40 lines
2.5 KiB
Markdown
40 lines
2.5 KiB
Markdown
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# I don't identify as…
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<small>2022-02-26 | [@andrea](/@andrea)</small>
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One of my pet peeves when it comes to discussing queer identities is the phrase “identify as…”.
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Because although it's technically correct and most of the time used with the very best of intentions,
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it more often than not seems to be giving people wrong impressions about what identity is.
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When we hear “he is Portuguese”, we just accept that he's Portuguese and move on.
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But if we were told that “he _identifies as_ Portuguese”, we might start having doubts about the situation.
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Does he live there but doesn't have a citizenship? Does he have distant relatives from Portugal but himself hasn't even been there yet?
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What's his deal?
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When we hear “she is Black”, we just treat it as a simple piece of information.
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But if we were told “she _identifies as_ Black”?
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So, like, what, is she white but she made a DNA test and discovered 1% of African ancestry
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and now decided to appropriate Black culture or something?
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If not, then why would you phrase it like that, instead of just stating a fact that “she's black”?
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But somehow when it comes to queer identities “identify as” has become a very popular way of putting them into words.
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Instead of simply “they're nonbinary” we often hear “they _identify as_ nonbinary”.
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People come out saying “I _identify as_ agender” instead of just “I'm agender”.
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And it really grinds my gears, because it presents identity as an **action**, not a **fact**.
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Sure, in some contexts it's both. Picking your labels is a conscious decision and often a complicated process,
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identity itself isn't set in stone either. It's perfectly understandable to say sentences like
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“I used to identify as demigirl, but now I feel like the label «genderqueer» fits me best”.
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But in most other contexts it might just give queerphobes a fuel for doubting our identities.
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The word “identify” is literally what TERFs have weaponised against trans women by calling them “female-identified males”.
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They're not “female-identified”, they **are** women!
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Again, saying “I identify as …” isn't technically wrong or bad, and I wouldn't dare say you shouldn't be _allowed_ to use it.
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But it does convey as weaker meaning that a simple “to be” would convey.
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So if you're open about your gender, sexual and/or romantic identity,
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I would like to encourage you to speak about it without leaving a shred of doubt that you're talking about facts.
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**We are who we say we are**, simple as that.
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