I come from a very middle class, suburban background and the only categories I had were "normal" and "weird". So I was fairly satisfied with just calling myself "weird" and leaving it at that. I've only come across the more detailed labels in the last 5 years or so of Livejournal activism, and 'asexual' is not one of the ones that's easiest to notice even then.

But because I didn't know, exactly, and I am not aromantic, I didn't see my weirdness as getting in the way of getting married, and I've been happily married for the past 20 years (discounting a bit of 'OMG, why am I so frigid?' angst.) I think if I'd had the lable earlier, it might have got in the way of that, which would have been a disaster from my pov.