Ignore the labels others put on you and discover your true self.

Who am I? That tends to be the question that many people ask themselves. Yet, it seems this question is posed more within the LGBTQ community. It’s hard enough to exist in this world as an individual with a distinct skin tone, race or religion. However, by adding “homosexual” to this equation, the answer to this question becomes much more complex.

Why is it that people tend to place a label on everything they don’t understand? I see this often with women in particular. You see a woman with looser fitting pants that work in construction and automatically she is deemed butch or man-like.

Or take the woman with the tight-fitting dress and stilettos, she must then be a feminine, bitchy woman, or so some people assume. What if they’re completely opposite to what one might see? What if they’re two driven, headstrong, loving women?

Why do people see past the qualities that make them who they really are and instead opt to see the exterior based on appearance and/or orientation? The labelling goes on and slowly but surely we allow these labels to take form and mould this “ideal self.” Isn’t it enough that we’re judged on a daily basis? Why are the extra sub-categories necessary?

These labels are minor compared to the ones that come from outside the LGBTQ community. We’ve all heard some of the things people say about how they feel homosexuals cannot raise children the “correct way” or how it’s impossible for us to have monogamous relationships, or—to take it even further—how all homosexuals are liberal-minded. It almost seems impossible to know who you are when you’re constantly being placed into a box and being expected to be or act a certain type of way.

Is it possible to be in your own skin? I’d have to say yes! When you’re in your skin, you are existing as your true self. Whether you wear looser-fitting clothing and Victoria’s Secret underneath or prefer Fido over a child running around, you are tearing down the labels and expectations that tend to come with your orientation. Nothing or no one should define who you are regardless to your sexual preference, status, upbringing or the way you dress.

You are you! You should no longer worry about answering to those whose opinions don’t matter and the idea of “fitting in” should become non-existent. Try fitting into yourself. Figure out who you are by listening to the only voice that matters, your own.

I feel that makes life much easier to handle.