We use labels for almost every part of our identity. For reference you can look at the bio of the regular millennial: “Christian. Mom. Wine lover.” Our generation, our gender, our race, our hobbies, our jobs, our disabilities, are all part of our identity and we love using those labels on the regular in an attempt to understand ourselves and communicate it to the world. Because who we are is the sum of all those labels, and even more, and none of them, all at the same time.

We use them to categorize things and even people. Unconsciously we stick numerous labels on a person upon meeting them. And while there can be many cons to the use of these labels like stereotyping, discrimination, and even self-limitation, there are also good reasons to use them.

“Despite their usual negative reputation, labels are not always a bad thing. There are many positive effects of labelling. Labels can allow people to find a sense of belonging and power with people with whom they relate. By taking a label that was once viewed as negative and reclaiming it, these groups are able to reestablish their power.”

(Starnes, 2021)

I cannot explain the inner peace I’ve found since I started using the labels of autistic and trans for myself. It gave me control over the labels people had been using for me and discover what they found so off-putting about me. They helped me understand there was nothing wrong with me, I was just “different”.

Seeing it’s almost pride month, I’ll be focusing on the labels used by the LGBTQIA+ community (AKA “the queer community”, or my favourite, “the Alphabet Mafia”).

Reclamation of labels

Some people, especially from older generations, are still against the use of the word “queer” to refer to people that don’t fall into the cis-het allosexual experience. For them, this word keeps being a slur, but they seem to forget that the word “gay” also used to be one, and even reemerged for millennials who now find a home in calling themselves queer.

The human experience is nuanced, and even with the evergrowing list of terms to define sexual orientation and gender identity it’s hard to pinpoint and choose the perfect label for our individual experience. The use of the broader term queer can help remove that anxiety and can feel less confining.

Why the LGBTQIA+?

(I’m skipping the meaning of these letters, you can easily Google that) Usually, the necessity of these labels is contended by people coming from a place of privilege. I know this because I was one of them.

“A large proportion of sexual and gender minority youth do not identify with traditional sexual identity labels – such as gay, lesbian, and bisexual – but instead describe previously little understood sexual identities using emerging sexual identity labels such as pansexual, non-binary, or asexual, according to a new University of Connecticut study.”

(Best, 2019)

“Oh, but we didn’t need that many labels in the past!” It probably would’ve been nice there were. Sure, in an ideal world, in a queernormative world, these labels wouldn’t be as important. But in a society that keeps trying to other you they’re becoming increasingly necessary to find other people who understand what you’re going through and make you feel like you’re not alone.

“Specific terminology and the robust expansion of it is crucial to the continued success of the LGBTQIA+ civil rights struggle.”

(Myers, 2018)

None of these identities are new, we just didn’t have a name for them, or not labels we used for ourselves but the ones other people decided for us. Most likely, people already had labels for it and colonialism quashed them.

We live in a society, and as social creatures, we look for a way to belong. Specific labels are important so that support can be found more easily. We can find a community and learn from other people’s experiences and the challenges they’ve gone through. They can save lives.