Self-labeling should always be foundational to these things. As queer people, we all come from communities that have a history of having had taxonomy forced upon us, of being treated as specimens labeled by outside authorities for the purpose of control and stigmatization, of having been denied the very ability to express our experiences in our own words, something that continues in the present day with don’t say gay bills and the like, and that makes it so important that we have agency over how we’re referred to.
I am once again asking for you to stop meowing at me
Self-labeling should always be foundational to these things. As queer people, we all come from communities that have a history of having had taxonomy forced upon us, of being treated as specimens labeled by outside authorities for the purpose of control and stigmatization, of having been denied the very ability to express our experiences in our own words, something that continues in the present day with don’t say gay bills and the like, and that makes it so important that we have agency over how we’re referred to.
I’m still salty over not being able to identify as a lesbian because I like a cartoon rat. Aphrodite is up there, laughing at me.
Edit: MRW I remember Reggie the Rat is nonbinary