ID: Drawing of a duck billed platypus underwater, they’re wearing a rainbow coloured t shirt and a pink bum-bag, and saying: “Ally is not something you can self-identify as, it’s a title that you earn. Let your actions speak for themselves!”
Credit: Sophie Labelle
Counterpoint: you can absolutely self identify as an Ally. For example, I self identity as an Ally and there ain’t shit this adorable platypus can do to stop me.
I’m an Ally because I choose to be, by my words and my actions and the example I set for my children every day. I don’t need an attaboy from any marginalized group to confirm I’m on the right side of history. We do what’s right because it’s right. Full stop.
While I agree with the sentiment, it’s like labelling yourself “a good neighbor” or a “best friend”. You don’t get to decide if you’re “a good neighbor” or not - your neighbors do. You don’t get to decide if you are someone’s best friend - they do. In the exact same way, you don’t get to decide if you’re an ally or not - the group that you’re allied with does.
You can strive to be a good person and identify with being one if that label has been given to you, but certain labels, including “ally”, aren’t ones you can just give yourself.
I can also respect OP and the artists point of view (if they’re not the same individual, not sure if OP is sharing an original piece or someone else’s work) but I just disagree that people don’t get to “be called Allies” unless someone else gives them that title. Being an ally to me is not an honorific, it’s a series of choices.
Drag thinks you’ve misunderstood the post. The post says you earn the title of ally through your actions. It doesn’t say you earn it through someone else’s actions. Your actions are your choices. Someone else calling you an ally isn’t your action, it’s theirs. So the post is not saying that queer people bestow the title on you, it’s saying you bestow it on yourself. By doing good things.
It’s a series of choices, but those choices can be misguided or wrong without maintaining communication with the group. It also easily slips into the “white savior” trope.
Imagine a person calling themselves a queer ally while actively protesting “LGB without the T”. They are absolutely NOT an ally to the queer community, but without checking in with queer people, they wouldn’t know. Queer people then have to argue with “an ally” to get them to understand why that rhetoric is harmful, which just puts everyone further back.
So, people can call themselves allies, but no one should believe it unless it’s been attributed to them by the group they’re allied with.
I identify as ally cus I am gay and I think it is funny to exclaim “I’m just an ally” to my gay friends.
There definitely are queer folks who aren’t allies, though. The whole trans exclusionary LGB thing is an example.
True
Who do you self identify as an ally of? France? Bosnia? Laos? Do you have a treaty?
Counterpoint: you can absolutely identify as a socialist. For example, the German Nazi party identified as Socialist and there aint shit you can do to stop them /s
also
he confused, but he got the spirit XD
Oooh there’s one for my bingo card. Comment to Nazis in one.
Centring yourself, talking over, and refusing to listen to the marginalised people whose side you claim to be on - the self identified ally personified!
Wtf? Lol
Genuinely impressive how ignorant and presumptive this reply is. I’m assuming you’re young and I’m giving you the benefit of the doubt that your intentions are good here. It seems like you’ve had some bad experiences with bad faith allies in the past and if so, that sucks, and I’m sorry for that. But this is misplaced rage and your energy would probably be better spent elsewhere. I am not your enemy and I never will be.
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No one is in charge of how someone identifies except themselves.
Taking that idea and making it about how people can self-identify as allies regardless of their actions is incredibly distasteful.
So you’re saying that OP could choose to identify as your significant other, and it would be entirely OP’s decision with none of your input?