A seventeen year old in the United Kingdom has launched a new web campaign titled "Ditch the Label," which encourages young people to abandon social identity categories such as race, gender, and sexuality. How very 1990s queer theory of him. I have to say, I'm tired of this kind of postmodern anti-identity "politics." Don't get me wrong -- the intentions are in the right place. No doubt about that. But I would argue that this kind of politics is deeply neoliberal (read: individualistic) and riddled with problems.

Let me explain a little bit. When I say postmodern / neoliberal, what I am referring here to is the kind of language that movements like this use which reject any notion that groups of people may share anything in common at all. "Ditch the Label," for instance, says "we believe that you are unique and that one, two or even three idiotic social labels... cannot define your entire personality." Like, duh! Since when did identity-based movements claim that to be gay you must be EXACTLY one way. I know plenty of different kinds of gay communities that promote / tolerate / support doing very different ways of being gay.

The idea that we should all just abandon these identities flies in the face of the reality that, for many of us, we find great utility / joy / support from these identities and the communities they can bring. Everyone *loves* to complain about gay or black or woman as being bogged down by "baggage," but as I've blogged about before, no one ever acknowledges that "baggage" isn't just a burden we carry around with us, but also a potential toolkit from which we can draw. Identities are of course constructed - but they are also constantly in flux - and open to reinterpretation and movement. Just think about the bear movement, which has totally reshaped the possibilities for what "gay" looks like.

I will certainly agree that our communities are often formed out of a shared sense of isolation / marginalization / prejudice. And certainly as we win more battles, that shared experience will (and has already) become much more diffuse. I think that this is obviously reflected in some of the gay teens I talk to today who aren't as inclined to be a part of any "gay community." I think this makes sense. But to me this is a contextual issue, and will become increasingly disparate between people who live in more tolerant communities and people who live in more hostile communities (think teens growing up in South Carolina versus teens growing up in the Bay Area). Thus, we can expect some variation in people's "need" for "gay" and "lesbian" and the resources they bring. I haven't fleshed these ideas out as much as I'd like to yet, though. Anyone have ideas?

Thanks to Fred for passing this along via Joe. My. God.!