I Love <Blank>

Gay

Straight

Bisexual

Pansexual

There's a lot of words to describe one's sexual orientation. But most of them seem to be based not on who we love, but on who we are. And frankly, I find that confusing. Here's why.

I don't know who I am. I was born with a woman's body, and I have identified as a woman for years. Yet something was always just a little bit off with that. It wasn't quite right, it wasn't quite me. And then I finally figure out that hey, I like women! So that makes me gay, right? Well...sort of. Because you see, I don't identify as a woman anymore, not completely. Nor do I identify as a man. I'm neither, something in between with elements of both. So does the word "gay" fit me? I love women, but I'm not quite a woman. The word "straight" definitely doesn't work here. I suppose you could try to shove me into bisexual, but I think we can all agree that's pushing it.

So I think we need a new method of describing ourselves. One that doesn't mean "I'm a woman or a man who likes women or men" but one that simply says "I love <blank>."