**: Lack of attraction
* **White**: Diversity of sexuality
* **Light gold**: Relationships of all varieties
* **Gold**: Inherent wholeness and worth

### Alloace

Alloace, also known as alloro ace, is a general label for people who are both alloromantic and on the asexual spectrum. Examples of this include combinations like asexual and gay, and graysexual and biromantic.

The alloace flag was originally designed by Tumblr user Varioriented-Pride on March 1st, 2019. The design is said to be inspired by the alloaro flag. The following are the color meanings for this design:

* **Red** and **Pink**: Romance, specifically chosen since red overall is the complimentary color of green, which in turn is associated with lack of romantic attraction due to the aromantic flag
* **White**: Allies or love/relationships
* **Purple**: Taken from the asexual flag, meant to represent a general lack of sexual attraction

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Asexual Visibility and Education Network: "Romantic Orientations". *The Asexual Visibility and Education Network*. (Archived on December 4, 2021).
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 The Trans Language Primer: "Split Attraction Model (SAM)". *The Trans Language Primer*. (Archived on December 8, 2021).
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 The Ace and Aro Advocacy Project. *Ace and Aro Journeys: A Guide to Embracing Your Asexual or Aromantic Identity*. Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2023. ISBN 9781839976384.
4. ↑ Arlin Cuncic: "Glossary of Must-Know Sexual Identity Terms" (2021-07-15) [en]. verywellmind.com. Verywell Mind. "Varioriented: When a person’s sexual interest and romantic orientation are not aimed at the same gender. For example, a man being romantically attracted to women (heteroromantic) but sexually attracted to both men and women (bisexual)." (Archived on June 1, 2021).
5. ↑ Sian Ferguson: "Here’s What It Means When Your Romantic and Sexual Orientations Are Different" (2016-07-01) [en]. everydayfeminism.com. Everyday Feminism. (Archived on July 5, 2016).
6. ↑ Jeff Grenell. *Gen SeXYZ : love, sexuality, & youth*. Whitaker House, 2021. ISBN 978-1-64123-587-7.
7. ↑ Thomas Ilalaole: "'Demisexual,' 'biromantic': LGBTQ youth adopting wide array of labels" (2019-10-03). nbcnews.com. NBC News. (Archived on December 5, 2022).
8. ↑ Samuel Njoroge: "What Does it Mean to be Biromantic?". lgbtqandall.com. LGBTQ and All. "A biromantic lesbian is romantically attracted to individuals of different gender groups but is only sexually attracted to women" (Archived on November 25, 2022).
9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 9.5 arotaro: "The Ocean is Better Than Romance" (2018-12-27). arotaro.tumblr.com. (Archived on February 17, 2019).
10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 Pride-Flags: "Alloace (1)" (2021-12-27). deviantart.com. (Archived on July 4, 2023).