Heteroromantic

Heteroromantic describes someone who feels romantic attraction toward people of a gender different from their own. The term separates romantic attraction from sexual attraction, a distinction sometimes called the split attraction model. It is used most often within asexual and aromantic communities, where a person may want romantic connection without sexual attraction, or the reverse. For example, a heteroromantic asexual person experiences romantic attraction toward a different gender but little or no sexual attraction to anyone. For people whose romantic and sexual orientations line up, the label is rarely needed, since it simply matches being straight. Naming romantic orientation separately gives people clearer language for how they actually connect with others.