I am someone that has gone through many LGBTQ+ identities. When I was 16 I identified as a Lesbian, but that identity shifted throughout my high school and university experience. I found myself leaning towards aromantic asexuality, but my identity wasn’t that specific. I had a sex drive, one that didn’t discriminate between males or females, but I preferred casual one-night stands to relationships. I had deep romantic relationships with other women but lacked the desire for them to become sexual. I eventually settled on a personally overly-complex label of pansexual homoromantic. But the intricacies of my identity didn’t quite fit. Through this process, I learned that as an ever-changing person my identity didn’t matter. Who I loved wasn’t determined by a specific identity; it was determined by who I was at any given moment, and that would constantly shift.
Now, I tend to favour Queer as my identity, but even then I don’t totally accept that label, instead preferring just to be whor I am in any given moment. Queer is the most encompassing identity I could use, but it isn’t mine and it doesn’t have to be. I belong to the LGBTQ+ community no matter what my identity is, and I’m proud to be a part of it. Identities are always shifting. If you want to create a label to feel part of a community then wear it proudly, but you don’t have to. Refusing to be labelled is just as valid as embracing a label.
Be whoever the f*** you want to be, and be proud.