Someone a while ago on here retorted to the Tumblr-initiated "your identity is valid!!!" ♡ pseudo-activism with a tart "yes, it's valid, because it's my identity and I'm experiencing it, not because others deem it to be valid."

More of us need to keep this in mind.

I say this because the dark side of "you are valid / your identity is valid" discourse is people tying the worth of themselves and their identities on the basis of whether random groups of people on the Internet believe they're 'valid' or not.

And that notion chills my blood.

I'm not 'valid' because randoms deem me such. I'm a human person and my identity is real because I'm the one experiencing it and finding *meaning and worth* in it. Not even an army of fancam-spamming dipshits can make me budge the slightest when it comes to this.

And it's always a subset of queer people who get hit the hardest with this 'valid' crap -- bisexual, pansexuals, asexual and aromantic people, nonbinary people, agender people, split-attracted people (with those IDing as bi lesbians as the latest target in this category).

Listen to me.

Your identity is your own, given worth and meaning by *you and others like you.* No amount of 'X is not valid because my precious self says so!!!" shrieking can ever take away who you are and how you conceptualize your identity. That is yours alone.

As for these twits, they're at least smart enough to know they can't be punched in the teeth for policing other people's identities over the Internet, hence why you won't catch them being anywhere near as 'brave' out in meat-space.