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Queery-ing Labels

I don't like labels.  I'm a human being...  A week on from Pride London 2011, I have found myself thinking about labels, how we use them and what they carry.

"Prejudice is the reason of fools."  Voltaire

Identity fascinates me.  I consider the concept of identity to be multi faceted, and dynamic.  Most of all though, identity is individual.  What right have I to place any one in a box?  I don't like being 'pigeon holed'; why would I?

Identity is as simple or as complicated as we make it.  Surely, by striving to artificially define people according to categories and labels we construct a layer that has no value and, by so doing, make things far more complicated than they need be.  Why do I need to define you, as different to me?  You are separate, and other, and we both have the right to express ourselves in whatever way we like, provided it does not injure any other.

Pride stands for equality and diversity in their purest sense.  Discrimination is everywhere, but festers and thrives where education is lacking.  The expression goes that before criticising another you should walk a mile in their moccasins.  The Parade is a great opportunity to do so. 



"If your lens is prejudice you're wearing the wrong prescription."  Carrie Latet

The Rainbow flag or Pride flag of the LGBT community (also known as the gay pride flag) is a symbol of LGBT pride and LGBT social movements in use since the 1970s. The colors reflect the diversity of the LGBT community, and the flag is often used as a symbol of gay pride in LGBT rights marches. It originated in the United States, but is now used worldwide. Designed by San Francisco artist Gilbert Baker in 1978, the design has undergone several revisions. As of 2008, the most common variant consists of six stripes, with the colors red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and violet.  The flag is commonly flown horizontally, with the red stripe on top, as the colors would appear in a natural rainbow.


I am proud to work with gender and sexual minority clients.  I work with a sexuality-affirmative stance and do not see sexual or gender variation as a sickness.


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