@tillybridges I totally agree that we should treat people's self-identifications with respect and encouragement, when they are expressed in good faith, good feeling, and even playfulness. Without a sense of experimentation and play around expression and identity (like through cross-dressing, good-natured humor, role-playing, kink, and drag), I may still be in the closet. I caught a lot of flak in my community for playing and greying the gender space by doing things like wearing feminine clothing while still identifying as straight and cis; that gatekeeping took a long time to overcome, and ultimately I had to seek that validation by sweet strangers like you online (thanks!)

I personally don't think it's gatekeeping to call out obvious trolls who cruelly satirize our community, like Tucker Carlson putting she/her in his bio and then saying we have to respect his new identity. How do you think we should respond to claims of LGBTQ identity made in bad faith?