During the Binibining Cebu pageant in the Philippines, contestant Maria Izobel Taguiam, 17, and the remaining finalists were each asked a question in one of the deciding rounds.

As Taguiam took the stage to receive her question, she was informally asked by an emcee if she had a boyfriend. She responded, iconically, "Yes but not a boyfriend, but a girlfriend. Because I believe love does not see gender and if you love someone you should go for it." (Buzzfeed).

Since the pageant, Taguiam has been praised for her comment, as she opened up about her sexuality with confidence and pride. Her statement brought recognition to LGBT youth and actively challenged the implications of heteronormativity on the big stage. However, what I found most striking about her response is how it encouraged me to reconsider the manner in which we assume another's sexuality through our word choice.

By gendering one's significant other, we are inadvertently projecting our heteronormative culture upon them. When we ask a girl with a girlfriend if she has a boyfriend, it subjects her to further marginalization, as we fail to recognize that gender is not indicative of sexuality. Instead, if we can shift our word choice from gendered terms, such as "boyfriend/girlfriend", to more neutral ones, such as "partner" or "significant other", we escape the act of imposing societal norms upon others that they may not identify with. And while some may see this as petty, even a change this small can help promote the acceptance of all genders and sexual orientations.

After all, if love does not see gender, then who are we to get in the way?