Each person has an identity — a core set of beliefs about themselves.
Some aspects of this identity are public, some private, and some hidden.
Characteristics of identity are bequeathed by biology — determined by genetic makeup and/or shaped by encounters with conditions that organize the brain, hormones, etc.
Other characteristics are imposed by society operating at the level of culture. Normative definitions associated with biological characteristics or class of origin or place of origin or the location in which one lives or the habits taught about how to live life by parents, teachers, etc.
A third set of characteristics are those consciously chosen by the individual. These choices may very well be conditioned by the preceding sets, providing as they do nudges and ranges of options, but within that, the individual has existential choices to make.
The hope is that each person is free to intentionally choose as much of his/her identity as they desire and, except in circumstances that impinge on the rights of others to do the same, live out that identity without being shamed for their choices.
There might not be much free will, as neuropsychologists such as David Eagleman (see his Incognito) suggest, but in as much as there is, we should grant one another the right and the privilege to act freely.
