Blake Fisher: Identity and Labels

Blake Fisher is an Inclusion Advisor at BYU with the Office of Student Success. Helping students navigate being in the LGBTQ community while at BYU has given him a unique perspective on labels and how to identify when labels are helping us or hurting us. This episode is paired with the lesson ‘Identity and Labels: Part One’ on thefamilyproclamation.org. 

Blake elaborates on his job at BYU (3:10) why people feel the need to label themselves even though it can be stressful (6:30) and the difference between prescriptive and descriptive labels (10:15). In the tension of navigating same-sex attraction we can find the Savior (12:40) and learn how to sit with others in their own tensions rather than trying to solve their problems. Host David Steele describes an identity activity from the new curriculum (16:35) and talks with Blake about finding what is beautiful and strong in others (26:50) and how Blake finds ways to strengthen his relationship with Christ (29:09).

“If someone says, ‘historically I’ve always kept to myself and I like to recharge on my own,’ they would describe their past pattern as being an introvert. If they used that label prescriptively it would be, ‘because I’m an introvert I can’t get this job or I can’t go to this party….’ Then the label introvert dictates the choices they make in the future rather than describing their past pattern… I try to help [people] see that there are some advantages to using a word descriptively but there are some limitations that creep in when that word starts becoming a prescriptive path.”

To learn more, visit TheFamilyProclamation.org