There’s no right or wrong way to acknowledge your queerness. It’s about doing what feels comfortable for you when you’re ready – and appreciating that this can be an ongoing process, not a set destination.

In a new interview, the model, actress and entrepreneur Lily Cole has shared why the word queer – rather than any label – feels so right for her.

“I like that word because of its openness, because I think all those boundaries are quite rigid,” she told The Sunday Times Style. “I have lots of friends who identify as bisexual, lesbian or whatever, who also identify as queer.”

“I’ve always been quite private about my private life, consciously,” she added, “and I want to continue to be, so I don’t feel the need to be explicit. At the same time I feel the need to acknowledge that I am not straight.”

Cole and her partner Kwame Ferreira welcomed their daughter Wylde in September 2015. According to PinkNews, Cole also discusses her queerness in her book about climate change, Who Cares Wins: How to Protect the Planet You Love, which has just been published in paperback.

“Just as we do not choose the circumstances and ancestral patterns we are born into, none of us choose the cultural norms and laws we inherit,” writes Cole, who is also known for founding the innovation website Impossible.com.

“Had my mixed-race daughter been born in a different country, she would have been a crime. If I were living in another country today, my queerness would be a crime.”

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