• Anyone’s use of a label does not invalidate your label or mean you need to adopt a new one. Hating a label because it broadly overlaps with your label is gatekeeping labels. It’s okay, however, to hate people who try to force a label on you, because that behavior isn’t ever acceptable.

    In the bi community we are constantly having this discussion over bi vs. pan vs. poly vs. omni and the answer is and always has been “these all broadly overlap but the difference is important to some”. Use the label which you like, which you feel describes you, and if someone makes an assumption well that’s on them. If your definition of the label doesn’t align with the current societal definition, that’s okay too! These are all made up words to describe abstract definitions and they are socially defined, which means they aren’t precise- they are meant to capture broad areas of overlapping micro-identities. You can always use clarifying language to explain what the label means to you, or where you sit in the spectrum of the label when it’s important to a conversation.